Instant Coffee

2/2/15

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while!  I have been doing lots of different things during my stay and I would like to give y'all an update.  First I will mention the stars.  Living at home in an area with a lot of light pollution and other things in the air, you don't get many opportunities to see the stars.  Well here, that's a little bit different.  The stars are super clear at night, and the moon is the brightest I've ever seen it!  It is neat to be outside at night and just look up and see a beautiful night sky full of lights.  OK, time to complain a little.  Instant Coffee.  No me gusta.  That is really all they have for us though.  Coffee by the pot I have come to find out isn't that common here, at least where we are staying and the places I've gone.  I have found a way to mix one of the instant packs with some Nesquik powder.  This allows me to make the coffee more tolerable and relive my childhood at the same time.  There is a coffee shop though which is close by that makes a pretty good mocha.  That's a great place to go and study while I'm here.  It also has great wifi internet which is a gift!  The internet where we stay isn't the greatest, so to be able to stop and browse the net or Facebook like at home, while drinking a mocha, is pretty legit.  The other day my classmates and I had a night time Holy Hour at the grotto in the exact place Jesus was born.  That was super awesome!!  It was a beautiful prayer experience and a blessing to pray there.  I actually was essentially sitting in the Manger while praying looking at the star marking the place of His birth.  Super cool!  Another cool place that we have visited is the tomb of the Patriarchs.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah are all buried there.  Sarah might be also, I don't remember exactly.  To be at the tomb of Abraham and Isaac, for me, was super cool.  Classes have been pretty good so far in the Holy Land.  I have a Spiritual Direction course and a course on Ecumenism.  Both have been interesting classes.  In a couple weeks my classmates and I will begin some more classes that will continue into the school year.  It is a class on the Prophets and a class on the Gospel of John.  Today was a pretty good day too.  We visited the birth place of John the Baptist and had Mass there.  We also visited the monastery of the wilderness which is believed to be the location of "the wilderness" John the Baptist spent his time in.  Oh!  speaking of this reminds me of something funny during Mass.  Tons of stray cats are in the Holy Land.  They are everywhere!  I like cats, so I'm OK with it, but what was hilarious was during the homily, a cat actually walked into church and into the sanctuary during Mass.  Now I've seen bugs before in Church and Mass, but a cat...this was new!  We had a real nice lunch after Mass.  I was worried originally that the food wasn't going to be that great in the Holy Land.  It has far surpassed my expectations.  I have really liked the food, and the breads!  The breads, let me tell you. I love bread.  To explain, if Olive Garden Breadsticks were an option on the menu at Olive Garden with say a Coke, I'd be set.  So here they have a lot of fresh breads and pita breads.  They have all been super good on their own, but the "salads" they have given us to dip them in...super delicious! OK everyone, enough about food, or I'm going to need a late night snack, and we don't have any bread laying around or Portillo's close by, so that may be problematic. I'm going to get ready for bed.  The internet as I mentioned isn't great here, so I haven't been able to load many photos on my Flickr page.  However, if you want to see my Guatemala pictures in the mean time, scroll down into some older blogs and you will see the link.  Pax.

AMDG

~Chris