November began with a trip to San Antonio, Texas. All of the sisters of the Western Province were gathering there for a meeting, so we arrived a few days early to visit a few of the schools in the area.
We hopped on the Salesian Sister mini-bus with the Aspirants of the West and drove about 4 hours from San Antonio to Laredo, Texas. We had lunch with the Sisters and met with the students for two assemblies.
We talked to the students about vocations and shared with them a little bit about what led us to the Salesian Sisters. We sang a song, put on a skit featuring Salesian Saints, and played a vocation jeopardy game. In the picture above, you see one of my fellow Postulants (April from Canada) dressed up as Mother Mazzarello for our skit. Doesn't she look good? Side note: that is a real habit that our Sisters used to wear.
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| Aspirants and Postulants from left to right: Melissa, Liz, Quynh, Chelsea, Me, April C., Kristen, Krystle, April H. |
The next day we visited our two schools in the San Antonio area for more assemblies, skits, and singing. Then we got to take a trip to the San Antonio Shoes factory for some shoe shopping. SAS is the nun-shoe (aka not-so-stylish) capital of the world. I couldn't bring myself to purchase any... I'm holding out as long as I can.
The following day, all the Sisters were together for their meeting, so we (Aspirants and Postulants) got to tour San Antonio. We saw the Alamo.
And took a riverboat tour on the San Antonio river.
We even got to see the patron of the city, our good friend Saint Anthony.
Then we saw the most amazing sight of all - a 42in pizza.
We went for lunch at a place called Big Lou's - it had been featured on Man vs. Food.
We pretty much couldn't believe our eyes. The pizza was delicious and we ate most of it.
That night we had diner with all the sisters of the Province. We had met many of the sisters throughout our travels, but there were still many more we hadn't met. The night was a whirlwind of meeting Sisters, sharing stories, good food - and of, course singing. We performed some of the songs we have written - and the Sisters went crazy.
We flew home from Texas on a Sunday morning. Three days later, we got on a plane again to fly to Indianapolis for NCYC. The Salesian Sisters, Priests, and Brothers join together to run a mega-booth for young people to come and hang out, learn a little about the Salesians, and maybe even discuss possible vocations. There were somewhere around 23,000 people present - and we passed out 25,000 yo-yos. That alone made the trip a success.
On this trip we were able to spend time with the Aspirants of the East. All of them had come to visit at some point during the last year when we were living in New Jersey, so it was like a reunion of old friends. It was really nice to see them and to swap stories about the adventures of entering religious life.
One night we had a Mass with all of the Salesian family. Young people from our schools and parishes along with all the Priests and Religious that were there got together and it was like one big party. After mass we all had dinner together. Here are the Aspirants of the East, Postulants, and a few of the guys in formation with the Priests.
Postulants in Indianapolis
We even got to spend lots of quality time with Sr. Colleen, our vocations director.
Also, it was freezing in Indiana.
Once again, we got home on a Sunday and three days later left for another trip. This time we drove to Corralitos, CA to visit our Sisters for Thanksgiving. The entire community (15 of us) piled into two vans and made the 6 hour drive. But, we weren't in any rush. We made a few stops, had a nice picnic lunch, and then had diner at Casa de Frutta.
I don't really know how to describe Casa de Frutta to you. It started out as a mom and pop fruit stand on the side of the road and has grown into a restaurant, produce store, and old-town village theme park thing.
There was plenty to entertain us.
You could even pan for gold.
We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with the Sisters. Corralitos is in the hill country, middle of nowhere. The property is beautiful and the views are breathtaking. They have three dogs that patrol the property at night to keep the coyotes and other wild animals away.
If you look closely, just over the trees you can see the Bay. I forget which Bay it is, but it is the ocean and that is good enough for me.
We spent the day after Thanksgiving on a silent retreat. I could have sat outside all day - the weather was gorgeous!
So, that's the quick rundown of the month of November. Please know that I miss you all and pray for you daily! I'll be home for a quick visit right after Christmas, so let's be friends!!
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