Three Cheers for Week Two

I can hardly believe another week has come and gone! Which explains why I haven't posted a new blog in as much time. But alas, here are the deets on the heaps the service, learning, and perspective that occurred this week!

Monday began my work at my other primary service site - St. Lucy's, a school for children with special needs. But before the day's work could even commence, I missed the train to Wahroonga that Sr. Rosemary and Joe were on.... oops. (This surely comes as no surprise to my PC friends, as I am usually late to just about everything). After catching the next one fifteen minutes later and enjoying a lovely ride over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, I met them at the station and we soaked up the quaint and quiet town of Wahroonga - quite different from Sydney - during our walk over to St. Lucy's. Upon our arrival we met with the principal, Mrs. Jo Carolis, who gave us our assignments for the day. I was scheduled to work with the Picasso Class (all of the classes are named after famous artists), a group of Year 5/6 students who were classified as functional. This class differed from Joe's assignment, which was the Year 5/6 Matisse class, in that they do not require any physical assistance in their daily activities. Upon entering the classroom, I was greeted with a cheerful, "Good morning Ms. Corr!" and twelve beautiful smiles. This first day was mostly observation, and in my surveying of the class I noticed a beautiful quote on the wall next to the front chalkboard. It read, "Inspiration is all around us." Wise words for all ages.

Not your typical Monday morning commute.

After playing with the children at lunch time, Joe and I caught the train back to Strathfield and walked to Santa, where we met with Jane and drove over to "Sudanese Homework Help." This is an after school program that Santa Sabina and their all-boys partner school, St. Patrick's, collaborate together on. Joe and I joined the uniformed high school students to help the younger children complete their Maths homework (yup, maths) so that they could run outside to play one last game of basketball before the sun set for the evening. It was inspiring to see how the younger children looked up to the high school students, who were so natural in their roles of volunteers after a long day of school for themselves.

On Tuesday I was back at St. Lucy's, and there was something incredibly liberating about the one-hour train ride over the harbor bridge, the scenic walk to the elementary school, and just the entire day in general - it was the first time since arriving that I was all on my own, big-girl Emmy in a foreign place. But being on my own, with currency I still have to triple check ($1 and $2 are coins, not notes...) and an accent that people don't always understand (the clerk at the station had a very difficult time understanding my pronunciation of "Wahroonga"...), really was not as daunting as I had anticipated. Rather, much like my entire fellowship experience thus far, it felt incredibly natural. There was no "ah-ha" moment, no reality check that came crashing down on me. Just another day in the life of Emily. Perhaps it's God's way of saying, "You're on the right track, kiddo."

The sign at the entrance of St. Lucy's

When I arrived at St. Lucy's, I found my way to the art room and was greeted with the most cheerful little voices that announced, "Good morning Ms. Corr! Look at my artwork!" - and it was none other than the twelve darling children from Picasso Class. Their art teacher had the children drawing homes and stores that they could connect to create a neighborhood, so to teach the children the importance of hospitals, schools, supermarkets, shopping malls, etc., in their daily lives. Three flying markers and a roll of Scotch tape later, we walked the children back to their regular classroom and worked on motor skills. We used fuzzy pipe cleaners to create shapes and designs - the children even made me a pipe cleaner crown to wear! We followed up the hand exercises with a handwriting lesson, a lesson all about reading clocks and telling time, and a tutorial of Google Maps! After lunch, I took the children to Gym class and was persuaded into playing soccer in my ever-sporty dress pants and sparkly flats (What can I say? I'm a sucker for the puppy eyes).

After school, I caught the train back to Strathfield. Midway through the trip, a cyclone hit (where am I?!), and so Sarah picked me up at the station. We drove to the Vaccari's and enjoyed some afternoon tea with the girls while Joe and I planned our trip to Cairns! What a great day.

Wednesday was perhaps the most exciting, simply because it was such a change of pace! The Pow family and I went to Santa Sabina early in the morning for their annual "Brekafast for Montebello" - a fundraiser for Santa's sister school in South Africa. It was also the perfect excuse to have a family breakfast, as it was Louise's 18th birthday (a huge deal here in Australia)! Following the breakfast, I conveniently snuck off into town to purchase her gift, and then made my way back to Santa's Winton Building (where Sr. Rosemary's office is located) and met with Joe and Sister. Together, we took the bus to the University of Sydney, Australia's oldest uni!

The architecture was inspired by Oxford and Cambridge!

Sister Rosemary gave us a tour of the gorgeous campus and introduced us to Fr. Paul Rowse, the Chaplain of the University of Sydney as well as the University of Technology Sydney (and a Friar!). Fr. Paul said Mass in a science lecture hall (I was trying to imagine Fr. Nic saying Mass in Al Mag...) and then we prayed the rosary together. We walked across campus to the John Paull II Student Center (their version of Chapel Basement) and enjoyed an afternoon full of chatting, snacks, games, and new friendships! This was particularly exciting because this is exactly where former PC Smith Fellow Lia Santilli worked two summers ago for her fellowship! It was really exciting to mention "Lia from PC" and watch everyone's faces light up with recognition! (It was also really exciting to not have to explain what a Smith Fellowship is for the 56th time.)

In the JPII Student Center with Fr. Paul Rowse

There was something incredibly special about that afternoon. Besides having Joe here with me and having Annie Wendel's picture on the refrigerator in the kitchen downstairs, this was the first taste of home I had received since arriving. Watching students rush in and out of the JPII Center, throwing down their book bags to embrace their friends, rummaging through the fridge for food, and just enjoying each others company in the chaos of college life - this was PC's Chapel Basement incarnate. That incredibly nurturing atmosphere that I had always identified as my "home away from the dorm" was unfolding right before my eyes halfway across the world. It was truly a testament to the nurturing power of faith in our lives. It is not subject to one single place - it is everywhere. God is everywhere.

On Thursday it was back to Santa Sabina! I went in early for Mass with Louise, Elizabeth and John, checked in with Dominique and then went off to my first class of the day: Year 8 RE (Religious Education)! The girls were watching "The Blind Side" and studying how Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock's character) acts as a good Christian in the film. It was eye opening to watch the girls react to the film, and their questions were strikingly mature for girls of such a young age - they were genuinely curious if racial tensions still existed in America. The bell came too soon, though, and I was off to Year 9 RE with Michael (the man with the Irish brogue!), where they are studying Indigenous Religions. These girls were much more outgoing than the year 8's, and they were much more forward with me - "Say something in your best Australian accent!" "I just friended you on Facebook" "You guys say advertisement wrong!" "Are you married?" After assuring the girls that high school cheerleaders don't actually wear their uniforms to school every day, as well as showing them a Google Maps image of PC and my house, I delved into my first official lesson! I lectured about Native American religions in comparison with the Australian aboriginal religions they are currently learning about, and it was truly eye opening to do a little bit of research on something I really didn't know much about!

Kookies 'n Kream performing, lots of girls screaming

After morning tea with Michael and Dominique, I wandered over to Year 11 History, where I listened in as the girls peer edited each others essay topics and introductory paragraphs for their upcoming research papers. The girls were all so encouraging of each other, which was very inspiring! Then it was time for the most anticipated event of the fundraising week: Santa's Got Talent! This gave all of the girls of Santa Sabina College the opportunity to showcase their talents and raise money for Montebello. There was even a special guest performance by Kookies 'n Kream, a dance crew that was recently on Australia's Got Talent!

After the talent show, I headed off to Year 10 history, where they examined primary source documents from WWI (or should I say barely examined, as the girls were still on a high from the special guest performance). After packing up my things, I enjoyed a pleasant walk home and the first nice day of weather in a while! We set up for Louise's birthday party and welcomed in 60 giddy high school girls (and Joe... LOL) for a night of dancing, food and fun. We even said "Three Cheers for Louise" (you know - hip hip, horray! It's not just in the movies!). It was an absolute blast.

Happy 18th Birthday Louise!

On Friday, Sr. Rosemary picked me and Joe up and we made our way to the Edmund Rice Center,  a social justice advocacy and outreach center that supports multiple different causes. We met with Jill, the director of their climate change project, "Pacific Calling," and learned about the increasing problem of tides and rising sea levels in the South Pacific. We were also educated in the history of the Australian aboriginals and the problems that have occurred with their freedom and citizenship over time. It was a very interesting day with lots of new feelings and new perspectives.

I can honestly say our day at Edmund Rice was the first time I felt truly challenged during this trip. I suppose I can say I have grown quite accustomed to being the "shiny new toy" here in Australia over the past two weeks. Especially at Santa, I have found that people are captivated by my "American-ness." Whether it is my accent or when I tell them that I am from New York, I am always met with giddy smiles, bright eyes, and lots of eager questions. But at Edmund Rice, my American heritage was not only uninteresting, but it automatically coined me as "the bad guy." Suddenly, I was taking the blame for climate change and global warming. I was being ignorant to the rest of the world. I was spending my money in all of the wrong places. I can't say that it didn't rub me the wrong way, but it was an incredibly humbling experience. Of course I am not the sole cause of the world's problems, but I am also nothing special because I happen to be from well-known state.

The leaves aren't the only thing changing

The timing was just right - it was an important reminder that this fellowship isn't just about me, but more about the people I am serving and most of all, about God. It doesn't matter where you are from - the Catholic faith is universal, and Veritas can be found if you open your heart and mind to eagerly look for it.

Cheers :)
Em