And now for something completely different!

So today is the opening day of Buckeye Awakening 7!  What is Buckeye Awakening 7 you ask?  Well let me tell you, Buckeye Awakening 7 is the 7th Buckeye Awakening!  Buckeye Awakening is a Catholic retreat by college students, for college students, sponsored by the St. Thomas More Newman Center on campus.  Awakening retreats like ours can be found on college campuses throughout the States, I've in fact staffed a retreat in Atlanta, Georgia!  I went on Buckeye Awakening 4 as a retreater, and on 5 and 6, I was blessed to be a staffer; first as a group leader and then, believe it or not, co-leader of the whole thing!

The Awakening retreat has certainly played a role in shaping who I am today.  The retreat was truly an "awakening" to the call of Jesus Christ in my life!  It helped me to realize that I couldn't just compartmentalize my faith, I couldn't say one thing and do another, or do one thing then turn around and do the complete opposite.  I couldn't claim to love Jesus Christ then turn around and consciously and willfully spite Him with my actions.

I've been truly blessed by God through Buckeye Awakening, especially in the fantastic people I've been able to meet and work with.  Thus follows a pictorial representation of some of my Buckeye Awakening experience, I did not take these pictures (it would be crazy if I did as I am in all of them!):

In-tents love!

I'm wearing the antlers.

BA5 Leadership Team

MEESE!!!

This did not end gracefully.

Left to Right: BA5, BA6, BA7

Co-Rec's!

BA6 Leadership Team

It's been a while since I last posted, I have moved to Dakar.  The roof of the building I'm living in has a rooftop view of the ocean.  It's not the most stunning view of the ocean, but still!

Dakar is quite different from Thies, it's rather like the difference between a small town and a big city.  I think that is because the main difference between the two is that Dakar is big city and Thies is a small town by comparison.


One thing I liked about Thies was that in five minutes I could be running on a lonely red gravel road.  Alack and alas, not so in Dakar, not so.  But I can run to the ocean, and that's pretty neat.

I've tried to watch the sunrise from our rooftop, it will rise over the water as we are on the eastern half of Dakar, which is actually on a peninsula.  The clouds have not cooperated with my efforts though.  Perhaps someday in the next month and a half it will happen that I witness a sunrise.

 In my exploration of Dakar I've discovered a few Catholic churches.  Here is one that is especially suitable for today, as October 1st is the memorial of it's patron, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

I also saw this billboard in my adventures.  I more of a Case-International type, but hey.  After all, it is harvest time back Stateside, and come to think of it, it is harvest time here too.  Though I haven't seen any JD combines, or any JD equipment for that matter.