Jewels, Jewels, Everywhere!

NB: Now I know this post is extremely late as I've been back in the states for a little while but I will have you know that I took diligent notes the days of the events described here so I can still convey to you how I felt while I was there. So with an apology to those who have been kept waiting (and to those who were lovingly bugging me) here goes:

Trains are perhaps the most well used transportation worldwide. From America to England to India, railroad tracks crisscross the country. As they are one of the main sources of transportation in India, what would a visit be without a train ride? Down the street from the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church  on Abu Road (where I've been staying) is a railway station with a few sets of tracks. With an 8:30pm train and tickets confirmed only a short two hours before, Fr. Sajo and I climbed into our sleeper car among hundreds of other passengers headed north towards New Delhi.

I admit, it was a little awkward to be dodging people who were attempting to take a picture of me with their phones but I managed. With intelligent crowd-weaving techniques learned at my mother's knee, I was able to avoid most of the picture seekers. With that said, if you see poor quality, random pictures of me pop up somewhere on the internet, that's where they are from!

The train ride to New Delhi was about ten hours long. It was our good fortune that most of the trip occurred while we slept. I wasn't informed until after the fact but apparently my wonderful hosts booked our train tickets on the most luxurious train available. It was actually pretty nice. There were three levels of beds and sheets and a wool blanket were provided. Comparing this ride to one I took to New Orleans from Memphis, there were only minor differences in breathing room. However, one major difference: the facilities. On an American train, the restrooms are similar to airplane restrooms. You get a seat, some toilet paper and a sink. On an Indian train, you have a hole and a sink. Albeit, there are two 'platforms' for your feet with the hole appropriately placed behind them for you to squat. However, at two in the morning when you really have to go, facing that with a mini-pouch of Kleenex in hand was not exactly what I expected. My recommendation? Go before you leave, every time, and you'll be fine.

We arrived in New Delhi to a much bigger train station than the one we had left behind. With fifteen sets of tracks that we had to cross in an attempt to find our driver. After dodging more clicking camera phones, we were safely in the car and I was free to gape out the windows at the biggest city I had seen in India (excluding flying into Mumbai late at night which doesn't really count). We got settled into our 'hotel' and by some luck managed to have two rooms with king beds (twins stuck together) and televisions. While the beds were little more than wood with a thin two inch thick mattress, it was rather spiffy. The first thing I discovered as Father Sajo and I shared bread and jam for breakfast was NDTV. Now I know of NDTV as Notre Dame Television. This NDTV was either New Delhi TV, National Delegating TV, or a hidden subset of Notre Dame that they keep quiet for unknown purposes. I have my suspicions.

Despite potential nefarious television schemes, we set off a few hours later for the site to beat all sites: the Taj Mahal. From the train station it was about 250 kilometers to the Crown Palace and I saw the craziest thing on the drive: quadrilingual signs! I wasn't able to get a picture of an actual street sign because we were either driving too quickly or there was another car in the way but I did get a snap of this one. The languages go Hindi, English, ???, and Malayalam. Most signs were bilingual with Hindi and English but there were quite a few that were quadrilingual.

Once we reached the Taj Mahal it was all I could do to contain my excitement. We had to park about one and a half kilometers away and as soon as we stepped out of the car, we were accosted by vendors selling pamphlets, booklets, necklaces and more. We were pushed onto a bike cart faster that you could say 'the Taj Mahal' and were scootering our way towards the West Gate. The Taj Mahal is amazing. The Taj Mahal is gorgeous. The Taj Mahal is beautiful. The Taj Mahal is any adjective that describes beauty, amazement, or perfection. I let the tour guide in me speak before I leave you with the pictures that can speak for themselves. The Taj Mahal is over 150 feet tall and is mostly made of marble. The top thirty feet is actually bronze. It is actually a tomb for the Maharaja and his third wife and was made as a symbol of his love for her. The way it was built brings to mind my seventh grade field trip to the Parthenon replica in Nashville, Tennessee as the Taj Mahal was built the same way: to look perfectly straight to the naked eye while in reality slanting. To climb the stairs to actually look inside the building required booties to cover your feet. They were remarkably similar to the foot covers used in operating rooms in the States. Once you got inside amid the press of the crowd you climbed a few more stairs to view the replicas of the two tombs. The actual tombs were ten meters below but because of vandalism or safety concerns (I couldn't quite understand our guide) replicas were constructed.

Perhaps the most amazing facet of the Taj Mahal is that though it looks like it has designs painted on it, absolutely no paint was used in its or its gates' construction. It is all white marble and gems inlaid into the surface of the marble. The jewels included onyx, lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, jasper and mother of pearl! Even though this is a blog and is supposed to be filled with my wonderfully melodramatic words, I can honestly say that I lack the writing ability to accurately depict the beauty of the Taj Mahal without the use of pictures.

The Royal/North Gate

Megan at the Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal from a Distance

Eastern Facade of the Taj Mahal

We also visited several other places along the way to the Taj Mahal including a Jai Guru Dev temple which was built to honor a man that followers believe to have become a god and a gorgeous set of archaeological monuments. The Jai Guru Dev temple was modeled on the Taj Mahal and the lighting around the center of the building was quite... flamboyant. The archaeological site was beautiful and extremely detailed. I took lots of pictures specifically for my architecture major friend but the most stunning monument was the tallest stone tower in India at about 130 feet tall with its alternating rounded and angled columns.

Last but definitely not least, we visited the Lotus Temple. The symmetry of the petals in addition to the shallow pools set below the structure to make it look like a flower sitting in water absolutely stunned me with its beauty. We had to remove our shoes before we climbed up onto the main platform but we were allowed inside the temple itself. I can only imagine the acoustics inside as it is only one giant room. The picture below is actually taken from rather far away if that is any help in deciphering the enormity of this temple.

The trip to New Delhi was absolutely amazing and I had the most fantastic time. I hope you have enjoyed my seemingly far-fetched but very fact-based tales. I will never forget my experiences in India nor the great people I had the luck to meet. Thank you all for keeping up with me and my fiercely delayed posts. Also, cheers for proper formatting! At last Blogger decided to cooperate with me! With a final flourish, tour guide Megan is gone and frantic packing-for-college Megan has returned. Until next time!

Mount Abu - Like the Monkey! (And More)

After thinking about Mount Abu I have a desperate need to watch all three Aladdin movies. Who could ever forget that rascal of a monkey who just had to grab the ruby and bring the entire cave down on his human friend? Little did I know, that Mount Abu was filled with monkeys of its own! Nota Bene: At the request of a few readers, I have added many more photos to this post. To prevent this page loading slowly, they are sized to be tiny however you can click on them to enlarge the picture!) 

Before we reached the marvelous monkeys, we visited what is called Meditation Hall -- the largest pillar-free hall in Asia. It seats about twenty-five thousand people and is mostly used for religious ceremonies. 

We took a lot of fun pictures with several different poses outside of the hall. One spectacular one involves Fr. Simon however I’m pretty sure he would not appreciate it on the internet. So alas, I shall leave you wanting. The two gorgeous ladies with me are Sonia on the left and Anju on the right. 

From Meditation Hall we actually started up the mountain proper swerving around corners with only a horn blast to forewarn anyone coming from the opposite side. I will admit that I caved to my seatbelt while my fellow passengers laughed at my insecurity. At that point, I had not quite become comfortable with the Indian inclination to not wear a seatbelt -- except in the cities. And then there were monkeys!

We kept driving around seeing the different sites on Mount Abu. The most spectacular was the Jainist temple Dilwara. We were not allowed to take any pictures but we got a small booklet of postcards that have the gorgeous images on them. The temple was constructed entirely out of marble -- a specialty of this area of Rajasthan -- and the details were exquisite! I wish I could share that beauty here but there are no words to describe how amazing it was. 

Next we visited the Gardens of Peace. The archway leading in bearing a startlingly similar symbol to the Nazi symbol (which I have now discovered is a Hindu symbol) we were led in by a preacher of sorts. I thought that Christians were the evangelists but boy I was wrong. This man attempted so fiercely to convert me to the mixture of Jainism and Hinduism represented at the gardens that Father almost got himself thrown out. It would have been easier to get away from his preaching if priests here wore the traditional white collar that we have come to know in America but unfortunately they do not. And thus it was until the sky started to drizzle that I was able to beg off. We stayed to take some pictures of the things they had stationed around the enclosure. Here is a picture that marks the entrace to the ‘children’s zone’ of the enclosure that is designed to entice small children.

After we visited the gardens, the rains truly came. When we think of rains in America, we think of maybe a few hours of rain that the windshield wipers can easily handle. Just a casual once a week kind of rain. Here, it is completely different. The rain came down so hard that we took to the car for safety. We arrived at a sister school to St. Anselm’s on Mount Abu to drop off the sister who had accompanied us and huddled inside there waiting for the downpour to lessen. It never did become less than a deluge but we eventually took our leave from the school. Areas that had been perfectly dry and barren as we ascended the mountain became waterfalls filled with dirty water cascading down the mountain. 

The weekend of the 15^th of July amounted to our vacation to Jaipur. Sonia and Anju joined Fr. Soji, the other priest at St. Anselm’s at two in the morning as we departed on the six (realistically seven) hour drive. We slept most of the drive there and were exhausted when we finally arrive. We switched out drivers for one who knew the area and the highlights as well as to give our poor drive the chance to get some shut-eye. 

We set off through the crowded streets of Jaipur to our first stop: a gigantic marble temple. While I lack the proper memory to tell you its name, I will probably end up google-ing it and finding out. 

Next stop: Jaipur Zoo. There were many beautiful animals there including leopards and tigers. I personally found all the other native Indian tourists ogling at the crocodiles and alligators to be quite entertaining.  Outside the zoo:  He says ‘Peace’.

We then journeyed to the National History Museum situated in Jaipur. Anju and Sonia had a moment of joy right off the streets of New York as they ran into the fifty or so pigeons on the ground in front of the museum. They were unsure at first but after I scared a few pigeons off by stomping at them, they took to the idea very quickly with rather large smiles on their faces. 

Something that probably shouldn’t have surprised me was the price difference for natives versus foreigners. To get into the museum, Indian tourists had to pay a mere 20 Rupees, the equivalent to about $0.50. For me, on the other hand, we were charged R 150 the equivalent to about $3.50. While four dollars is not much in our eyes, it was a startling difference. (Don’t even get me started on the entrance fee to the Taj Mahal! R20 vs. R750! [$0.50 vs $18!]) Even so, the museum was very interesting and they even had their own mummy. I got several pictures but the lighting wasn’t wonderful so they did not turn out quite as well as I had hoped. 


Another rain started while we were in the museum and we were crowded around the covered pathways that formed a square around the courtyard. Very quickly, people were trying to take pictures of me. This is the less glorious side to being like a celebrity (a status brought about by nothing other than my blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes), the constant photographs. Finally, I gently took one girls phone from her handed it to her mother and smiled next to her. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate taking photographs by myself? The next notable person who wanted a photo was a father with his barely toddler age son sitting on his shoulders. Practically throwing his child at me, he took a picture and showed it to me afterwards. I think that little boy is going to be made fun of for the picture of him screaming for his father, arms extended towards the camera, with an apologetic looking American holding him. The second to last spot (but most important) we visited was an old fort and palace of the Maharaja. 

The palace turned fort or fort turned palace (I couldn’t quite catch all the words from our guide) served the hidden castle buff in me quite well. After a few well placed questions regarding scructures around the place, the security guard seemed to like me and my interest enough that he gave us a private (free!) tour of the entire locale. From real life murder-holes (holes made in the wall to allow you to get your target without him being able to see you: see picture) to a royal garden that had been walked by the Maharaja (prince) himself the palace was beautiful. I knew all that knowledge about castles and forts would come in handy someday. (I salute you, Tamora Pierce!)

Last, but not least: the greatest news of this entire post. I, Megan Christine Schlitt, had the undeniable pleasure of riding a camel. The trip to some beautiful refurbished Hindu gardens that concluded our Jaipur trip paled in comparison to the fact that I rode a real life, honest to God camel.  And with that, I’ll close this extra long post with a victorious picture of me mounted on the aforementioned camel.

The Busiest Sunday You Ever Did See

Since I have arrived, Sundays have been set aside for sightseeing. The first week I was here, we took a short trip to neighboring state Gujarat to see two Hindu temples. The first temple we visited was called Ambaji.

 Two other women also accompanied us: Sonia, a teacher and Anju, who works in administration. Father Simon dropped us off a block (if you could call it such a thing) down from the temple while he went to go park. It was here I discovered the less glamorous side to being a ‘celebrity’ or ‘popstar’ or just being different. Everyone stared. I watched heads turn to follow us as we walked down the narrow walkway through the impromptu market. We had to turn our shoes in before we could go into the temple and then when we tried to go in, the security personnel (see: men and women in army uniforms = frightening) made us go back and turn in our purses. We shoved all of our phones into one bag because I was allowed to keep my small shoulder bag. Our tags that marked the cubby where I stuff was were placed hastily into my purse as the press of the crowd shoved us towards the temple. 

There was a rush because the temple was closing in a mere twenty minutes. Father Simon had gotten a worker to show us around and make sure we got to see everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used me as an excuse for special treatment. Finally the bags were all checked, my purse was looked through by the security guard and the metal detector had examined us as we passed underneath it. Little did we know when we stepped out from under the covered walkway that the marble ground would burn our feet so fiercely! It was helpful in the end because it made us cross the temple grounds much faster in an attempt to get to the shade on the opposite side of the temple with the greatest speed possible. 

The guard took us right into the temple itself instead of through the metal guardrails that were designated for the rest of the temple visitors. We went right up to the statue (altar?) and received tilaka (the red dot some Indian women wear) and oil. It was very beautiful and I admire all of the detailing that went into constructing the marble temple.

After Ambaji, we went to the temple at Pavagadh which we had to ride in a lift to get to. Think an enclosed ski lift, or better yet, one of the ferris wheel cars on the ropeway that takes you to the top of the mountain. We took several pictures; the girls and Father were very amused at my insistence on not looking down and they enjoyed immortalizing  my distaste on camera. I’ll snag those pictures soon and get them up here in some form or another. We didn’t actually go into the temple at Pavagadh, merely rode up the lift. It was a much smaller temple and consisted of one open air room with the focal point in a niche on one side. 

Our last stop that first Sunday was a marble quarry. I deemed it ‘Marble Canyon.’  The pictures don’t quite grasp the vastness of the quarry. The first picture is about 500 feet above the base of the quarry. The second picture shows a much shallower part of the quarry.

More coming soon on Mount Abu and the trip to Jaipur!

It’s the First Day of School All Over Again

Because of how many times I have moved in my life, I have always said that I knew exactly how to be the ‘new girl’ in school. Since I stayed in the same school from sixth grade until twelfth and everyone was new in my freshmen class at Notre Dame, I thought I had left the ‘new girl’ feeling back in 6^th grade. Little did I know that I would find it here. Memories resurface of all the introductions and all the little rituals that we go through when we find ourselves in a new environment. However, here, instead of my introduction happening once in front of maybe fifteen fellow students with the supportive teacher at my back, it is just me in front of fifty children who can understand me about as much as I can understand them. As soon as I can get the ‘new girl’ feeling to go away, the better. Even so, I know I am going to have a great time here.

I ‘taught’ three classes today: two younger classes and one 9^th year class. The little children were by far my favorite. My first class was very possessive of me after the first few minutes and did not want me to leave their classroom! They even started to fight the other class that wanted me to join them until I stopped it. Needless to say, I was flattered. At St. Anselm’s, the children stay in the same room while the teachers shift classrooms. All the teachers here are women which surprised me. When my students asked who my favorite teachers were and I answered my science teachers and listed their names, they were shocked to hear male names. I guess men do not comprise any of the teaching force in India. 

The children were very cute and, just like American children, they enjoy the attention of the teacher. Especially the American girl who talks strangely. I made futile attempts to have them remain in their seats and raise their hands to ask me questions but I will admit that I loved having the little ones run up to the front of the class and whisper their question in my ear. While I have a lot of preparing to do to actually teach them, not just be a hot commodity and answer questions, I do not feel too worried. It was God who got me here and God who will keep me going. At least I hope so! 

I can honestly say that I now understand what celebrities feel like. My last class of the day consisted of the usual questions. Then one little girl asked me for my autograph. I, of course, complied. Little did I know that that single autograph would turn into fifty as the entire class scrambled for their notebooks and pens and proceeded to shove them into my face saying, “Ma’am, Ma’am, ma’am!” until I signed their notebook. I have a feeling they are going to brag to their friends and I will end up signing many more pages before my stay is done. I will admit that I was extremely flattered; although I could have done without the paper cuts I received. I mentioned as I was signing papers that I felt like a pop star. The cutest little girl looked up at me and said, “But ma’am, you ARE a popstar!” 

The end of the school day consisted of a prayer service to mark the official start of the academic year. There were several dance performances and I enjoyed them so very much. Perhaps the cutest moment of my entire day (even more than being called a pop star) occurred during one of the dances. It was with three of the youngest kindergarden students. They danced intermittently as the music played and as they remembered what they were doing on a stage in front of 1,000 students. The best part was when one of the boys on stage waved at me in the middle of it! I could have died from the cuteness. The entire student body applauded!

Later in the program, I was honored with a garland of flowers and a bouquet. I was also given a tilaka which is one name for the red dot worn by some women in India. Yet through all of this, my ‘new girl’ in school feeling persisted as I climbed on stage to, at the request of Fr. Simon, the principal, play guitar and sing Amazing Grace. Even though I did mess up at parts, no one knew because they didn’t know what the song was supposed to sound like. In that anonymity, I feel better. My students in all three classes, upon hearing that I enjoyed singing, asked me to sing to them. Who was I to refuse those adorable little faces? I sang the Star Spangled Banner for all three of my classes and America the Beautiful for one. My first class also sang the national song and national anthem of India to me. Even though it was in Hindi and I had absolutely no idea what they were saying, I thought it sounded beautiful! 

I am headed back to the church where I am staying soon. I hope you are enjoying reading about my experiences here as much as I am enjoying having them! Once again, if you have comments or questions, please ask! Also, if you have any ideas as to how I can teach conversational English, I am all ears. I need as much help as I can get!

Welcome to Rajasthan

At long last, I have arrived at St. Anselm’s Senior Secondary School in Rajasthan, India. To start up this series of posts, let’s back up and figure out exactly how I got here:

St. Anselm’s Sr. Secondary School is a school run by the Order of the Blessed Sacraments. A priest at my home parish from India belongs to this order. When he joined my family for Thanksgiving dinner this past year, he invited both my brother and I to make this very trip. My brother was unable to make it but, well, here I am! It was inevitable, as soon as he asked that I wanted to go. With some planning and two very understanding and supportive parents, I started my journey on the 27^th of June. 

After three days of traveling, I can, without shame, tell you how exhausted I am! There is a 10 and ½ hour time difference here from home so I actually lost a full day while traveling. When I arrived at the church where I am staying and got settled, I went right to sleep and slept for a good five hours. I think the priests here may have been surprised at how long I slept. One apologized to me for all the noise that was made in the kitchen with which I share a wall and was  astonished to hear me say that I had had no idea and was so tired that I slept right through it! 

I arrived at the domestic airport in Ahmedabad early this morning after being awake for an inordinate amount of time. That was followed by a three hour drive where the only thing I wanted to do was look out the window and watch everything going on around me. First of all, just like in Europe, here you drive on the left side of the road. The first thing that I noticed were these three wheeled small vehicles, called autos here. They, and your average American car miniaturized are used as taxis in India. Most of them don’t have mirrors on them so the bumpers read, ‘Horn please’, and you honk your horn to announce your presence as you pass them. One thing I was surprised about is the number of motorcycles here. I know we passed hundreds in the course of our three hour drive! I think the drivers are just in practice of honking because even though the motorcycles have mirrors, they still get honked at. There is also no such thing as lane sanctity. The lines painted on some of the roads might as well be decorative for all the drivers pay attention to them. We often were driving down the middle of the line and passing other cars with inches to spare! The first few times alarmed me but then I got acclimated to the pace of driving here. The roads are shared by many different things. Not only are there autos, cars, and motorcycles, but there are bikes, pedestrians, trucks and even cows! 

Another fantastic thing happened along the drive: I saw a camel! In fact, I saw several camels being used like mules to pull carts. A camel! Another exciting event was my first real meal in India. I had samosa which is like a cooked crepe. I also had mimosa (?) which seems to be a popular dish. It is a kind of chili/curry concoction wrapped and friend. It was yellow and green! It also came with an absolutely yummy sauce which was like a sweet and sour sauce. Father Shoji was kind enough to order jelly sandwiches in case something failed to agree with my stomach. 

It was here that I found another culture shock. In India, the left hand is considered unclean because it is most often used in less than hygienic ways. As such, you don’t reach for things with your left hand, you don’t have your dominant utensil in your left hand nor do you bring your napkin to your lips with your left hand. For a left handed person such as myself, it is going to take getting used to. I am having to relearn how to eat using only my right hand where all my life I have used my left as my dominant eating hand! For all you right handed people, try holding the fork in your left hand and having to keep your right hand on your lap at your next meal. It is much harder than you think!  

I just arrived at the school for my first day where there is internet. Please leave any comments or questions you may have. I am trying to learn as much as I can and I’d love additional ideas for questions!

Has it already been a year?

Lo and behold, the cliche has proved itself true. Freshman year flew by faster than I could blink! Finals, packing, and saying goodbye has consumed my life this week! The frantic exchanging of skype names as a car is honking in the PW circle as well as tearful long goodbyes between close friends fill the halls. I am torn: as excited as I am to go home and see my family and friends, I am not ready to leave my home under the Dome. But, on the bright side, I'm only a freshman (a sophomore now!) so I've still got three more years left at Notre Dame.

This summer is going to be super busy for me. I've got plenty of things to keep me going! After a week or two of time to sleep and leave my room only for food, I am going to be shadowing my primary care physician who I have been seeing ever since I moved to Memphis. I can't wait to learn about her practice!

The most exciting thing that I'll be doing this summer is traveling to Rajasthan, India to teach students up to the 12th grade US History and English pronunciation. Essentially, I'm going there to expose them to American culture and be a poster child! I am so thrilled! I already have my flights planned out and I'll be starting my application for my visa once I finish this post. There is internet at the school so I will continue to post throughout my trip. The posts that I write while in India will also appear on The Hub. Keep an eye out for those!

With that, I have some more packing to do before my parents arrive in a few minutes to pick me up! The pictures of the Dome in the spring were taken by a friend of mine named Matt McCurdy. Kudos to him on his excellent photography! God bless and safe travels to everyone who is headed home from school or traveling elsewhere!

Tunnels under Notre Dame

Ever wonder why it looks like a random patch of grass has been plowed of snow during the winter on campus? That pathway across North Quad, or the one between Flanner and Grace? All those spots around campus are actually tunnels! Students on campus have an opportunity to take a tour of these tunnels and two sections in PW did just that. Read on for some of the interesting facts you never knew about the tunnel system under Notre Dame!

First and foremost, the tunnels under campus are HOT! Walking through the tunnels felt like a sauna, although it wouldn't quite fit the 'purifying' aspect of a true sauna. These tunnels are filled with pipes and more pipes carrying water and steam throughout campus. They were never meant for students to use to go to class during winter. They maintain an average of one hundred degrees fahrenheit no matter the weather outside. Imagine walking into that with all of your winter gear on. No thank you!

On campus, our air conditioning is a bit different than most places. Usually, air is cooled and then blown out of the conditioner to provide, you guessed it, cool air. However, at ND, the plant chills large amounts of water which are pumped to campus (not through the tunnels). The chilled water is funneled through a radiator-like system and air is blown through the bars to provide cool air. Now you would think that the powerplant uses more steam and energy to heat us up during the cold South Bend winters but actually, it goes through more steam in the summer to provide cooling!

Last year, around November, there was an electrical fire inside the tunnels near the LaFortune student center with no known cause. LaFun was closed for nearly two days and smelled like smoke for weeks! They were forced to leave the doors to the building open to try and air it out so it was definitely a few cold weeks to study in LaFortune that year!

If you are a senior at our Lady's university, going on the tunnel tour sponsored by the staff at the power plant is more beneficial than for the common student. Only during the tour during Senior week, you are allowed to sign the tunnel walls at specific points along the tour. As we walked through the tunnels, once we got our minds off the heat, it was super cool to be able to see all of the seniors who had been here before us.

A little bit of trivia to finish us off: back in the 80's there was a man, a previous employee of the university utility staff, who really wanted to hear a Presidential speech that was occurring in the JACC. Having his handy-dandy key to the tunnels, he decided to traverse underground to the JACC so that he could listen. Little did he know, when he opened up the hatch to step into the JACC, the secret service men were waiting for him! Needless to say, he enjoyed the company of our wonderful secret service men until the President's plane was airborne.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about the tunnels under Notre Dame. High fives to all of the great workers who keep water flowing for our showers and heat for those cold winter nights.

The Advantages of a Listserv

When you first arrive at Notre Dame, the Student Activities Office (SAO) puts on a huge activities night inside the JACC. Booths line the walls and the spaces in between with clubs trying to get your attention and your membership. This is where you will meet your first super clingy friend at Notre Dame: the listserv.

Essentially a mailing list, clubs use listservs to email information out to of all their members and anyone who may randomly sign up. They are extremely useful things, but beware, when you run through activities night signing up for every club in sight, it is going to take you hours to go through all the emails you'll receive!

I was one of those happy-go-lucky freshmen who signed up for a good ten clubs or so. The reason I bring listservs up at all is that I actually attended my very first event hosted by the SMBB (Society for Mind, Brain and Behavior) club called a "Neural Networking" event. Even though I have been a member of the club all year but hadn't attended any meetings whatsoever, they were more than welcoming and my early fall obsession with getting my name on listservs proved fruitful. It was a fun night at Legends getting to talk to different professors about their work so I thought I would share a blurb on each of the professors I talked to and a bit about their research.

First comes Dr. Augustin Fuentes, an anthropologist. Dr. Fuentes is going on sabbatical for the next year so he doesn't have any research spots open but his goals are vastly applicable. He is trying to bring several different fields of study together including biology, anthropology, math and philosophy. It is his mission to merge them so that each individual researcher can gain the most insight through working with other fields. He was a great conversationalist so if you get a chance, take a class of his or do research with him!

The next professor I was able to speak with was a Mr. Milano. He works with psychology students, graduates and 23 inch tall robots with children diagnosed with varying degrees of Autism. He also has worked using Wii balance boards for stroke victims. He was very passionate about his work and seemed to have a lot of student involvement so I highly recommend working with him.

Lastly, I spoke with Joseph O'Tousa, a biology teacher at our wonderful university. He specializes in working with Drosphilia (common fruit fly for the non-science majors) and on how vision impairment in drosphilia can be useful in determining the causes for vision issues in humans. His claim to fame is that he actually discovered the first neurodegenerative disease relating to vision in drosphilia. I am thrilled to be able to take him for a biology class next semester.

In conclusion, even if it seems crazy, if you are willing to sift through countless emails, sign up for as many clubs and listservs as you can. (All within reason of course.) You never know when something on your calendar will open up and you can go to your first event -- even if it is in the last three weeks of the school year.

For more information on research at Notre Dame check out http://www.nd.edu/research/ and click through the professors to see if they are looking for students for a project you are interested in. Happy researching!

New Directions

Well hello again! Yes, yes, I know it has been too long but I have returned! Who knew that having a Calculus and Organic Chemistry exam would drive one to blogging. Perhaps because blogging is a wonderful tool for procrastination? There are so many options for procrastination, even for blogging itself. But I digress.

You may notice some changes. You probably should have; they are just a teensie bit obvious. As I am officially a science major with a minor in anthropology, our title has been changed appropriately. Also, I felt like the previous background was a bit too...well, daisy-ish. I mean, there doesn't seem to be much of a springtime feel up in the cold midwest! Although in the past week, we've had some wonderful weather so my goal is to keep the background bright but a bit more sophisticated.

A new opportunity has come to my attention today, The Hub. It is similar to a self-sustaining blogosphere, but with a focus on academics and life at Notre Dame. There are posts about proper e-mail etiquette, student research, study abroad experiences and much more. I am in the process of writing up a post on how, as a freshman, I came to decide my major. Keep an eye out for that soon! And this time, I actually mean soon. I promise!

Also, as one of the new liturgical commissioners for my dorm, Pasquerilla West, the work has already begun! We've got plans to beautify our bush in front of the dorm - I promise it has liturgical significance! - as well as start holding Divine Mercy Chaplets every week.

What do you think a good dorm liturgical event would be?

With that, I'm off to go beat procrastination with a stick and try and get some homework done. In laymen's terms, I'm going to dinner.