Week of celebrations

The whole of last week I have been eating the most delicious meals with the best company.
All started with the Thanksgiving dinner organised by the International Neighbors in Ann Arbor. The International center took a couple of us to this church hall where a sumptuous spread was laid out - all food cooked by members of the International Neighbors community. It was first time to this group and they seemed to have a pretty active group with memberships (they made us sign up for their newsletter). Met a couple of Indian ladies, met Gretchen from the St Marys who happened to be the president of the group! One of the Japanese ladies sitting next to me mentioned that she made the Americanised sushi - a hollow bread loaf filled with shrimp, celery and mayo paste. There was vegetarian turkey, made of tofu - came in 3 different flavors.

Then the next day Anne arrived from Indiana and we had a large thali in Madras masala. Later on we watched Made of Honour while passing ridiculous comments. The next morning we woke up late and went to the Northside grill. I had a potato and sausage skillet with biscuit (this is not the Indian version of the biscuit - its more like a soft sugarless cake dough). Could not finish all of it but was so very full. We then went grocery shopping to Krogers for the party in the evening. I had decided to make the biryani - got the meat, rice and nuts. Before heading home we went to the Mathei botanical gardens - the weather was simply amazing although it was the end of Fall. there were streams in the garden with the soothing sound of flowing water on the rocks - simply music to the ears.
That evening I cooked the biryani, Anne made the lasagna and Carlos made guacamole and shredded chicken chipotle. There was a big spread on the table - chocolate fondue and fruits and pretzels and cookies and chips.
We set up the Christmas tree with all its ornaments - Desiree had packed the tree with numbers for each of the whorls. She had an underlying theme of gold and red - which meant the ribbon was gold and red, the over 100 ornaments were in gold and red. She then put here special ornaments at the end - each with a story - a special gift, or a memento or a souvenir from a city - usually from NYC.
We played cranium, girls versus boys and I was the weakest link whenever we had to spell a word backwards as a team - quarterback,the cheeses - mozzarella, Parmesan hahah. We watched Harry met Sally and simply loved every bit of it.

The next morning we went to Christ the King - this could very well be a post by itself. The entire experience was amazing. Fr. Ed is an excellent preacher - he surprised us all by saying that he believes in LUCK - if it means - Living Under the Christ's Kingship!! The choir which included Desiree, sang the Hallelujah from the Handel's Messiah - simply amazing.

We then went for lunch at Grizzly peak - a pub type restaurant. The grilled chicken sandwich was something different with avocado. We then strolled about downtown and went to Briarwood mall for shopping but did not find anything interesting. That night we heated the leftovers that tasted even nicer.

The next morning being a Monday, we went for breakfast to Angelos, I had this western omelet - not a good choice since it turned out pretty much like the one I make at home.

In the evening Rackham had a dinner for the I-Connect mentors and mentees. I tried to limit myself to a tablespoon sized servings because the omelet seemed to take long to digest.

The next evening on Tuesday we had a potluck dinner at Nabihahs place. Miku prepared this creamy spinach dip, Quang came up with beef fondue and AZ brought a huge lasagna dish. Not to mention Naseem who got chicken biryani and I took a potato egg salad. I also baked a potato cake and in addition Nabihah baked a chocolate cake and AZ too got a cake. So much of food - we were all so full by the end of the dinner. Nabihah mentioned her Ramadan fasting tips where you learn to pace yourself when eating all through the night. The trick lies in not gulping down the food when you begin, take small bites and pause when eating!

The next day I went on a self imposed fast - did not eating anything until evening when I went out with Angie and Ed to have iddly sambar at Madras masala. On Thursday the actual thanksgiving holiday Anthony prepared beef roast for lunch and Desi got a salad while took pudding.

Loved all the moments spent with friends - just so good to have friends.

David Archuleta and the Ann Arbor Symphony

As I sat in the Hill auditorium for the Christmas from the Heart performance last evening I was not quite sure if I was in the right place - with an unusual crowd of teenage girls with beaming faces and tees with David Archuleta all over them!

But the opening medley 'A Christmas Festival' totally tranformed my moods and transformed into a different planet - the harmony of over 60 instruments playing moving seamlessly from one tune to the other brought back memories of growing up in Goa.
The next song Angels we have heard was sung by David Archuleta and set the tone for the remainder of the evening of what to expect of him. Loved the french song Patapan and the Spanish Riu Riu Chiu reminded me of another Christmas carol (still tying to figure out which)
The AASO played tunes from the Nutcraker which were simply amazing - I imagined myself as a ballerina dancing to their tunes, missed my brother Jonathan when they played 'Waltz of the Flowers'

I totally enjoyed the performance and could not wait to listen to all the carols online from his christmas album. Could not help notice the boyish charm and when he mentioned that he would be turning 19 next month, all the girls went crazy. We could hear a lot of 'I love you Davids' from the crowd. The crowd was thankfully well behaved with very few interruptions during the performance which simply increased the effect of listening to Ave Maria and Silent Night in the Hill.
I love the Christmas season and this concert seems to have set the right key for the weeks to follow. This morning I saw the fresh fir wreaths at the Farmers market in Kerrytown, found them too expensive at $25 a piece. I wanted to have an advent candle wreath but found that too expensive. Will have to make one of my own this evening given that Advent begins tomorrow.
One my wish list I want to have a Christmas tree - loved the one in Desiree's house - it totally transforms the entire house and brings this warm feeling. This is one of the times of the year when I totally miss being away from home because everything seems to be centered around the family, making sweets to together, decorating the house together, making the star together, making the crib together, singing carols, attending weddings and parties together - it was the time of togetherness. Not sure when I will get a chance to be home for Christmas again.

5 loaves and 2 fishes

Never thought the meaning of this miracle could be interpreted in such a beautiful manner.

I simply love this hymn by Corrinne May.

A little boy of thirteen was on his way to school
He heard a crowd of people laughing and he went to take a look
Thousands were listening to the stories of one man
He spoke with such wisdom, even the kids could understand

The hours passed so quickly, the day turned to night
Everyone was hungry but there was no food in sight
The boy looked in his lunchbox at the little that he had
He wasn't sure what good it'd do, there were thousands to be fed

But he saw the twinkling eyes of Jesus
The kindness in His smile
And the boy cried out
With the trust of a child
He said:

"Take my five loaves and two fishes
Do with it as you will
I surrender
Take my fears and my inhibitions
All my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all to feed them all"

I often think about that boy when I'm feeling small
And I worry that the work I do means nothing at all

But every single tear I cry is a diamond in His hands
And every door that slams in my face, I will offer up in prayer

So I'll give you every breath that I have
Oh Lord, you can work miracles
All that you need is my "Amen"

So take my five loaves and two fishes
Do with it as you will
I surrender
Take my fears and my inhibitions
All my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all
I hope it's not too small

I trust in you No gift is too small

Amazing hymn.

Mishap riding my bike

So I go riding my bike to get a gallon of milk from this really great place that sells 'non-hormone induced' milk which translates to 'organic milk' for the price of the usual milk. Its 8:45 pm and I know that the place closes at 9pm. Am still debating if I can push my diet plan for tomorrow and buy one of their soft, freshly baked donuts and ...possibly a scoop of icecream!

About a block away from the place, I am darting down this inclined road- make it smoothly down the slope and then try to get onto the pavement instead bam! - next minute I am skiding on the pavement like the formula 1 motor bikes, except that I am without a helmet and on a simple road bike. I think I bumped my head twice and my left leg grazed along the pavement for couple of meters. I try to stand - then hear a voice in the dark - 'are you ok' I scream back am fine - totally embarrassed - that guy must have found it a common occurrence on this part of the street.
Check my pant - no tear, my jacket too seemed fine. My legs were trembling but I could manage to get to the next traffic light. Felt a throbbing pain my knee, checked it under the street light only to find it bruised. I wonder how the knee bruised without the pant tearing uh?
After all this effort, I pedal to the store only to find it closed - looks like they changed their timings! This meant that I will not get to have my hot cup of coffee tonight but in addition will now have to nurse a wound(s).
I get home, have a hot shower, examine the wound on my knee, find a couple more mild bruises on my arms and legs. My knee needed an antiseptic cream, check my medicine stash, the one that I got when I first came to the US in 2007 and to my disappointment found that everything had expired!! For once I hoped to use those medicines and they turned out to be worthless. Resorted to the ayurvedic a.k.a kitchen medicine. Skipped the vinegar (could not muster the courage), dabbed a ton of haldi and shed a few tears, put a cotton bandage since I did not want my pink bed spread to turn into vermillion.
My whole body convulsed in spasms in the morning - I realised that the fall was quite traumatic. My wound on my knee seemed to have bled all through the night. Changed the cotton dressing and decided to visit the doctor after the 10am class. Received second glances in class for wearing a skirt - if only they knew the pain and reason!
Expected the Health Center to assign me to a nurse for dressing my wound- but they insisted that I would need an expert clinical opinion on my knee and the earliest they could assign me was at 3:15
A nurse agreed to change the dressing of my wound in the meantime. She cleaned the wound and said 'oh looks like you have used iodine' I smiled congenially. She checked my immunization chart when I could not remember when I last took a tetanus shot, which was not so helpful because the chart mentioned 1981 - the infant shots! We decided to take the Tdap shot, to avoid any complications. She explained that I would have to clean the wound with an antibacterial soap and gave me sachets of antibacterial cream and adhesive bandages ( so cool - you simply stick them over the wound - like a big bandaid strip ).

I come back at 3:15 and the doctor checks my wound, taps my knee and declares that there are no fractures ( I wouldn't be walking to his clinic if I had one) Admonishes me for not wearing a helmet and says I should drop by if I develop an infection in the wound.

I wonder why I fell off my bike - can't see the reason for this incident in my life. Besides being aware of slowing down on the streets am yet to figure out the 'lesson' of this accident.

Colors of Fall

My friend Desi came up with this fabulous idea to drive up North of Michigan to check out the Fall colours. The only hitch being that the earliest free date in November turned out to be a little to late - the trees had shed most of their leaves:(

Two other friends managed to take time off this Monday and we drove down to Pickney a kind of a camping/protected forest area. We decided to take the 6mi trail around the silver lake. The lake actually lived up to its name - you could help use silver to describe its surface. There was a thick layer of brown leaves on the trail and we tried to decide on the type of sound we made when walking - Desi said it was a 'crunch' sound, I offered a 'srul' sound - and that set of the tone for the rest of the trail!
We clicked a ton of pictures on the barren trees and the occasional branches with leaves on them. There were a lot of birds chirping and we did manage to spot some really rare blue, black and white spotted birds.

By the end of the trail we were ready for lunch and had made plans to repeat the hike again in January with the snow - probably in the Arb.
We went to Hell for lunch - yep there is a little town (more like a 100m stretch) with 3 restaurants called Hell in Michigan. I had a delicious pork rib pot pie - and it was one of the rare events when I was utterly pleased with my order. The crust had just the perfect crumbliness and the pie was more like a stew with pork - absolutely delicious - the waitress mentioned that the chef had prepared for the first time, too good for a first timer!

We then decided to have ice cream - but I just did not have any room for more food. We then decided to watch a movie and i think choosing to watch 'where the wild things are' was the only bad decision we made today. The movie was an absolute torture - every animal in that movie seemed to have serious relationship problems needing immediate therapy or counseling. Not sure how it qualified to be a childrens movie - I would not let my kid watch that.

Scott decided that he had a headache and needed to nap - probably to recover from the effects of the movie. We were so zapped by the end of the movie - I just did not want to discuss anything about the movie. We should have walked out of the theater when we saw that were the only 4 people in it!


Anyways next time I am not watching any fantasy movie by paying $7 for a ticket....no am not interested in spending 150mins of my time either!

2 of my friends got married to each other

Last Friday two of my friends married from the grad group at SMSP got married to each other. I was delighted and honoured to witness their nuptials and the reception.
My personal preparations for the wedding began some months ago when I decided to gym religiously to get into one of the evening dresses, about 2 weeks ago another dear friend of mine Desi and myself went out for shoe shopping and for buying presents for the wedding. The excitement was building up and I would have nearly missed the nuptials if I had not checked the invite the evening before for the time. It was conflicting with a class (yeah a class on friday evening!) but it was easy to choose in this instance.

The best of the wedding that touched me was the simplicity. Importance was given to the actual wedding and other details like the deco, the dress and extra effects were subdued. I was told that the bride chose a white bridesmaid dress as her wedding gown 'why pay $2000 for a dress when you get one for $500?'
You could totally sense that they had built their relationship on Faith - God brought them together and they were totally in Love with each other. Witnessing their wedding renewed my faith in love and convinced me not to settle for anything lesser.

There were a couple of us invited from the grad group and we had a great time in each others company. It was great to dance to the tunes of the dj - who at first seemed not so sure on the kind of music to play.

I liked how the bride and groom first danced to an entire song. The next song the bridal party joined them and in the third song the bride danced with her father while the groom with his mother. It was a very touching moment!

I really had a nice time and wish that Anne and Sean have a great married life together.

Shakespeare in town

One of the several opportunities of my education in the US has been the exposure to the arts and culture.
Last week I had been to sitar performances by Ravi and Anoushka Shankar who were accompanied by talented tabla and dhol-tabla players. It was my first experience of a live concert of classical music and simply mesmerizing to see the father-daughter duo enthrall us with their nimble dexterous fingers - moving at such lightning pace stirring up emotions from deep within soul. At one point I could decide if I should be closing my eyes and sinking into the music or simply stare in amazement and the performers - the tabla players induced a trance type of effect on me.

This weekend the Globe theater from London was in town and its simply great to be a student to avail discounts on regularly priced tickets worth $60 and get one for $15 instead!
Again my first experience of a drama - a Shakespearean drama - Loves Labour Lost. At first I was not tuned to hearing the thous and dost and foreswear....but about 5 minutes into the first scene and I eased out and tried not to concentrate on the difference in words. The costumes were simply amazing - women in corseted, flouncy dresses; men wearing breeches and knee high socks with puffed up sleeves, capes and drapes over one shoulder and hats with feathers.
There were musicians who played the flute and drums and deers floating around in the air, sometimes walking past the rows of people in the audience.

Thought it was a good experience and wished I had read some more about the play prior to the evening. Instead I had a Ethiopian dinner with a friend in the Blue Nile. It was turned out that we had an 'all you can eat' feast in the evening. There was a common plate placed in front of us with layers of injera (a type of bread that looks like crepes) with tiny portions of vegetables and meat. There was a huge variety of vegetables mostly consisting of lentils - the spicy red lentils were the best. The lamb was kind of bland but the beef and chicken were cooked in a gravy.
Very good experience but I don't think we broke even as far as the price of the meal was concerned. Wish we had been starving!!

Are you an Indian?

This has been one of the most common questions asked when I tell my name. Variations of the questions leading up to this premise are - which part of India are you from?
Why do you have a Spanish last name?
What is your Indian name? (This is usually asked by the Asians who have an English name in addition to their monosyllabic, vowel devoid native names)

I often end up introducing people the beautiful state of Goa and its brief culture influenced by the Portuguese colonization. its remarkable how interested people can get when they hear about the spread of Christianity in India. I also mention that when people refer to Indian food - they are making a mistake in some sense because every state in India has its own distinct cuisine which is so different and characteristic to that particular state.

Most people gape when I remark that you can instantly make 5 educated guesses about a person based on his/her name in India.
The state they come from, language(s) spoken, religion practiced, educational and and to a certain extent the socioeconomic status. In some distinct surnames you could even tell the caste system they follow.

As I often speak about my culture and country I come to realize the diverse amalgamation of cultures and traditions. Its a great matter of pride to be a citizen of this country and experience such secular ideologies.

I know that is a event next week that I have to attend am sure I will have to repeat my name spiel yet again!

Calling home at 1cent/min!!!

Could not believe the fact that I could call home at such a remarkable price - my dad remarked that this was cheaper than make STD calls in India!
The only catch in the whole deal was that I had to use the entire balance of 600 mins within 45days; which a first seemed impossible to use up - 10 hours on the phone? no way. But given that my laptop was with my sister and having no other means of voice communication with my folks in Goa I thought of taking up the offer.
To my utter surprise I finished the entire talk time in 20days within two weekends and still so much to talk - since my conversation was cut mid sentence.
Decided to recharge my calling plan with the diwali-holi talktime offer of 1353 minutes for 6months. Only after recharging through air-tel did I realize that there was a similar offer through reliance with an additional 96 minutes for the same price of $24.99!
So I immediately call up the customer care and mention that I made an erroneous transaction and the revert the money back - she sweetly mentioned that this has been addressed in the FAQ's - no transaction can be reverted.
So I learn my lesson - no more hasty purchases in the future.

Bridal Shower

Yesterday I had my first experience at a bridal shower. Anne and Sean from the grad group at church decided to marry last Summer and thought of including me in their guest list - I thought it was really very very generous of them to extend an invitation to me, also upped my self confidence that maybe they considered me more than a mere acquaintance!

Besides I was really very keen on having my first hand experience of a bridal shower. In the process of preparing for the event I concentrated more on what to wear to the event, decided a cotton khaki dress would not seem too casual and too dressy either, what I forgot to plan was to carry the gift with me - I saw all these people with large boxes some that might have been moved easily with forklifts. The only other experience I had of a wedding in the US included buying the gift online thorough the gift registry - and I thought this would be the same.

One of my friends later remarked that 'shower' implies a 'shower of gifts' for the bride to me. Things finally began to make sense and I wished I had researched more on the internet about the Shower!!

Apart from the whole event was an experience. The matron of honor with assistance from the brides' mom set up a huge delectable spread of finger foods - cheeses, crakers, cut fruits, breads and a chocolate fondue. There was red and white wine - had a glass each, coffee and a punch bowl that had frozen ice with fruits set in it. As time passed by friends poured in with more gifts, and conversation centered around how the bride would not have any more dates - this is gonna be a lifelong date :)
Then it was time to open gifts - the mother from the 'depression era' diligently made notes of the gifts which were handed down by the matron. Apparently the gifts were purchased from the gift registry set up online - they had the same purple ribbon used to wrap the gifts in the store.
A friend made a bouquet with the ribbons - to be used for the rehearsal dinner.

It was certainly an afternoon to remember - nothing like spending time with friends over great wine and amazing food.

Mom will be here - hurray

Supressing my feelings day in day out, I thought I was tough made of steel, could handle my emotions and 'its no big deal' had become a mantra until now when I realise that my mother will be here - and i am keeping track of the hours until she lands - she left mumbai at 1am which translates to 3PM, its 8PM right now which means she is nearing Frankfurt, she will reach Detroit at 5PM tomorrow and I simply can't wait - every minute that passes now seems like an hour and its becoming more and more diffifult to supress these tears.

have cleared my room of all the clutter, sorted out the laundry, made room for myself on the floor, figured out the bedding, exchanged my study table for a compact model from my housemate and vaccumed the carpets. I have a test on Wedneday in three days time and yet all that I think of is about my mom's arrival.
How did Imanage to survive 4 semesters without seeing her? for that matter how was it possible to function without my familiy. I guess the thought that they are always present with their prayers and thoughts is what helped me survive all these days. Am so happy that my mom finally made it to my ceremony. I think i tried talking her out of attending the ceremonies but now feel so happy that she insisted on attending.

Had attended the brunch at Zingermanns today celebrating Celeste's commencement - she is so blessed to have such an awesome group of friends - the food was so delicous - had a Master pit salad - very filling and large. I completed all of it - was then thinking that most other people had leftout their food. Its such an expensive place and leaving out food seems so crazy. But anyways it was such a pleasure meeting her parents - Elsi and Ernie. They even extended an invitation to visit SF - CA with my mom. Such a great couple.

I hope to do a bit of travelling with my mom - see some good places in Micigan - Sonia mentioned that I could drive down to the upper peninsula and check out the Nature. Could do that in the month of June. And in July we could basically do a trip to CA or probably Alaska. Canada too sounds good - but might not be able to visit some other country besides the US.

Welll all those plans will have to wait - I got to complete a lot of tasks before that - my qualifier exams and more imminent the semester exam in 611 top the list.

Impossible is Nothing

Saw some ads by Adidas on Utube and felt so motivated so inspired - its okay to be alone, not to hear what other people have to say and to continue to do your best.
It goes like this...some people listen to themselves instead of listening to others, these people don't come along very often .. but when they do they remind us that once you set out on a path even though critics may doubt you its ok to beleive that there is no can't won't impossible - they remind us that 'impossible is nothing'
I want to be that person - I know that all things are possible through HIM. I believe and do not want to forget this fact.

Loved the ad that include Mohammed Ali!
very inspiring and motivating - something on the lines of Iqbal movie song.

Discipline 101 - Part I

As I begin to write to this post I realised how difficult it has been for me in the last one week to stay away from facebook. At the end of browsing about two hours everytime I logged into FB - it dawned on me one day that I really waste a major portion of my time. Have been weaning myself away from that site for many days now - but towards the end of Lent I committed myself to a period of 2 months without FB and Orkut. So far I can see the amount of time I have saved - its been difficult - the need to snoop around and see the status messages of friends, to check out the pictures and read notes left by other friends.
At the end of every session I would amaze my self with knowledge of so many of my friends without actually speaking or having contact with them!
This has been quite a mission so far - but I plan to stick with this commitment for the next 2 months ot until the end of my qualifiers!

Light of the World

I just cannot imagine that I have come to the end of yet another beautiful season of Lent. This year I want to make a conscious decision to continue to grow in this Spirit of Discipline. Often think that I lack this in attitude in my life and that it could make so much of a difference. I can achieve so much in my life - I feel so fulfilled during Lent. Why can't I continue in this lifestyle even after? Why do I revert back to unhealthy eating and living? Am I using my faith as a crutch, as a prop as a support? Is this how I should should consider my religion to be? Maybe I need to be aware of the fact that it is possible to achieve that level of discipline in my life. Now that I have experienced this for the last 40 days it should be a prelude for the rest of the year.
I want to begin my journey for a healthy lifestyle this year - want to get into the shape and size I have always desired to be in. And I am sure i can do it - all things are possible with God. This time around I will work harder.

I simply love the Easter celebrations at SMSP - for that matter the ones in my parish were awesome too - there is something about the vigil that keeps me engaged all the time. Not sure if it is the solemnity, or the rituals, or the numerous (8) readings reminding us of our history of salvation, or in the case of the SMSP the baptisms of the new members in the church. The service began at 8:30 and finsihed only at 12. But never for a moment I winked or checked my watch for the time - at the end of it all I felt that I now have to wait another year for this celebration!

Having said that today was a day of feasting - had a great time at Nancy's place- my swimming instructor who invited us over for dinner at her place. It was such a pleasure meeting so many new people. Loved interacting with all - met Swapna whom I had met about 2 years ago - seems like she is the same person Sr. Dorothy met on a train! What a small world:)

This morning I woke up to the sound of birds chirping near my window - looks like Spring is here to stay now - no more snow until November now :(

Spoke to Mellita about so many things - had a 3 hour conversation with her - and then if I think about it I must have spent about 6 hours on the phone today. Wishing family, cajetan, ashley, Jung and still have so many more people that I have missed!
Right now I can't wait for this semester to end - look forward to my mom coming to US for the graduation - this will be so much fun - can't restrain my excitement.
Thank you dear Lord for ALL the blessings in my life.

Hossana - awesome music

"Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to Eternity"

These lyrics from the hymn Hossana by Hillsong United are so very touching and form a little prayer by itself.
Simply love this hymn - it has such a rock band feel to it. Contemporary and hummable, the chorus keeps playing in my mind. Imagine myself singing Hossana with the choirs of angels!

Look forward to the Easter vigil this evening. I love the entire ceremony - blessing of the fire, the water, the readings tracing Gods love and mercy for entire humanity. Its such a gracefilled atmosphere. Simply love the whole celebration.

Hossana in the highest!

last 7 'words'

there was this reflection conducted after the veneration of the cross and the eucharistic service in the church. 3 readers came forward and enacted scenes from the gospel showing Jesus's state before he died on the cross. There were reflections presented after that followed by a hymn and a prayer. The reflections were provided my parishioners some students some professionals and some at a older stage in their life.
there were a couple of refelections that struck a cord and I still remember what they said.
Elise presented a reflection after 'I thirst' what do we thrist for in our lives? love, friendship, companionship...we need to remember that Jesus thirsts for our love and understanding that he died on the cross for us...that he longs to see us put our hope and trust in him.
There was a refelction by a gay parishioner - it was very enlightening - he reflected on 'father forgive them for they know not what they do' I decided that i should be friends with this guy - know more about his psyche and formulate my thoughts better on this human state.
Sean spoke about 'my God why has though forsaken me' I thought that was very touching - the thought that Jesus in the shallowest of the shallow felt forsaken as a result of bearing all our low moments means that he totally understands how we feel when we are low and depressed. he went through it all for my sake and totally understands what is means to feel rejected and dejected and opressed and defeated and tired and in despair, more importantly he sets an example of triumph.
Another refelction offered was on 'it is finished' what does it really mean to be finished - it is accomplished is more appropriate. Would I be able to say this when my life on this earth nears an end?
Woman behold your mother was a touching reflection too - a mothers pain cannot be compared to anything in the world. Mary went through all this pain and sets us an example that we too can strive to execute God's will in our lives.
Very touching service - felt so calm after it. Brian was sitting nxt to me during the service. I thought it was so nice of him to sit next to me. If only he were a little older I would have considered dating him:)
My soul is thirsting for you my Lord...lovely hymn and so very well sung by Elise.

From that time on...

During this Lenten season I followed the readings and reflections from the 'little black book' - a book that was distributed in the church around Ash Wednesday. It had a gospel reflection and a page of tidbit on the life of a saint, or some incident in history, or the meaning of some tradition that is practiced.
As I reflected upon yesterday's reflection - it mentioned that there are 3 instances in the gospel of Matthew when he uses the phrase - from that time on - it marks the transition in the phase of Jesus's life. I mulled over the reflection last night and all through the day today and yet I could not come up with something to complete the sentence 'from that time on ..' as applicable to my own life when I probably think about it next year.
I did not realize that I have thinking about this until the adoration in the evening today. I was thinking about how busy I was last year and not able to stay until the very end for the adoration. Realized how much my life has changed since then - I cleared 3 semesters and inanother 3 weeks will be graduating with a masters degree. Never imagined that I would be in US kneeling infront of the host. Just could not help wonder what the Lord has in store for me. For once I did not feel threatened or agitated by the uncertainity- instead it was a feeling of calm and comfort. The assurance that God has taken charge of evreything. In that moment the looming qualifier exams too seemed easy and attainable. The whole PhD process of 3-4 years too seemed 'short'. I guess having a God perspective makes all the difference in ones life - remembered the verse which said - seek ye first the kingdom of God....saw it in action in my life. I could not help feel overwhelmed in Gods' presence and for a moment everything else did not seem to matter.
I forgot that I missed my family - forgot the tears that I shed during mass earlier, forgot about the whole month long prepartion for the qualifiers....it seemed as though I was immersed in some different universe. This is what draws me to spending time during the adoration. An hour seems so short.

Well in the end I realised that this time next year I would be living in an apartment two block away from the church!
From this time on ...I will stop worrying and start believing every moment of my Life.

Road Trip

During the Spring Break most students at the UM would go home, go on ASB (alternative spring break), sit at home aka dorm or go to Cancun - but the adventurous ones like us go on a roadtrip. Four zesty girls decided to explore America from a different perspective - rent a car and stop at places along the way, soaking in new experiences as they come. After extensive planning sessions and meetings (which took longer to find a common time to meet) we decided to go to Nashville in Tennessee, the music city with stops at Smoky mountains and Mammoth caves.

The drive to Smoky mountains (SM) was long but peppered with frequent stops at gas stations, detours in small towns (which were usually deserted). We reached Pigeon Forge at 4PM but went further down to Gatlinberg, the town closer to the Smoky Mountains. Pigeon forge was like a part of the strip in Vegas. Numerous amusement parks on either side of the roads, multiple pizza places, chain restaurants with loads of mini resort type lodges advertising rates for rooms and queer looking building structures. After an early breakfast in the morning we started off on the first of 3 hikes on SM. Laurel Falls was the first warm up trail slightly less than a mile. The waterfalls were simply gorgeous, swirling waters formed mini pools of frozen ice, with frozen drapes along the sides of the waterfall. We then proceeded to the second trail which was covered with snow and took about 3 hours going over the banks of a winding river, tree bridges, narrow steps and pebbled paths. We saw trees - some barren, some green and some having fresh leaves, saw shrubs and the gurgling river. The third trail was over the Appalachian mountains and was supposed to be the most scenic of all the trails. We started off at 1PM in the afternoon and soon realised this would not be as easy as the rest. Thoughts of being stranded with no cell reception and modes of communication made us realise that there were very few people who would actually come to rescue us! Not a pleasant thought but it did not stop us from trekking about 2 miles (might have been less) over an icy trail sprinkled with fresh snow. there were multiple skid marks followed by roars of laughter, followed by more falls. Finally realism dawned and we decided that seeing the sunset from the mountain top was not worth treacherous return 'ride' down. This was one of the most difficult treks for all in the group - we could not ignore the back pain the next morning and in my case I realised that I had these muscles in my calves that are used in steadying oneself from skidding when going downhill. Oh my, I had never felt such pain in my calves before! But all this trekking did not stop us from dining out in a lovely Italian restaurant. That night we all slept like logs.

Next morning we were on our way to Nashville, where we saw the Parthenon; the only place in the world that has the exact replica of the original Greek structure, complete with the 42 feet statue of goddess Athena holding a 6 feet tall goddess Nike. We then dined, walked down the streets, explored the stores, bought a pair of Cowboy boots and decided on a place to dine at the Listening Room. Since Nashville in the capital of country music, there were all these places where we could hang out and listen to artists perform while we dined. Apparently this songwriter who performed for us was nominated for the Grammys and this other one had written songs for one of the American Idol contestants.

The next morning after an early Ash Wednesday service we drove down to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We got there just in time for the tours, thanks to confusion due to the difference in time zones. Mammoth caves are longest caves in the world, with some of the most beautiful natural sights. There were bottomless pits in the depths of the caves, massive cathedral like domes, flat ceilings, tiny alcoves where one could easily lose ones way and sheer amazement as you wonder how the water managed to form such a structure. The tour guide made us experience darkness - complete blackout, there was not a single ray of light and no sound whatsoever, felt trapped, helpless and scared. At one point we saw the 'frozen Niagra' - deposition of white calcium salts, crystallized into a waterfall stretching several meters.

We then drove drown to Louisville, which was supposedly a small town but that these tall sky scrapper like buildings with hardly anyone on the streets. We had dinner and continued to drive down back to Ann Arbor. Stopped for the night in some place near Cincinnati and finally arrived in warm weather to Ann Arbor.

This was by far the most adventurous trip I've had in a long time. Its was nice to hang out with friends for continuous periods of time - you get to know them better - learn a little more about tastes in music, food, opinions on 'important matters' in life, their sleeping habits and see different shades beyond the Blue and Yellow.

Need based God therapy

I can't help but think about the selfish attitude of human beings, me included.
Why do we feel the need of God only in times of need? in distress? in utter helplessness? Do we experience God only in moments like these? Are these a pre requisite to the beginning of a faith journey. incidentally my journey in Faith was cemented by a life saving incident event coupled with the gradual understanding of God's role in my life. I feel that experiencing God in our life is based totally on our choice to let Him work his ways. I was working on this breast cancer project and was researching on the treatment options and prognosis of the disease and was led to this section where they suggested spiritual support for surviving cancer. It made me think how self centered we can be. Seek God or spirituality only in times of need at other times we are happy to be hedonistic, consumeristic and independent creatures.
This is one of the many reasons that makes me feel secure - the thought that there is God out there to take of things makes me feel protected, nurtured and peaceful. I don't have to figure out a solution to every problem in my life, I don't have to know what will happen 10 years down the line, I don't have to know which relationships I will be involved in; all these are taken care of - I only need to revel the present moment and live it for the glory of God.