Thursday, January 26, 2006
Well the March for Life was awesome.
We drove 18 hours to get there, arriving at about 3:45pm on Sunday. We had just enough time to change our clothes and brush our teeth before running to Mass at the Basilica. I called Betsy to plan on meeting up with her, and off we went. When we got there, we waited outside the Basilica for a bit, seeing if we knew anyone. Then a Sister of Life went flying up the stairs, and I ran after her in hopes it was one of the three we knew; however, it was not. She said that her sisters are around, though, and to keep looking. So we did. Then we ran into Sister Mary Gabriel and Sister Antoniana and the whole crew! It was so great. They're wonderful. After that we found Betsy, and waited in the really long line in the cafeteria in the basement of the Basilica to get some dinner. After dinner, Betsy left, and we went to try to find a seat in the Basilica (which was not happening!), and we ended up standing all the way in the back next to some Missionaries of Charity, and a guy dressed like Jesus. It was pretty sweet being at Mass next to some Missionaries of Charity! After Mass we went back to our hotel (in the RAIN). We woke up Monday morning and took the Metro to St. Joseph's for Mass. It was a nice Mass, with a pretty cool priest. Then we had breakfast at Johnny Rocket's at Union Station. It was great fun. We went out to the rally, which was nice, until we had to move to line up for the March and some angry high school moms got upset with me. Argh. Then we ran into the Sisters of Life again, which was awesome. We lined up for the March (a bajillion different ways, since the Knights kept telling us something different, getting quite angry since we weren't listening (when actually we were really confused by a lot of different commands!). That was not fun. However, Rusty's seminarian friend, Chris, came over to march with us, and he lightened the mood. When the March began, we all got out our rosaries and prayed our way through it. It was very very moving, seeing so many people, each group conducting their own rosary or hymn or other form of prayer whilst marching. It was beautiful. Then we ran into Sister Immaculata, which was really fun. She's so great. :) Then Chris (Rusty's friend) ran into Brother Bonaventure, from EWTN, who he knows from class. Brother invited us to be interviewed on EWTN. We, of course, obliged to his request. ;) It was pretty great. We weren't on for very long, but it was long enough to excite us! Then we kept marching, running into the Nashville Dominicans. I said hello to Sister Mary Emily, and we took a picture. There were a lot of people around, so we didn't get to chat with them as much as we had with the Sisters of Life. However, we ran into them in front of the Supreme Court, so we stood around, watching the enormous crowds of people keep filing in. It was outstanding. Then we ran into the Sisters of Life again, and Rusty asked Mother Agnes if the Sisters could come out to Loras again next year. :) Hoorah. We watched the Silent No More women for a little while (all I can say is "wow" - there are no words for the experience those women have had - I don't know how they even articulate it...). Then we went back to the hotel via the Metro in order to be back for the monument tour we were going on that night. We drove to a few monuments (the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam, WWII, Korea, Washington Monument, FDR Memorial, and a drive-by of Jefferson's). It was really amazing by night. Then Tuesday morning we woke up and went to Mass at the Basilica in the Crypt church. We toured the Basilica then went to the JP2 Cultural Center. It was pretty sweet. Then we went over to the Holocaust Museum. That's another thing that I can't really put into words. The parallels between the museum and the reason I was in DC were too strong. Both heinous crimes leave my soul pierced and my mind forever wondering how we can continue doing this to ourselves, disguising it a bit so as to make it look less disgusting (when in actuality, it's worse, because we have no excuse at this point...not that we ever have). Then we Metro'd our way back to the hotel and took off for Dubuque, once again. It was an awesome time.
Now for the silly parts.
The List of Things Done/Things Said That Made the DC Trip HILARIOUS:
1. Kanye smashing the bus into the wall.
2. A hunk of the bus hanging off afterwards.
3. Joking about getting Kanye some duct tape.
4. "Lolita, sweetie, I need another cocktail."
5. Losing Chartreuse at the Basilica.
6. Losing Chartreuse again.
7. Chartreuse hating us.
8. Chartreuse thinking Rusty's name was Brett.
9. Charlie showering at 3 a.m.
10. A pro-life dog named Meatball (a.k.a. Rum and Coke).
11. Brother John Maximillian CrimeFighter.
12. Leaving 5 minute long voice mails for Padre.
13. Pizza at Sbarro with the Franciscan Friars of the Eternal Word.
14. Rusty, the Dutch girl.
15. Not being able to sleep on a bus = flopping like a fish.
16. "Loras Colegge"
17. After each great quote by FDR at his memorial: "I'll drink to that!"
18. Laverne singing.
19. The yarn knot ball.
20. Posing like saints for pictures with them.
21. "Positively No Admittance" = try the door to see if it's open.
22. Wanting to ask the guy dressed like Jesus if he was saved.
23. Singing the blessing song over the rosary to "bless" it.
24. The deacon saying "Beleezebel"
25. Charlie calling Rusty "Randy."
To be continued...
We drove 18 hours to get there, arriving at about 3:45pm on Sunday. We had just enough time to change our clothes and brush our teeth before running to Mass at the Basilica. I called Betsy to plan on meeting up with her, and off we went. When we got there, we waited outside the Basilica for a bit, seeing if we knew anyone. Then a Sister of Life went flying up the stairs, and I ran after her in hopes it was one of the three we knew; however, it was not. She said that her sisters are around, though, and to keep looking. So we did. Then we ran into Sister Mary Gabriel and Sister Antoniana and the whole crew! It was so great. They're wonderful. After that we found Betsy, and waited in the really long line in the cafeteria in the basement of the Basilica to get some dinner. After dinner, Betsy left, and we went to try to find a seat in the Basilica (which was not happening!), and we ended up standing all the way in the back next to some Missionaries of Charity, and a guy dressed like Jesus. It was pretty sweet being at Mass next to some Missionaries of Charity! After Mass we went back to our hotel (in the RAIN). We woke up Monday morning and took the Metro to St. Joseph's for Mass. It was a nice Mass, with a pretty cool priest. Then we had breakfast at Johnny Rocket's at Union Station. It was great fun. We went out to the rally, which was nice, until we had to move to line up for the March and some angry high school moms got upset with me. Argh. Then we ran into the Sisters of Life again, which was awesome. We lined up for the March (a bajillion different ways, since the Knights kept telling us something different, getting quite angry since we weren't listening (when actually we were really confused by a lot of different commands!). That was not fun. However, Rusty's seminarian friend, Chris, came over to march with us, and he lightened the mood. When the March began, we all got out our rosaries and prayed our way through it. It was very very moving, seeing so many people, each group conducting their own rosary or hymn or other form of prayer whilst marching. It was beautiful. Then we ran into Sister Immaculata, which was really fun. She's so great. :) Then Chris (Rusty's friend) ran into Brother Bonaventure, from EWTN, who he knows from class. Brother invited us to be interviewed on EWTN. We, of course, obliged to his request. ;) It was pretty great. We weren't on for very long, but it was long enough to excite us! Then we kept marching, running into the Nashville Dominicans. I said hello to Sister Mary Emily, and we took a picture. There were a lot of people around, so we didn't get to chat with them as much as we had with the Sisters of Life. However, we ran into them in front of the Supreme Court, so we stood around, watching the enormous crowds of people keep filing in. It was outstanding. Then we ran into the Sisters of Life again, and Rusty asked Mother Agnes if the Sisters could come out to Loras again next year. :) Hoorah. We watched the Silent No More women for a little while (all I can say is "wow" - there are no words for the experience those women have had - I don't know how they even articulate it...). Then we went back to the hotel via the Metro in order to be back for the monument tour we were going on that night. We drove to a few monuments (the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam, WWII, Korea, Washington Monument, FDR Memorial, and a drive-by of Jefferson's). It was really amazing by night. Then Tuesday morning we woke up and went to Mass at the Basilica in the Crypt church. We toured the Basilica then went to the JP2 Cultural Center. It was pretty sweet. Then we went over to the Holocaust Museum. That's another thing that I can't really put into words. The parallels between the museum and the reason I was in DC were too strong. Both heinous crimes leave my soul pierced and my mind forever wondering how we can continue doing this to ourselves, disguising it a bit so as to make it look less disgusting (when in actuality, it's worse, because we have no excuse at this point...not that we ever have). Then we Metro'd our way back to the hotel and took off for Dubuque, once again. It was an awesome time.
Now for the silly parts.
The List of Things Done/Things Said That Made the DC Trip HILARIOUS:
1. Kanye smashing the bus into the wall.
2. A hunk of the bus hanging off afterwards.
3. Joking about getting Kanye some duct tape.
4. "Lolita, sweetie, I need another cocktail."
5. Losing Chartreuse at the Basilica.
6. Losing Chartreuse again.
7. Chartreuse hating us.
8. Chartreuse thinking Rusty's name was Brett.
9. Charlie showering at 3 a.m.
10. A pro-life dog named Meatball (a.k.a. Rum and Coke).
11. Brother John Maximillian CrimeFighter.
12. Leaving 5 minute long voice mails for Padre.
13. Pizza at Sbarro with the Franciscan Friars of the Eternal Word.
14. Rusty, the Dutch girl.
15. Not being able to sleep on a bus = flopping like a fish.
16. "Loras Colegge"
17. After each great quote by FDR at his memorial: "I'll drink to that!"
18. Laverne singing.
19. The yarn knot ball.
20. Posing like saints for pictures with them.
21. "Positively No Admittance" = try the door to see if it's open.
22. Wanting to ask the guy dressed like Jesus if he was saved.
23. Singing the blessing song over the rosary to "bless" it.
24. The deacon saying "Beleezebel"
25. Charlie calling Rusty "Randy."
To be continued...
