Second Week @ ND

My first RCIA meeting was today. We began with a talk on the sacraments. I found it to be very clarifying and simple. I took some notes and learnt some interesting things I didn't know about the sacraments. Like for example, the sacraments have three dimensions: past, present and future. They celebrate God's saving activity through the life and ministry of Christ and are a lived reality now that point to the future glory of the kingdom of God.

After the homily, the catechumen were dismissed from mass to go prepare for entering the Church through reflecting and sharing on Scripture. We were called up to the front and the priest gave us a blessing. It was really nice! After that I turned around and the sun was beaming so intensely into the church, illuminating the entrance and the fountain of holy water. So when we walked down the aisle to leave, we walked into that light. It was really beautiful... one of those symbolic moments when you know it was from God.

There is plenty of community on campus but still I haven't nestled in yet. Who said that coming here was going to be easy? Oh that was me... haha! I was wrong :) How can I expect everything to be just given to me without a little effort on my part? I can't wait to be inspired by everyone I meet! Christian or not.

I found the Grotto this week! It really is a special place of prayer. I can't wait to see it at night - apparently it is spectacular. I will take some pictures of it at night soon! The rosary is prayed daily at 6:45pm here but I'm usually at home then. I'm not comfortable enough to stay that late at night then walk home in the dark (I have a 30 min walk!). I love being at the Grotto. I love how Catholics have so many symbols that help us in our faith. Each candle holds a prayer - or maybe many prayers. I have found the beauty and connectedness one feels to God and Our Mother using candles. I love it.

It's official. My name is up outside the door of the lab. I've developed a passion for research this past week, quite to my surprise. I praise God for that. I can't wait to see where this research goes. We are interested in studying DMSO as a radical scavenger and I found it to be an odd choice. All I knew about DMSO was that it is a mild oxidant used in SWERN oxidation for the transformation of primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones, respectively. I researched it on the internet and it is such a curious molecule. It first became of interest when Dr. Jacob discovered in the early 60's that it can penetrate the body without harming it. It also is great in delivering drugs throughout the body.

 These American squirrels really make me laugh! They are so funny! Although I have yet to see one jump out of a garbage can onto a poor unsuspecting student :P

First Week @ ND

To begin, a warm & loving shout-out to all my friends back home (esp. JY!) for being my support system from the beginning of my journey of becoming Catholic to where God has lead me now... I praise God for each one of you. Until the beginning of this year, I have been blessed to be surrounded by an amazing group of people so genuine, so dedicated to Christ... but now it's time for me to continue my walk on my own. God is so faithful, such a protecting Father. He didn't send me away to a place where I would have had trouble adjusting to being without my support system. He has provided all the resources and opportunities I could ever imagine here at ND. I haven't felt homesick at any point and have taken great comfort knowing that Jesus is present on campus in the Tabernacle - what a blessed campus. I went to Mass last Sunday, which was celebrated in the Sacred Heart Crypt. I was aiming to go to the Mass in the Basilica but the schedule had changed because the students weren't back at school yet. Still, I got to spend some time in the Basilica.

My 7 year old sony cyber shot digital camera do not do the Basilica justice. I have never been in so much awe in a Church before. It's incredible. The Tabernacle is breath-taking... you can't see all the details of it in these pics though. And the altar is stunning as well!

Check out who is behind the Tabernacle in the picture to the right.. None other than Our Mother! See, she always leads us to the Eucharist!
:D

Look! It's St. Bernadette! There is a Grotto on campus, which is a replica of Lourdes in France (1/7 of the size). I'll post a picture of it someday. You can make an offering and light a candle there and make an intention. People are always coming and going from it... so nice to see that!

To the right is a picture of one of the ceiling paintings. I'm not sure what it means/represents but I like it a lot!

Ora? check. Labora? ....

I worked from 8:30am-5:00pm all week. I went around talking to different professors and ended up doing a research project on the effects of radiation on DNA. The quantification of the DNA after radiation will be attained primarily from gel electrophoresis. So, one day I spent my time making the gel, irradiating DNA samples and then injecting the samples into the wells in the gel. The next day I looked at the gel using a UV source and saw that my DNA ran through the gel, separating into different parts, like it should :) Yay! Then afterwards I got to play with the gel - it cleaved so nicely! And then I got creative...
It's a agarose gel inukshuk! Holla Canada!

We have a cool staff room. Americans have crazy cheap vending machines. These Oreos were 65 cents. We need one of these vending machines in Mills eh Mimi?
















   ...I'm not the only jokester at ND...check this out:

This is a famous machine, it's actually called R2D2. It's  an ion scatterer...and also a very small replica of the Golden Dome at Notre Dame. Apparently some grad students were bored and created this one night. Hahaha scientists with humour.










Now onto the flora & fauna.

Campus has so many of these berry bearing trees! Blue ones and red ones! I love them! The snow capping the berries made the trees look so cute! But I'm not the only one who was "caught up" with these trees...

Below is a squirrel that is about 3x larger than our Canadian squirrels or roughly the size of a large Chihuahua. But good news! They aren't aggressive - with humans or other squirrels!  This squirrel in the picture below was so chill... I went within two metres of it to snap this shot with my cellphone and it didn't budge. Too concerned with eating the lovely red berries! I had to laugh at it though, the branch was bent down so far under its weight that it could have snapped off.

Well, there's a small look at my first week! :D