Keep pushing and…

With a new spirit and energy for life, we dove headfirst into the next two days of retreat preparation, ready for our first major retreat back from WYD, a 3-day overnight with year 10 girls. I quite enjoyed the retreat, but it was SO draining, I think only just now, a month and a half later, I am finally over its stress. I had quite a large role in the retreat, and with all of us still being a bit tired and out of it post-WYD, plus coming off a big trip the weekend before, it took its toll on all of us. I certainly got pretty burnt from it! And that’s where the troubles of the term began: at the beginning. Not a good place for issues to arise.

Just after that retreat was the wedding of Mary Issa, one of the beautiful women who works in the Sydney Uni Chapliancy (I have her to thank for much of my faith formation over the past year), and it was a beautiful wedding – her train was 18 feet long!

That Sunday ended up being a gorgeous day so a friend (Sarah…not the Sarah that stayed in Indy though) and I walked the Eastern Suburbs Coastal walk. It goes from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach, passing a few other beaches along the way, one of them being Clovelly (where I live!). It’s a gorgeous walk, and the day was a marvelous one for it. It was good to get out and walk a bit of the stress off anyway.

The following week was complete with the Theology on Tap session given by Bishop Anthony Fisher, OP, the coordinator of WYD (he had a HEAVY job on his shoulders!), and a few retreats, along with some spiritual direction from the ever helpful Fr. Michael.

That Friday, I woke up feeling quite sick (there it is again, that WYD bug, popping up at “convenient” times!), but I had to fight the illness all day because that evening I was set to attend a Lebanese dinner dance (which appears nothing short of something like a formal high school prom for Catholic Maronites!). I had to go because a friend had bought me the ticket, and earlier in the year I hadn’t been able to go at another time when she had also had a few extra tickets. Not to mention a very good friend, Jason, was using this dinner dance as a farewell party – he has left for Lebanon to study in the Maronite seminary to be a priest! He will be there for 6 years…unless God provides me a trip to Lebanon, there is a real possibility I will never see him again! So sick or not, I was going to this dance. Besides, lots of water and some makeup always makes a girl feel better! Right?

Feel better…that was a relative term all night. I made it though, and I had quite a good time despite the fever and very sore throat. I learned how to dance the dabki, and witnessed the powerful Lebanese drums in action, as well as hear d lots of Arabic songs, saw a friend perform, and meet so many lovely Middle Eastern people! The food was wonderful, dancing was fun, and then, an absolute angel offered to give me a ride home at a time when I didn’t think I could actually hold off the illness anymore. He was so nice, because to take me home, he had to go something like 45 minutes out of the way! God bless him.

I collapsed into bed and stayed there pretty much until that Sunday, when I only got up long enough to go to Mass. I hoped that by allowing the virus or whatever it was to run its course it wouldn’t come back again later at another convenient time. So far so good!