Preparing to go Down Under

     Last week I was being interviewed about my Fr. Smith Fellowship, and the woman asked me: "What do you hope to bring back from your time in Australia?"  The first thing that came to my mind: a koala.  I told her this and she laughed, but I don't think she realized that I was serious...

     It's hard to believe that just 24 hours from now I will be boarding the plane at Logan Airport that will begin my 6-week journey to the Land Down Under.  The time certainly crept up on me!  As I sit here now with my dog, having enjoyed what may be my last Dunkin Donuts coffee for the next 6 weeks, I'm trying to imagine what these weeks may hold.  It's been a long time in the planning, from the first stages of emails and proposals to being blessed with the Fellowship I received to actually preparing to embark on the journey that awaits!

     I'll be spending my time in Australia in the city of Adelaide, working at the Blackfriars Priory School, an all boys Dominican-run school.  The school is home to 1000 students between the ages of 5 and 18, and I'll be working in the Chaplain's office and helping teach Religious Education classes.  Fr Mannes Tellis, OP, the chaplain at Blackfriars, has been working on a program for me there, so it will be really exciting to see what he will have me doing.  I'll be staying with one of the teachers from the school, and as Fr Mannes said, I will be "shared around" and possibly staying with more than one different family.  What a great way to really experience life in Australia!

     I can't wait to work with the boys of Blackfriars, and I'm equally excited (or maybe more so...) to see kangaroos, koalas, and all that Australia has to offer.  This will certainly be an adventure, and I hope that you can follow along with me on my blog!