The Life of an Associate in Toronto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMRMW1FXSHw

Things have been really busy in Rochester. I’ve gotten to meet so many new Basilians. We’re starting our Chapter and I can’t really blog about that, but I’ll try to provide you with a couple of things as the days go on. First, my role at Chapter is assistant secretary and sacristan during Mass. We’ve been busy keeping the confreres happy.

Fr. Belisch is here!

Email I sent to the staff of S+L

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Howdy y’all,

It has been a real pleasure getting to know everyone here at S+L. The work, the prayer, the fellowship and friendship has been truly enlightening, enjoyable, and edifying, to say the least.

On July 2^nd I leave for Rochester, NY for the Chapter meeting of Basilians, and then on the 16^th I fly back to Houston for the school year. I’m fixing to spend the year working again as a Freshmen Theology teacher, assistant Campus Minister, and living in community at the greatest Basilian institution, St. Thomas High School. So today is my last day at S+L.

I ask for your prayers for my vocation. Rest assured I will be praying for you, your health, your faith and the continued dedication you show to the much needed media mission to be salt of the earth and light to the world.

You can reach me on Facebook (I’m not the dead socialite heiress to Johnson & Johnson) or at casey.johnson@sths.org / desertbackpacker@gmail.com. If you’re ever in my neck of the woods make sure to let me know and I’ll be happy to show you some Lonestar hospitality (BBQ and beer too!).

What y’all do here at S+L is both important and amazing. The first day I showed up, I remarked to Warren that I thought this place would be a heck of a lot bigger, but y’all really do some amazing things with extraordinary dedication. I’ve been truly blessed to be able to take this experience of S+L and Canadian Catholicism back to the classroom and Texas (S+L South?). I won’t forget the hospitality as well as devotion to Christ I’ve witnessed here. My only regret is that I won’t be able to spend more time here (not the winter), but the Lord never closes a door without opening another.

Yours in Christ,

Casey

“Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.” 1 Cor. 16:13

Parents came over to S+L yesterday. We ate a Mystic Muffin, which is great Lebanese food. The owner is this crazy guy who never stops talking. Turns out his cousin owns Yildizlar off of Kirby in H-town. Then they came over to Frassati house last night after getting lost and walking through the hood that is Moss park. Had an enjoyable visit with them and the Fathers.

Had simple burgers but it really was a great meal. Talked with the priests and my parents until about 10 o’clock and then drove them home. Jim and George really talked my parents ears off with plenty of “cool” references to when they were younger. I just listened in. Today we are getting dim sum and going to the CN tower finally.

Drove to Midland with the parents, Fr. George, and Warren. We got to see the shrine of the Canadien Martyrs and Ste. Marie-among-the-Hurons native village reconstruction.

The Shrine itself is quite impressive. It is built upon the highest hill in the French-Jesuit tradition. They have Brebeuf’s skull and pieces of others’ bones. The fields around the Shrine have an impressive Way of the Cross and statues dedicated to Saints among many nationalities. I’ve got some great pictures I’ll be sharing.

The native village was interesting as well, as it was a live interp camp. Reminded me of Philmont. Had a girl there who could really swing the blacksmiths hammer.

After the visit to Midland we saw La Fontaine, which is where Warren’s ancestors were from. I blinked and missed it. Then we got to see Strawberry Island and the Boys Camp, two former Basilian institutions. Finished the trip off with a trip to Terry Horton’s as my Dad would call it and dinner at Kelsey’s. Got to eat some chicken and watch Quebecois commie/anarchists torch police cars back in Toronto. Good day.

You could see this one coming…

Riots in poor old peaceful Toronto. These people are deluding themselves if they didn’t think the G20 would come to this.

There is something voyeuristic about me, and maybe a little too macho that I enjoyed watching the Anarchists do their destruction and then the police come in and mop the floor with the protesters. It was great, the cops were beating their riot shields as if Shaka Zulu himself was about to lead the charge.

But seriously, this event has almost been a performance for me. It seemed so scripted, the police holding to the party line protecting the wall against all the bleeding hearts who were there for love and peace. And now that they were detained the scream from high heaven of the punishment they underwent. One woman complained they put her in a cage and made her take care of her natural functions in a portopotty. Oh the injustice! The inhumanity! Welcome to jail woman.

I have no sympathy for these protesters and none for the G20 either. It would have been great to see some of those world leaders toe-to-toe with the Black Bloc.

The real injustice is spending 1 bil. on this whole shindig. They should have the G20 in the smallest of towns. Call it picturesque, call it whatever this is a real solution. If you have it in the remotest-of-remote places then either you are a world leader, an aide, a journalist, or a protester, or a cop and that makes it pretty easy to draw the line.

But man traffic was great during the G20.

Went to Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake this past weekend with the parents. We were mostly trying to get away from the protesters for the G20, which turned out to be pretty bad, more on that later.

Niagara is a tourist trap, or as my dad says Turist… The place is designed to get as much money out of you as quick as possible. The Maid of the Mist was certainly worth 14 bucks, but little else was.

The falls were quite impressive. I am surprised by the amount of erosion that engineers have been able to slow, over the years. It is good that they are able to preserve the beauty (minus all the hotels on the skyline) yet still harness energy from the falls.

As for all the people… As I am a National Forest person before a National Park person, I enjoy not being around huge crowds in order to celebrate Nature’s majesty… Hard to do when 14 million people a year visit the Falls.

Now Niagara-on-the-Lake was fairly enjoyable as well. Mom and Dad loved it because of the scenic locale, the restaurants, the colonial houses, and the vineyards. I enjoyed it… because we weren’t surronded by crowds and I got a free beer glass at an Irish pub. Oh and the food was good too.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

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Went to Canadian Wonderland with Fr. George and Warren before we picked my parents up from the airport. It wasn’t as enjoyable as they claimed. As you may know I’m a pretty thrifty person and I enjoy things which don’t cost much, are free or are relative to how much you pay. Canadian Wonderland? 2 out of 5 stars. The rides weren’t that great and it was a small park. Not like the now non-existent Astroworld. But hey, I got to get some puteen, which is gravy slathered fries and cheese kurds. Not as good as chili-cheese fries but still heart-attackingly yummy.

At 808 we really had a diverse group. An Eritrean, Italian, Australian, Korean, Canadian, Brazilian, Spaniard, and me the only American. 50% of residents of Toronto are 1st gen. immigrants. It truly is a diverse and multicultural city. Canadians are devoted to letting in as many people as possible who want to immigrate. It makes for an interesting society and one I need to see more of.

Living in Texas you get to see a lot of crops growing across the countryside. I know I have seen wheat before, but corn, cotton, soy beans, sugar cane, rice and moo-cows are the main things we see back home.

What has really impressed me about Canada, at least Ontario, is the prevalence of wheat. It is quite an enjoyable sight to see flowing fields of wheat sifting across the horizon. Mmm bread.