Not much summer vacation for this old girl!!

Wow...two years of seminary already completed!  On one hand, it seems like I just arrived...but on the other hand, well...the other hand is suffering from writer's cramp, especially after my History of Christian Worship course from this past spring!  As the professor said at the beginning of the course in January, we would cover 300 years each minute....for all of the major liturgical forms of worship (i.e., baptism, Eucharist, matrimony, etc.) in the church!  It was like being in a liturgical vortex for 3 hours each Thursday morning...!  I frequently was wringing my right hand and giving my professor a "poor pitiful look" as I worked out hand cramps!

The second semester of the second year of study here at the Sewanee School of Theology is notorious for being the most challenging.  And I can say that it lived up to its reputation....it has taken me four weeks to get my sleeping patterns regulated!  But the most challenging part for me was the "winter that would not end" - I finally pulled out my summer clothes in mid-May!  When I was getting a hair cut the last week in February in nearby Monteagle, I was told that the Farmer's Almanac predicted three snow falls in March...and I can tell you now that the Almanac hit the mark!  Here's proof of one of the big March snows...my classmate from Colorado continues to tell me that this is nothing but for this old Texas gal it is enough!

 

 



Holy Week is pretty special here in Sewanee...as I have said before, Episcopalians really know how to put on liturgical pomp and ceremony!  Before the Good Friday service, there is a walked Stations of the Cross from one Episcopal parish to the University's chapel.  A classmate sent this photo....

 

And a little known, but Gulf Coast driven, festival is celebrated on Holy Saturday - the Solemn Feast of the Holy Crawfish.  It was a bit cold this year but the outside temperature helped with our internal temperatures during the celebration....

 

 

I received funding for two different trips this summer...so here is my itinerary!  I leave Houston on June 29th and land in Nairobi, Kenya on July 1st.  The next day I leave for southwest Kenya and will teach prayer practices to girls at a school that is in the shadows of Mount Kilimanjaro! ( http://www.staffofhope.org/)  After two weeks there, I will take a 5-day photo safari...I mean, when will I get back to Africa??!!  Then on August 18th, I fly to Tel Aviv....I have 5 days in the Old City of Jesrusalem before my academic program begins at St. George's College (http://sgcjerusalem.org/) on July 23rd.  I return to Houston on August 8th...whew!  Please keep my travels in your prayers...I hope to have great pictures to add to my next blog entry!

Time to go pack!!!