An End and A Beginning

Hello everyone, and apologies for my long absence from writing. The second half of the semester had considerably more papers than the first, and I had to direct most of my writing impetus to that end. However, it is now Christmas break and I have no responsibilities for several weeks. My desire in this post is to review the latter half of the fall semester, but I'm afraid I'm too far removed from it to recall it really well. Gosh, that makes me sound like I have amnesia. However, I will try to recall some events from the semester. For our Fall Tour the Glee Club took a rather convoluted route between stops in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. It was certainly not the most inspiring itinerary, but most of that can be blamed on the football schedule, which had two home football games on the Saturdays of Fall Break. The tour began with a day trip to Warsaw (I think), Indiana, where we performed for an elderly but appreciative audience. Then we returned to Notre Dame for the night, an odd interlude that made it seem like the tour hadn't really begun. The next day we drove to Wisconsin, where Pete Dolan impressed everyone with his knowledge of local history, most of which was actually very interesting, keeping in mind that I came to college a history major. We also were treated to a tour of the Miller brewery, capped off by three free samples in their tap room. The volume of beer produced there daily is astounding.

After that we began criss-crossing the upper Midwest, I believe we drove by Chicago three times without stopping. Nothing too special stands out, except for a swine flu scare in Illinois and nice day touring Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had a competition that involved artists using public space to display their work, with some surprising results, like the giant table and chairs on one of their bridges.

The rest of the semester went very well for the most part, as I realized that I was entering my final weeks at Notre Dame before leaving until next fall. The football season, however, went downhill fast after our "home" football game against Washington State, which in fact took place in San Antonio. I'm not sure about the new policy of playing one game a year at a distant location, I would rather schedule another home and away series or a neutral site game against a quality opponent. At least we won the game, but then promptly lost the next four games, including our second straight senior game loss, this year to Connecticut. I'm a bit worried about my last home game as a student, which will be against Utah next November.

Although we lost our second straight home game to Navy, the rest of that weekend went very well. My parents, grandparents, and sister all visited, the Glee Club had their triennial reunion, and on Friday night I went to the Navy Ball with a lovely young woman named Maya, who proved herself to be an excellent dancer. I suppose that isn't too surprising for someone who grew up in Rome. Unfortunately I had to miss the Reunion concert that night, but it was certainly worth it. Then on Sunday I visited Chicago with my family on my sister's birthday, where we ate a wonderful but huge Greek dinner that left us barely capable of waddling back to the hotel.

I wasn't able to return home for Thanksgiving, but I still had a great time in South Bend. On Thanksgiving day I joined Robbie, Jessica Mannen, and some other friends for dinner, followed by Monopoly and the first two Lord of the Ring films. Then on Black Friday I went to Chicago with Ashley Elias, as well as her mother and brother. We visited the Field Museum, ate some Chicago-style pizza, and looked at some ridiculously expensive cars, the details of which Nicholas was surprisingly familiar with. The entire day was a nice opportunity to get out of South Bend for a day, and the Elias were a most welcoming family. On Saturday night, or actually very early Sunday morning, Robbie, Tom, and I finished the break's work by seeing Return of the King. I forgot just how long the extended version of that film was, I think I finally went to bed around five in the morning.

The weeks after Thanksgiving are both some of the most hectic and most enjoyable times of the year at Notre Dame. On the one hand there are more papers and tests, with the prospect of finals on the horizon. On the other, it is the Christmas season, which means a lot of caroling (about 10 hours worth spread over two nights) and the Glee Club's most popular concert. As always both the concert and the caroling were a blast, from the timely snowstorm at St. Mary's to the reappearance of Chubby Santa.

Meals provided a setting for some of the best times of the fall. On the weekend of the Purdue game Will Docimo, Matt Drummond, and I all had lunch at North Dining Hall, followed by a great afternoon that included making t-shirts and inventing two great dances. That began a tradition of Saturday lunches that I hope continues next fall. Several of these lunches included trips to Five Guys, and I must say that they are the Willy Wonkas of Burgercraft. That's a bit of an inside joke, but its also true. I also had a series of great goodbye dinners with friends I won't see for 8 months (or in a few cases, perhaps much longer), including a long, delicious dinner at India Garden and a little brunch at Greenfields that relieved me of my remaining FlexPoints.

Finally it was time to return home, this year via I-80 with Jon Asbury, a trip of over a thousand miles. But despite its length the drive went quite well, with good weather, a bit of fast driving, and cheap iced tea to sustain us. Finally I pulled into my driveway on the 19th after listening to the Wyoming Cowboys pull off an exciting victory over Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl, and was greeted with the familiar row of lighted milk jugs that says Christmas like nothing else.

Now in a couple of weeks I will be flying to Egypt, finally beginning the journey that led me to began this blog in the first place. I also suspect that the readership may increase quite a bit, since I'll actually began to advertise its existence. I've been anticipating the trip to Cairo for well over a year, so it seems odd that I am actually so close to taking off. I know that it is an opportunity for adventure, for going into the unknown, that rarely comes across us. This uncertainty, which makes the semester exciting, also makes it a bit nerve-racking. Especially the prospect of the first few days, when I will arrive at Cairo around 2:00 A.M. local time after a day and a half of flights, alone in a foreign place. Most of the rest of the Notre Dame students will be arriving on the 22nd, three days after me. But I'm confident that I'll be fine, remember that I've had worse (2009 began with the Rome airport fiasco, which involved staying there overnight with very few Euros and even less communication with home), and enjoy my first taste of the city that will be my home for the next four and a half months.

Anna Karenina and Birthday

A couple of weeks ago I finished Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Out of all the infamous 19th century Russian novels, this may have been the one I expected to enjoy least. Perhaps it was because my edition was headlined as "One of the greatest love stories in world literature," or maybe it was the rather unhappy woman pictured on the front. Whatever it was, I am happy to say that my fears were not at all justified. It was a very good book, which I found much easier than War and Peace. I think that some of the things I thought would turn me off the book actually helped me like it all the more. For example, Anna Karenina is almost entirely a personal novel in that it has a setting that only involves a small, intimate group. War and Peace, conversely, is a grand historical novel, set largely during Napoleon's wars in Europe. While I enjoy both types of novels I find the personal setting easier to read, which is a rather startling reversal of my earlier tastes in books. For a good portion of my childhood and youth I was inclined to choose "dry" histories over many fiction novels, whose pleasures I discovered later and only very gradually.

One of my favorite parts of the book were the scenes surrounding Levin's engagement and marriage to Kitty (now I've definitely left myself open to charges of sentimentalism). During this time Levin is described as having an unfailingly positive outlook on mankind. He can clearly see that all the people around him are truly good, and that their minor faults are more than made up by their essential good-hearted nature. He is completely filled with love for his fellow men, and is willing to embrace any of them. And while many look upon him with gentle condescension for his love-struck attitude, they cannot help but share in his happiness. I believe that there is some wisdom in this attitude of love that cannot quite be grasped with a more "practical" outlook. A bit of this wisdom is shown by how others react to Levin: they reciprocate his kindliness with their own, although they almost seemed surprised at their own actions. There is a basic truth here, that kindness begets kindness, and an easy way to make the world a better place is to see the goodness in the people around you. But I don't think this is merely a matter of perspective; seeing that goodness will encourage it to grow in them. But of course this really isn't an easy task, it is a lifelong task. One more thing: near the end of the book Anna adopts the opposite outlook, and this helps drive her to despair. The question is: if there is legitimacy in Levin's attitude of seeing people as good, is there equal legitimacy in Anna's tendency towards hatefulness. I fear that there might be, for we all contain both love and hate, but Anna Karenina shows the terrible consequences of focusing on the latter.

Enough with my amateur efforts at literary analysis and philosophy, at least for the night.

My birthday was about a week and a half ago (September 22nd, shared with Bilbo and Frodo!). So now I am 21, and enjoy all the basic rights and privileges of an adult. Not that much has changed in my actual life. I did go to a bar, but only to split one pitcher of Smitwicks between four friends. I came back out quite coherent, which is good since it was a Tuesday. I hope that I don't embrace adulthood too much, and was pleased to receive The Complete Fairy Tales by George MacDonald as a reminder that there is no need to leave childhood delights behind when we grow up. The other side of the equation was shown by by sister's gift: a large water bottle sealed with duct tape and labeled, also on duct tape, "Freakin' Delicious Polish Whiskey." It is, in fact, quite good. The package gave me a good, long laugh, so thanks to Mira. Finally, I got a great surprise when I looked out the window on the morning of my birthday, thanks to Adrianna, that indomitable pillar of cheerfulness. Here's the picture!

Summer Review

I have returned to South Bend, IN, and am just a few days away from beginning a new semester of classes, football games, and Glee Club events.  This is all tremendously exciting stuff, but before I turn to that I want to review the past few months, the summer.  This is my second to last vacation summer, and I hope that I took ample advantage of that fact.  

The season started with a couple of weeks in South Bend, waiting first for graduation and then for the Central America tour to start.  President Obama gave the commencement address and, although I agree with him on many issues, I can say that I was very impressed with his speech.  He spoke on the issue of abortion, which many people, myself included, thought he would avoid for more commonplace topics.  He did so in a thoughtful and clear manner, and deftly handled a tense atmosphere inside the JACC.    

After the graduation I spent a fun week in South Bend with Robbie and Steph's house right off campus, during which we criss-crossed South Bend on two bikes, enjoying the freedom from deadlines and tests.  Then it was time to take off for Guatemala, at least after we did two concerts in Chicagoland.  

The first portion of the tour was largely a tourist-type trip through Mayan ruins in Guatemala and Honduras.  I had never thought of visiting these sights, but I am very glad I was able to.  The sheer size of the towers was incredible, especially in Tikal.  The artwork was also surprisingly good, particularly the book-like pamphlets that I saw in a Guatemala City museum.  The second portion of the tour included our concerts.  Two of these took place in cathedrals, one in Antigua and the other in Guatemala City.  Both were among the most amazing concerts I've ever sang.  The cathedrals were literally packed to their limit, and every crevice was filled with standing listeners, who seemed happy at getting in rather than disappointed at not having a seat.  The audiences were also very friendly and patient.  My favorite moment at either concert may have been when we sand "Luna de Xelaju," a song with immense importance to Guatemalans.  As soon as the song was recognized applause would ripple through the crowd, and we received passionate standing ovations just for singing.   It was truly a special moment at both concerts.

After the concert I was finally able to return to Rawlins and see my family after a 6 month time span that included trips in 4 countries.  Although I was very happy to be home, there isn't too much to recount from those times.  I relaxed, caught up with local friends, played croquet, and just lived day to day.  After a few weeks of this I left again for Hawaii, where I spent a brief week on board a submarine as part of my Navy ROTC training.  I also was able to spend 5 days on shore in Hawaii, which is a beautiful state, albeit an expensive one to live in.  There was plenty of sun and sand to enjoy, as well a couple of well-done museums in Pearl Harbor and a beautiful day trip up to the North Shore.  

After that I returned to Rawlins again for a few more weeks.  Then in late July I went down to California to see Robbie, San Francisco, and Yosemite.  I took the Greyhound down to the Bay Area, a 24 hour trip though Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California.  It was long and sometimes frustrating, but I'm glad I experienced it.  Somehow, perhaps because I didn't really expect to go fast, it didn't seem to go as slow as I thought it would.  Anyway, I reached Martinez, where Robbie lives, and met many of his family and friends.  They were all warm and welcoming, and seemed truly glad to meet/see me (I had met some of them earlier during graduation).  Yosemite was awe-inspiring, especially the view from Cloud's Rest, a lesser-known companion to the trek up Half-Dome.  I was also able to go underneath Bridalveil Falls and  swim in the pool at its bottom.  It was freezing but exhilirating, and made me feel really alive in my body, in a way that being comfortable never can.  

Robbie and I went up to Portland to meet Jessica, and the three of us went east.  Along the way we went to Crater Lake, another great national park, and hung out with the Mannen family, who thoroughly dominated me in Nertz.  Then we took off for Rawlins, where Jessica and Robbie were kind enough to let me entertain them for a day before they continued on to Notre Dame.  

After the return from California there isn't much left to write about (except the backpacking, which I already posted about).  I came home, said my goodbyes until Christmas, and prepared to start another school year, one of my very last.  And that's where I am now.  So good night (day, morning, evening),  hope everything is going well with you,  and thanks for reading!

Wind Rivers Backpacking

I just returned from a 5 day backpacking trip to the Wind River Mountains, one of my favorite places on Earth.  My family and I did a 50-odd mile loop that encompassed the Cirque de Towers, Lizard Head Plateau, and Washakie Pass.  It was one of the most challenging trips I've taken, but also one of the most rewarding.  The entire range is littered with sheer drops and pristine lakes, leftovers from the glaciers which carved the valleys.  

As always, backpacking involved its share of unpleasantries, most of them the result of being denied the conveniences of everyday life.  This was most apparent in the early morning, when I would huddle down in my sleeping bag, dreading the various chores required before we could hit the trail, or even eat breakfast.  Of course a nice hot shower was simply out of the question.  But once the sun finally rose things began to look a little brighter, and I could realize anew what a  wonderful place I was in.  

Going to the Wind Rivers also reminded me of how great it is to live in Wyoming.  On the trail I met people from every corner of the nation: Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Washington, etc.  For them just getting to the Wind Rivers must have been an adventure and challenge of its own.  On the other hand, all that was required of me was to spend a weekend preparing for the trip, and then drive 4 hours to the trailhead.  Of course every state offers sites that people travel thousands of miles to see, but it was nice to feel a special connection with such splendours, and think of them as part of one's own homeland.  

Backpacking also puts me in a state of mind that is difficult to produce in my everyday life.  Perhaps it is the lack of communication with the outside world, or the greater attention that is demanded to obtain food and shelter, or the fact that one is exercising most of the time.  Whatever it is, on backpacking trips the problems that usually seem troublesome to me become quite trivial.  Even problems that normally assume huge proportions (such as finding a career that is enjoyable, contributes something to the world, and allows for some financial stability and free time) shrink into the background.  On the trail I am better at realizing that there is very little I can do about those things at the moment, and I should trust that I will be able to survive any future crises when they come.

Getting Started

Hi everyone, and welcome to my initial foray into the world of blogging. My vague intention is to use this site to show photos, thoughts, etc. during my upcoming semester in Cairo, Egypt. However, on the small chance that I actually continue blogging after that time I decided to make the blog nonspecific to that trip.

I chose feorag because that is Scottish for squirrel, and the Arabic, Farsi, Cherokee, and Latin names were already taken, which shows how popular starting blogs is becoming. The relative popularity of actually maintaining blogs can be seen by visiting most of those other blogs. To be fair, I will probably abandon blogging as soon as my trip is over and add to the cluttered wasteland of abandoned websites. Anyway, squirrel is the animal name given to me by my Popo (grandpa), and so I've developed a strong affinity for that animal.

I named my blog On Running After One's Hat after a wonderful article by GK Chesterton, which can be seen here. That article outlines a philosophy that I hope to live by in general, but perhaps especially in Egypt. I have no doubt that Cairo is full of things a boy accustomed to living a rather luxurious life will find to be inconvenient. I am equally confident that many of these will be opportunities for great adventures.

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to look into my life, and best of luck with your own!