The Dalai Lama and more

This week I had a lot of adventures.  Let me share some of them with you.

The Dalai Lama at Loyola University.

On Thursday, the Dalai Lama was conferred with an honorary degree for his commitments to interfaith dialogue and a “lifelong devotion to peace and nonviolence” by my university.  He then delivered a speech and answered questions by a number of students.  To participate in this ceremony I had to pay $10, wait for about an hour in the cold outside the arena where the ceremony was to be held, and sit on a very uncomfortable bench.   Nevertheless it was really worth it.  The Dalai Lama was very informal and has a good sense of humour, which made the event even more enjoyable. (He has this infectious giggle…)  His message was also very thought provoking.  He spoke about the essential need for inner peace and compassion and about injustices in the world.  He also praised the good relationship Buddhists have with Christians especially Catholics.  The event reminded me a lot of the Youth Meeting we had with Pope Benedict in Malta two years ago. It was after all an event which promoted more respect and dialogue between people who hold different beliefs.

An adventure on the El.

Earlier in the week, on my way to an appointment, to which I was already late, I got a wrong train.  So far so good, you would say.  The only problem was that fate would have it that the train I caught wasn’t just a normal train, but an express one.  That meant that I couldn’t stop at the next station, because the train didn’t stop in that station.  It meant that I had to wait until I got to Howard, (the farthest north I’ve ever been I Chicago on the El) catch the train back to where I had originally left from and catch the right train to continue with my journey.  It was quite an adventure.  To add insult to injury, when I arrived at Howard, I thought I shouldn’t catch the normal train (Red) which was about to leave, but wait for the express line (Purple).  Still when the purple line train arrived, I discovered that it doesn’t make the journey southwards.  So I had to wait for the red line, which fortunately didn’t take long to arrive.  To recap, this adventure costed me an hour of my life, but on a positive note, now I know much more about the transportation system in Chicago.

Spring Block party

On Wednesday we had the Spring Block party which was cool.  There was free food and also some entertainment.  Unfortunately due to the bad weather, most of the stuff had to be stopped or moved indoors.  I went to the party with some of the Chinese friends I’ve met here, and took the opportunity to learn some mandarin words, might come in handy when meeting the PRC’s president. :P

International Talent show

And finally, yesterday I went to a Talent show organised by the Loyola International Club.  It was a very pleasant evening and it was fantastic to see so many performances from different cultures from all over the world.  This semester I didn’t have a lot of time to participate in the events organised by the Club.  I hope that in the coming months I’ll have more time to participate, because you do learn a lot about different cultures and it is also fun!