After the trip to Chisholm I came back to my host family and spent a fun evening with them telling about the trip and teaching twinkle twinkle to little James in the Finnish language. I also got to meet the first representative of the third generation. Here’s a nice family portrait. I really felt like part of the family.
Like mother, like daughter: Emily and Michelle going to morning Mass (and I with them of course). There was another perpetual adoration chapel and we stayed there for a while. There was also a nice picture of the conversion of St. Paul in the church.
Then it was time to leave St. Paul (both the picture and the city, but not the apostle) behind and head on a 27-hour-long road trip! I took the Greyhound bus from St. Paul to Hagerstown, Maryland, transfering in Chicago, Illinois and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania plus somewhere extra. Some of the stops were in Madison, Tomah, Cleveland, Milwaukee… I sat next to some very interesting and sometimes peculiar people. A man from Liberia, a Sufi from Pakistan, an Amish family that spoke a very strange German dialect… at one point the lavatory ”for your convenience” (as the driver always announced) was actually for our inconvenience because well… it started stinking big time. Here are some views from the journey: Chicago by night, Pittsburgh by day and an Amish baby&uncle:)
Sometime before 6 pm on the 25th I arrived in Hagerstown. I was taken to Greencastle, PA, where the Sungenis family resides. Robert Sungenis is a Catholic apologist, founder and president of CAI. He is also a baseball umpire and so I got to see my first baseball game:) I also got to meet the wonderfully sweet children. They loved my magic tricks although there were problems pronouncing and remembering names on both sides:) I heard one of them later said: ”Elmo didn’t know our names, but he did card tricks for us.” :D
I also brought some salmiakki (ammonium chloride ”candy”) and soy sauce for Bob;)
Emil Anton 