What I've learned...

So this list format that I've used for my last few posts has been working pretty well for me.  I think I'm going to try to stretch it a little farther this week as I present to you some things that I've learned from my experiences here.  Clearly, I already knew some of these things factually before, but now I know them experientially as well. 

-There is less oxygen in Denver than in the Great Plains.  There is less oxygen in the mountains than in Denver.  There is a direct correlation between the level of oxygen and my ability to breathe when I work out. 
-Yogurt is good for a long time past the printed date.
-The way we should treat the homeless person, the addicted person, or the poor person is... like a person. 
-Sometimes the best thing God can do for us is to remind us of our littleness. 
-Mountains are big.  And beautiful. 
-Kicking a soccer ball requires much more technique than you'd think.  Unless you already know how to kick a soccer ball, then I'm sure you know just how much technique goes into it. 
-Sometimes it's not a bad idea to follow the high-altitude directions for baking. 
-"We are called to greatness, not to comfort." -Pope Benedict XVI
-A self-defense class can make you sore for days. 
-Learning prayers in Spanish isn't that hard if you just memorize a couple lines at a time. 
-Truth and charity are inseparable concepts- you cannot have one without the other.  (See Caritas in Veritate by Pope Benedict.)
-Carving rounded letters on a pumpkin with a 5-inch long knife is no easy feat. 
-Playing basketball with people is a great community builder.  (I definitely already knew this one, but some of my teammates got to learn it.)  :)
-Sometimes people's needs are more than we can meet, but there is always something we can do for them.  Blessed Chiara Badano, a young woman who was in the hospital with cancer for the last part of her life, said, "I have nothing left, but I have my heart, and with that I can always love."  Even if we can do nothing else for people, we can always love them.  And pray, of course. 
-The only way we can really accomplish anything is if we let God accomplish it through us. 
-Skype doesn't work 3-way. 

Also, here's the article about the Gabriel House that was recently in the Spanish Archdiocesan newspaper.  Sorry if you're not bilingual.