Br
Domenic Xuereb, once member of the Fairfield Patrician community, and
Maths Co-ordinator at the Secondar School at Fairfield, has been given
the opportunity of participating in a spiritual renewal programme in
the United States. Here are some of his impressions of his early days
in the States before the serious stuff began.
 As I embark on a
four month stay in the United States of America, my experiences of
trips to Europe highlighted by loud American tourists and the words of
Br James Zullo fsc come to mind “what good can come out of America?”Having gone through the new security measures at the airport – checking the visa, fingerprinting & having your picture taken, I am welcomed by Br Aquinas. Then, after a short and fast 45 minute drive, I find myself at the Novitiate on Bolsa Ave in Midway City, California. In my short stay in Midway City, which is surprisingly similar to Fairfield, except for the Hispanic component and there is even “Little Saigon” just three blocks up the road on Bolsa Ave, I have made some observations. Firstly, the roads are much wider & allow better traffic flow, even though you have to adjust to the left hand side driving, making crossing interesting as I keep looking at the wrong side of the traffic. Also the number of people driving while on their “cell” (mobile) phones – it is not illegal here, unlike ‘j-walking’ Secondly, the people are much quieter than those I have met overseas. They are actually similar to those in Sydney, with some even greeting you as you walk along the road. Thirdly, the shops are much bigger than ours. The mall up the road was the largest mall in the USA until a few years ago. The malls are large centres of specialty shops such as Macys, take aways such as Starbucks coffee, etc,. A difference is that they do not have supermarkets such as Woolies in them, these are found elsewhere. The shop assistants are also much friendlier, addressing you as ‘sir’ and obviously out to help. Lastly, as far as eating out is concerned, they are different here. Their servings are larger – they call entrees, starters and the main course, entrees! Having gone out to lunch with friends of the Brothers, they observed that over the last few years the servings have almost doubled in size, hence the weight issue of some of the people here. Like the Irish priest in Br James’s retreat story, I must say that my experience of the States so far has changed my view of the place and that my initial fears were very much unfounded, no small thanks in part to the hospitality of the Brothers here Ignatius and Matthew.  Sangre, where Domenic will call home for several months
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