Forty of us gathered at the airport before we were bussed to the Salesianum. I knew I wasn't in Minnesota when I saw palm trees, fan-shaped pines, and 12-foot-tall grasses along the highway.

Dom Henry O'Shea, OSB, Glenstal Abbey, Ireland in his opening address to the congress emphasized that our ties are to the abbeys we have affiliated ourselves with, not the congress. The congress is not a jamboree for oblates. It provides an opportunity to experience unity in diversity. He hoped that we spend our time getting to know oblates from countries other than our own.

He changed the schedule, cancelling compline so we travellers could rest: "Too much religion is not good."