Simple Joys

These have been a good couple of days since my last note. As I mentioned, I was working on my self-evaluation, which I completed on Wednesday. I only had two hours of class in the morning, so I returned to my room around 11:00 with five hours remaining until I was to meet with my Spiritual Director to review the draft of the evaluation and "get the okay" to finalize it. I finished it at about 3:15 and printed a copy. I took it to my Spiritual Director, who gave it his approval. Feeling lucky, I took it to the apartment of my Formation Advisor (who also had to give the okay) and found him unoccupied. So he looked over it and gave his approval. I went back to my room, make two small corrections, and e-mailed it to myself so I could access the file in our library computer lab (where I do my printing). I went to the computer lab and there was a computer available (the first miracle), so I sat down. The internet was functioning (the second miracle), so I was able to access my e-mail. There was paper in the printer (the third miracle), and ink in the cartridge (the fourth miracle), so I printed the document without difficulty. Then I was to make 11 copies (one for each faculty member), so I approached the copy machine -- indeed, with no little trepidation -- and inserted my copy card into it. There was credit for sufficient copies (the fifth miracle), so I proceeded to make copies. There was paper in the copier (the sixth miracle) and toner in the cartridge (the seventh miracle), so I made the copies, again without difficulty. By now I was feeling really lucky, so I collated the copies and neared the stapler (notorious for being empty or broken) and found a full supply of staples. What a day. What a day! These are the simple things in life that can, amazingly, brighten one's day considerably.

Yesterday, I found out that this is Rome's "Museum Week" or "Culture Week," in which entrance to all the national museums is free. So I went to Castel Sant'Angelo on my way home and took the tour there. Very interesting. It started out as a mausoleum, eventually became a palace, a fortress, and now a museum. It offers a great view of Rome, too, and the sunny weather made it particularly enjoyable.

Today (again taking advantage of free entrance to museums) I went to the Palatine hill, which is one of the seven original hills on which Rome was founded (in 753 B.C. by Romulus). Today there are mostly just ruins left, but it's kind of neat to walk through them and imagine what the area must have been like in Rome's heyday.

This was the last day of class before our two week break for Holy Week and the Octave of Easter. I'm looking forward to the break, also knowing that the six weeks after Easter will pass quickly and I'll be home soon!

I'll fill you in on Easter travel plans in another post.

Until next time...