So... Hello, all! It's spring break! I have now been in Europe for 46 days. Two thirds of Bernardi has set off for other countries already. A few people will be leaving tomorrow. I considered doing two weeks of intense travel for Spring Break, but decided one week is enough so that I can maintain my sanity and actually take a "break."
So here's what's new since I last wrote:
COMMUNITY
Our community has only been growing better and better while here in Rome. I am proud to boast that I have 10 sisters and 18 brothers. (I've never had brothers before.) The men at Bernardi did something incredibly touching last week. They methodically thought out and composed a note for the girls telling us of our worth and thanking us for helping them to be better men of God. They also provided us with some delicious cakes made by Patrick and John M. I had seen Patrick and John baking the cakes the night before and had been told that John "wanted to surprise his brothers at the NAC." It wasn't a lie. Simply what it implied wasn't true. Anyhow. I was totally surprised and honored, and so were the other ladies! This is certainly a Rome highlight!
Ben Eichten's Community Dinners have become a thing! I shared in my last blog entry that we had a very successful Taco Night. We had a very successful "Breakfast for Dinner" night as well. Ben led our Bernardi family in making chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. Did I miss anything? There was syrup to accompany it! <-- (not something easily found in Italy) After dinner and the presentation of the letter to the ladies, Reed and Miguel put on a WONDERFUL improv show with some help from the audience. What a treat! Laughter is my favorite thing :)
I have heard rumor of plans for future Bernardi dinners and whatnot. Oh boy.... We shall see..... ;)
BIRTHDAYS
It's astonishing how many of us Bernardians were born between the months of June and January. Out of the 29 of us, I think there are only 4 or 5 birthdays while we are here. I'm pretty sure I previously shared that we had a delightful surprise party for Tasha's birthday at which we served potatoes of all kinds. (Rather spicy. Someone added a bit too much salt and pepper to the mashed potatoes.)
Well, we've had two more birthday since my last post. John Braun marched forth into this world 21-years-ago (that's a really bad pun). A number of people were traveling on his birthday -- a Friday -- but those of us who remained threw him a birthday celebration. Because it was a Friday in Lent, we had a rather Mexican meal, I would say. There was great rice, beans, chips, and guac. (I LOVE CHIPS!!!) I was blessed to get to sit by John at his birthday dinner. I've had a lot of luck in regard to who I get to sit by at what meal. After attending a beautiful concert at a church, we went to the park and had some wine. Lots of people made it to this portion of the celebration! It was a good time. I avoid wine, having discovered I always react to it negatively with a headache and shot throat, but J.J.M. did convince me to try...what was it? It has kind of a coffee flavor to it. Whatever it was, it was good! So much better than other alcoholic drinks! That said, it's good I only had a sip.
This past week Ben Baker turned 21! After so many birthdays, it's hard to throw a surprise at this point. Basically, the birthday person can probably tell that there will be a surprise but doesn't know what surprise to expect. I had fun peeling apples in the morning for the apple pies. It was a great team effort! So many people contributed so much in the kitchen! We had people baking pies, bacon, corn bread... Reed made some crazy-good cornbread which was decorated with bacon. I must say Kyle really knows how to cook bacon. (Crispy is best.) It took a while for John B. and Ben B. to get back from their outing, but when Ben got back we got to surprise him with all of the goodies and the film "Field of Dreams." I wish I could have watched the whole film with them, but studying for the next day's quiz was important too. I also got to sick near Ben Baker at dinner on his birthday, so that means great company and extra dessert!
SILENT RETREAT
Backtracking to before Ben's birthday... Last weekend we went on a Silent Retreat. I didn't know what to expect. On my last Silent Retreat (at Gainey) I felt the Lord's love in such an amazing way and fell in love with Him with all my heart. I didn't know what to expect on this Silent Retreat.
In summary, it was a good retreat but not as personally riveting as my last one. The bus ride to the retreat center had beautiful views! Aside from a bit of discomfort from carsickness, I enjoyed the ride. We arrived at the retreat center an hour or two after Pope Francis left. He was staying at the center the days before us, so that's CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZYYYYY!!! They showed us where he sat, walked, and everything. So that was a huge blessing and breathtaking.
As for the retreat itself: the silence was fine. I didn't enjoy it as much as on the previous retreat. I missed having Christian music to help guide my thoughts in positive ways. I did read quite a bit, so that was good. Fr. Luke had GREAT stories! I love him! Mostly, the outcome I got from the retreat was that I should stop trying so hard and just let Jesus love me. There's no way to earn His love. See it in the things around you -- nature, the breeze, the laughter, the friends -- and be grateful.
I'm not going to go into detail on this, but I did have a lot of confusion about my vocational discernment on the retreat due to the effect the words in my book were having on me. I met with one of the sisters to talk and received some very unexpected responses from her. Basically, my eyes were open to seeing things (in regard to vocational discernment) in ways I had not previously seen them. I came back from the retreat rather perplexed and confused and not knowing what God wanted of me. My mind was buzzing, but I was blessed that the next day I got to have a deep chat with my roommate. She opened my eyes to SO MUCH MORE about myself. And that really helped me. God bless her.
Roommates
This seems like a good time to throw in some words about my roommate. Basically, God is phenomenal! We were told on retreat that God will give us more than we could even imagine to ask for. Well, the roommate I have been blessed with...things are just so right. Her spirituality and calmness helps me. I trust her and can turn to her in hard times. She is quiet enough that I can rest and have introvert time but at the same time she is simply hilarious and we have good laughs. She doesn't judge me either. Instead, she loves and helps and prays.
So praise the Lord! I don't always know what I want or need, but God does, and he brings the people I need into my life when I most need them / when their companionship would be the most helpful. Friends are a blessing. Everyone here is Wow!
Tests & Classes
I wrote a lot about school in my last post, but I'm only going to write a little bit about it in this one. Basically, Dr. Heaney's class has gotten better and better. We have great discussions. I aced his first test due to God's graciousness. We just took our second test (ok, quiz, quest, whatev) with him. I'm not sure it went as well as the one before, but it was good.
The other class that I will touch on is Italian. I've been overwhelmed it that class, because my brain wasn't made for immersion learning. It freaks out! (PANICKO! PANICKO!) That said, our last class period before break was surprisingly fun for me. I felt less intimidated with a smaller group. We did some hilarious activities where we played inanimate objects. When I had to speak Italian, I somehow managed to get enough of the words and the teacher helped me finish or fix them, so that was a total gift from God. We were also sent out to in pairs to ask strangers for directions. I was blessed. My partner was Reed, and he's really good at Italian. I let him take the lead and threw in some simpler Italian questions. It really was exhilarating getting to talk to kind people in Italian (though I would've freaked out and been a mess without a partner). Reed even convinced me to ask the Carbinieri (an Italian policeman) for a picture with him. The guy looked really intimidating, and I was scared, but I went up and amazingly enough the very serious Carbinieri simply answered, "Si," with a slight smile. --> I spoke a full sentence to him in Italian!!! This is what I call a Sheila accomplishment! It was good of Reed to help me go outside of my comfort zone. So long as you have support, life isn't half as scary.
St. Patty's Day
They don't really celebrate this holiday in Italy, but beer places definitely take advantage of having lots of crazy tourist who think the whole point of St. Patrick's Day is drinking beer. I'm not saying you shouldn't drink beer on St. Patty's Day! It's a fun festivity. :) I'm just noting the people who run around from place to place for the sake of getting drunk.
I had a great St. Patrick's Day. After making myself a pizza at Bernardi, I went out with Joe, Patrick, and Therese. We didn't anticipate the Irish Pub's being so CRAZY. It was pretty amusing honestly. We couldn't find our friends there, amidst the chaos, so we ended up going out to find food for Patrick and Therese. We found an amazing sandwich shop (what a lucky find) called "Pasto: Eat Good Food" where the sandwiches were made fresh. After that we went to a smaller, Irish Pub It was tiny and packed, but after a while Joe was able to make his way to the front. We got three beers, because I've learned alcohol isn't really my thing nor does it have a very positive effect on me. I did get to sample some of Therese's Guinness. It was decent.
After we returned to Bernardi, Joe and I ran into David. I found Cassie, Ryan, and Liz M. watching the Phantom of the Opera in the 1st Floor Lounge, so I joined them. It was very funny though I was tired. Thank goodness I finally saw that movie for the first time last Fall, so I wasn't completely loss (though I still struggle to understand the storyline).
That was the latest I've stayed up in Rome! It was after midnight. But that's ok, because I should be back on my normal sleep schedule hereafter.
"STORY TIME"
* The number of stories Bernardians already have is amazing! I didn't realize this until we ladies were at a formation dinner with the sisters and couldn't stop talking! For those of you who would like to here some of these stories, here's a suggestion.
Why don't you ask...
--Risa, Liz, &Danielle "How was your trip to Venice?"
--Josh V. "What has been your experience of the Carbinieri here in Rome?"
--All of us "What are some stories Father Luke told you on retreat?"
That's only a starters list. More later. :)
To close: I will leave you in suspense as to where I will be traveling over spring break, but tomorrow calls for a DAY TRIP with a group of people! And I'm going to be somewhere for the week following Easter. Ciao! Ciao!
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