Milestones

For starters, Blogger apparently accepts my photos if they're uploaded from my university computer lab. Oh, it's good to have a picture on this page again! I took this one in Capri at the end of last June. Now that I've discovered the trick, more photos coming soon . . ..

My friend and I made a pact to focus on the positive this year. Here's my upbeat contribution for this week.

I went to confession in Italian for the first time last night, and as far as I know, I didn't tell God I murdered or pillaged anything. A year and a half ago I couldn't order coffee without mispronouncing something. It's a big deal for me.

I've wanted to learn desktop publishing since I was 17. That crazy year, one of my friends gave me a mixed music CD. Playing around with the free-and-awful program that came with my printer, I put together a real CD booklet just for the heck of it. It took me hours to do, and I loved every minute. Must be my mother's artistic flair coming out in me whatever way it can, because I sure as heck can't draw or paint like she can. The cool news: my graduate program offers a desktop publishing class, and just this afternoon I finished putting together a graphic magazine that looks like the real deal. Love, love the creative component!

Thanks to a fun challenge from a friend a couple days ago, I figured out that I can take a news story in Italian, translate it into English, and make it sound like a real piece of journalism. I never would have thought I could do that.

Reading over this, this post sounds an awful lot like bragging. But it's not meant to be. I've asked God for a lot of things lately. My status lately has sort of been ''begging mode.'' It hit me last night that some great things have been given to me that I never expected nor even asked for. Allora. Time to give thanks. And time to go write another paper . . . after I upload some more photos.

Dolomites Teaser

Thanks to an invite from one of the coolest priests ever, I spent the weekend skiing here:

Aosta, Northern Italy

Find the highest peak, then look at the 2 to the right of it. Yep: we were there!

Check out the picture on the ski resort's website for the view we had while tumbling down the mountain:

Pila Snow Resort

We stayed in a lovely house down in the valley, built with interior white stucco walls and heavy dark wooden beams. Our hostess was literally the best cook I've met in my life! Personal photos coming soon!

Happiness

I got an A in Management class! For those who did not hear, this is the class that provided my favorite quote of last year:

"Managers who do not trust their employees grow a forest of bonzai trees."

My grade makes me laugh. No exam was required to complete the course: only a 4-5 paper on Josef Pieper's treatment of "Prudence." I wrote 4 Dickens-style pages in 2 1/2 hours and finished 45 minutes before the deadline, which coincided with my Economia exam. Don't worry, the irony was not lost on me.

Done!

With exam number one of this week! Yes, Ecclesiology is officially over after a 3 Day Marathon Translation Session with my Italian Ecclesiology book. It was such a special moment when I looked at the Catechism of the Catholic Church at 4 AM a few hours ago and realized that the entire book was summarized in English in the Catechism. Nevertheless, it is done and I think I did well! And after 3 days of Italian words dancing polkas through my head, I feel ready to tackle the next huge exam, Digital Communications, which must be written in Italian (and that is scary).

Thanks for all the prayers sent my way! Keep them coming. You're in mine!

Changes 'n such

Yay! I have finally found a way to circumvent the fact that Blogger won't let me upload my nifty header. It's in wee form on the side now. If you don't have a microscope, the subtitle is: Prayer, Pondering, and a Healthy Shot of Partying.

You'll also find the fun new feature of a Newsfeed off to the side. It's supposed to give y'all Church-related links, compliments of Google. If anything funky shows up there, my apologies (and let me know); it's automatically generated!

And now, off to finish 140 pages of Italian text. Procrastination is over.

Prayers, per favore

I have finally mapped out my Finals Schedule and strategized an attack plan, and it is as follows:

Tuesday: Ecclesiology and Eccumenism (hard but enjoyable)
Wednesday: Cinema (easy if I get around to reading the dispensa)
Friday: Digital Communications (hard - radio, tv, and satellite technology in Italian - but I have a studymate)
WEEKEND!
Monday: Fundamentals of Institutional Communications (incredibly hard, needs lots of memorization, and it's oral - scary)
Thursday: Information and Technology (really easy because I've used Word before)
SOUTHERN SPAIN AND FATIMA!

In other words, for the next few days I'm doing this:



Contrary to any American sentiments, purple tights do help with the studying process.

So please do pray for me. You'll probably be seeing lots more posts like this as I find creative ways to procrastinate and happily distract myself. In the meantime, in thanks, here's an oldie but goodie picture of Rome from when I visited in June. The color of the water is slightly surreal when you open it up!

From the sacred to the profane

Yes, it's that time of year again.

Finals.

This is the time when the idyllic life of a student of a Rome starts to really, really stink.

The Europeans just don't do it the way American profs do. Study guides? Forget about it. Here's a book. Memorize it. Oh yeah, translate it first into your language. Heh heh heh. When my friend told me to "make a outline of what was covered in the class and memorize it as a point of reference - you know, when they ask you about it on the test," I knew that I was in for an interesting European experience.

But I knew all this when I signed up, so I'm not *really* complaining. Just commiserating with sympathetic souls like yourselves.

So, to express (somehow) how I feel about finals, I'm posting a link to a site that brings me entertainment, month by month. It's as anti-my-purpose-of-being-in-Rome as you can get. The author's succinct descriptions bring me joy.

Eyesore of the Month

You've GOT to check out the previous one, for December. Prepare yourself.

Hope in various forms

Pope Benedict XVI has released the second encyclical of his Pontificate! Check out the goodness here:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

I started wondering about the definition of an encyclical. Alora, the answer:

A papal document treating of matters related to the general welfare of the Church, sent by the Pope to the bishops. Used especially in modern times to express the mind of the Pope to the people. Although of themselves not infallible documents, encyclicals may (and generally do) contain pronouncements on faith and morals that are de facto infallible because they express the ordinary teaching of the Church. In any case, the faithful are to give the papal encyclicals their interior assent and external respect as statements of the Vicar of Christ. (Etym. Latin encyclicus; Greek enkyklios, circular, general.)

An encyclical epistle is like an encyclical letter but addressed to part of the Church, that is, to the bishops and faithful of a particular area. Its contents may be doctrinal, moral, or disciplinary matters of universal significance, but may also commemorate some historical event or treat of conditions in a certain country or locality. (Compliments of www.catholicculture.org, one of the best Catholic resources out there.)


I've only had a chance to read a paragraph or two, but I hear it's fantastic. It's being added to the ever-growing booklist momentarily. Any good suggestions for the list? I'm on a Josef Pieper streak right now. St. Edith Stein's "Science of the Cross" is waiting on the sidelines. I could use some good fiction - ideally short stories - on there!

I probably won't be able to post again for a wee while. My friend Lucia is visiting from Slovakia for a week (yay!), the internet card we use randomly stopped working with my Mac, and I need to squeeze in a big chunk of communication knowledge into my brain before I come home for Christmas, which is in (drumroll!): 20 days! In the meantime, I listen to Charlie Brown's Christmas CD and James Blunt's latest and attempt to study, study, study . . . (translation: make pasta, make new blog posts, make myself guilty).

Please do keep my close friend Monika and her family in your prayers. Monika's sister passed away yesterday after a long and painful battle with cancer.