A big update
Heh...yeah, this is long overdue:
When I finally turned in my last paper to Wang Loahi's office, I was calm at first and then was filled with such elation and energy that I ran back and forth in one of the Ciruti Hallways jumping up trying to hit the exit sign. That was how my initial excitement showed itself. And really, the rest of the day was spent in a kind of emotional flip flop...this great elation that I couldn't really explain. This great weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt for the first time in years that I could breathe again. I love that feeling.
Dani and I spent that night listening to cheesy Bon Jovi, Queen and then cried at Kermit's "The Rainbow Connection"
I've usually taken the full time to complete finals so this rush was a little rough on me. I didn't really sleep for a few days but I think the straight through made finishing all the better. That's right, I'm done with my BA, and now lets see what the future has in store for me.
We didn't have to stay on campus thankfully to see everyone else freaking out about finals because at 9 the next morning, Dani, Marjorie, Sam, Jenn and I set out for the Abbey of Regina Laudis. It's difficult to describe this place but it was fulfilling. I'd never before been to a place where everyone was obviously so happy and fulfilled. These weren't 'regular' nuns in terms of what I'd experienced before or was ever led to believe, but thankfully I wasn't shocked either because Dani's descriptions of them from her last visit prepared me.
The Abbey is located in Bethlehem CT, and was begun by French nuns after WWII in gratitude to America for its aid in the war. All the nuns at the abbery are distinguished women: PhDs, Nurses, Lawyers, Social Workers etc, and of course, the famous actress Dolores Hart (Elvis's first On Screen kiss) among many others. I found the Abbey community highly accepting of anyone and everything within it truly projected the amount of love and effort the nuns put into their productions. The milk, cheese, granola, butter, candles, everything were so much more fulfilling because of the human effort and love that went into it.
The first day we were there, we settled into St. Gregory's - the female guest house. Dani and I got to be roomates again and that was enjoyable. We shared the house with Cynthia - a Navy Nurse soon to be retired, Ann - a woman who is thinking of becoming a nun, and Maria - Smithie who just graduated. For a brief time we shared the house with Angel (don't know what she did) a woman whose name I've forgotten who knows Jean Grossholtz and another woman.
We had an opportunity to work with Sister Esther on the gardens around St. Gregory's. We weeded, planted a tree and Sam trimmed a nice plant. She taught us how to recognize poison ivy and what to do in the case of us getting a tick. She sang to the plants and taught us a lot about soil as well. She is, like all the mothers and sisters we met, a wondrously kind woman.
The next day, Jenn got to help the Shepardess and meet all the baby lambs and sheep. Dani and I got to work with the Dairy cows and Sam and Marjorie helped Sister Esther again but it rained so they cleaned out a toolshed.
I believe that the two-week old calf's name is Amelia. She's a sweet thing with curious eyes, searching for her bottle and calling out to her mother. Her mother is Maya, who lives with her sisters and mother: (Sisters:) Amazing, Grace and..Anne?(I forgot the last cows name) and her mother is in retirement, her name is Lumina. The nun we worked with is Mother Lioba, who also makes the cheese (called Bethlehem cheese) and candles. She made us hot chocolate and also introduced us to the oxen: Colby and Micah who were both two years old. She has nothing but intense love for these cows and of course Dani and I who were already in love with the idea of working with cows could not help but love the cows as well. I even racked hay and manure with a broken rake and walked through oxen filth with a boot that boasted a giant hole and didn't really care as much as I'd usually would have. We stopped when Mother Lioba realized my rake and my boot were both broken :P
We returned to the main house and drank hot chocolate.
We also met Mother T..- (forgot) and got to pet Amos (the sheep dog :D) who was so energetic we were instructed to ignore him until he settled on all fours. He was adorable. The milking barn also boasted an affectionate cat whose name I unfortunately cannot remember.
On Wednesday before we left, the entire group of us had the opportunity to meet the cows again. They were less docile and excited to be outside and have many visitors. Amazing exerted herself as the alpha female, chasing everyone else off so we could pay her full attention. Lumina meanwhile got really excited and started chasing the cat out of the field and then proceeded to charge at us just to veer off at the end. I admit, this was an intimidating moment but we all looked to Mother Lioba who stood still and happy and chastising Lumina in a loving way. "Lumina what are you doing? They're going to think you're a horse!"
In addition to working, we attended Vespers, Compline (??spelling?), Matins (story for this one) and Mass. Now Matins is the 2am service and we made it, though admittedly I barely made it but it was beautiful. The nuns sing in chant (prompting Sam to comment: It appears you can't be Catholic and tone deaf) and pray in Latin. Occasionally English was read to us.
Now in Mass on Wednesday morning, we got lost in the ceremony and was aided by a kind old lady standing in front of us (you can sit down now, pass the kiss on! if you want a blessing, go up with your arms like this!) and the acolyte smirked at us as he found our floundering cute.
We had a group parlour with Mother Lucia, later joined by Mother Noella she's knows as the "Cheese Nun" http://www.shoppbs.org/sm-pbs-the-cheese-nun-dvd--pi-2231950.html . It turns out that Mother Lucia and Noella have known each other since kindergarden. They told us of how they came to find their vocation in this Abbey and spoke on feminism and life.
We returned to MHC on Wednesday, changed, rested and happy. Thank goodness.
The day after we returned was Dani's birthday so I threw her a party in her room. There was confusion at first because everyone thought it was a surprise party :P And it wasn't. I'm glad to say however that I threw a satisfactory party, complete with Ice Cream cake!!
I got to cook dumplings with my chinese class yesterday which was a wonderful experience. I also saw the Da Vinci Code with Marjorie and Dani. Man, that movie is a riot! Worth the watch.
Now I'm packing, or at least pretending to. I have a trash bag full of stuff to free bin and it's just the first. My room is a mess again (are we surprised? :P) and somehow I'll do most of this before the family gets here. I'm going to Broadway tomorrow to see "Lestat" heh and to Boston on Monday. Can't wait.
I'm also cleared for graduation - I got the congratulatory email from the registrar today.
I was supposed to see "Narnia" with Varn today but we ended up talking instead which was great. I'm glad we didn't see the movie :)
Anyway, I'm off to bed. Lestat and New York tomorrow!!
When I finally turned in my last paper to Wang Loahi's office, I was calm at first and then was filled with such elation and energy that I ran back and forth in one of the Ciruti Hallways jumping up trying to hit the exit sign. That was how my initial excitement showed itself. And really, the rest of the day was spent in a kind of emotional flip flop...this great elation that I couldn't really explain. This great weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt for the first time in years that I could breathe again. I love that feeling.
Dani and I spent that night listening to cheesy Bon Jovi, Queen and then cried at Kermit's "The Rainbow Connection"
I've usually taken the full time to complete finals so this rush was a little rough on me. I didn't really sleep for a few days but I think the straight through made finishing all the better. That's right, I'm done with my BA, and now lets see what the future has in store for me.
We didn't have to stay on campus thankfully to see everyone else freaking out about finals because at 9 the next morning, Dani, Marjorie, Sam, Jenn and I set out for the Abbey of Regina Laudis. It's difficult to describe this place but it was fulfilling. I'd never before been to a place where everyone was obviously so happy and fulfilled. These weren't 'regular' nuns in terms of what I'd experienced before or was ever led to believe, but thankfully I wasn't shocked either because Dani's descriptions of them from her last visit prepared me.
The Abbey is located in Bethlehem CT, and was begun by French nuns after WWII in gratitude to America for its aid in the war. All the nuns at the abbery are distinguished women: PhDs, Nurses, Lawyers, Social Workers etc, and of course, the famous actress Dolores Hart (Elvis's first On Screen kiss) among many others. I found the Abbey community highly accepting of anyone and everything within it truly projected the amount of love and effort the nuns put into their productions. The milk, cheese, granola, butter, candles, everything were so much more fulfilling because of the human effort and love that went into it.
The first day we were there, we settled into St. Gregory's - the female guest house. Dani and I got to be roomates again and that was enjoyable. We shared the house with Cynthia - a Navy Nurse soon to be retired, Ann - a woman who is thinking of becoming a nun, and Maria - Smithie who just graduated. For a brief time we shared the house with Angel (don't know what she did) a woman whose name I've forgotten who knows Jean Grossholtz and another woman.
We had an opportunity to work with Sister Esther on the gardens around St. Gregory's. We weeded, planted a tree and Sam trimmed a nice plant. She taught us how to recognize poison ivy and what to do in the case of us getting a tick. She sang to the plants and taught us a lot about soil as well. She is, like all the mothers and sisters we met, a wondrously kind woman.
The next day, Jenn got to help the Shepardess and meet all the baby lambs and sheep. Dani and I got to work with the Dairy cows and Sam and Marjorie helped Sister Esther again but it rained so they cleaned out a toolshed.
I believe that the two-week old calf's name is Amelia. She's a sweet thing with curious eyes, searching for her bottle and calling out to her mother. Her mother is Maya, who lives with her sisters and mother: (Sisters:) Amazing, Grace and..Anne?(I forgot the last cows name) and her mother is in retirement, her name is Lumina. The nun we worked with is Mother Lioba, who also makes the cheese (called Bethlehem cheese) and candles. She made us hot chocolate and also introduced us to the oxen: Colby and Micah who were both two years old. She has nothing but intense love for these cows and of course Dani and I who were already in love with the idea of working with cows could not help but love the cows as well. I even racked hay and manure with a broken rake and walked through oxen filth with a boot that boasted a giant hole and didn't really care as much as I'd usually would have. We stopped when Mother Lioba realized my rake and my boot were both broken :P
We returned to the main house and drank hot chocolate.
We also met Mother T..- (forgot) and got to pet Amos (the sheep dog :D) who was so energetic we were instructed to ignore him until he settled on all fours. He was adorable. The milking barn also boasted an affectionate cat whose name I unfortunately cannot remember.
On Wednesday before we left, the entire group of us had the opportunity to meet the cows again. They were less docile and excited to be outside and have many visitors. Amazing exerted herself as the alpha female, chasing everyone else off so we could pay her full attention. Lumina meanwhile got really excited and started chasing the cat out of the field and then proceeded to charge at us just to veer off at the end. I admit, this was an intimidating moment but we all looked to Mother Lioba who stood still and happy and chastising Lumina in a loving way. "Lumina what are you doing? They're going to think you're a horse!"
In addition to working, we attended Vespers, Compline (??spelling?), Matins (story for this one) and Mass. Now Matins is the 2am service and we made it, though admittedly I barely made it but it was beautiful. The nuns sing in chant (prompting Sam to comment: It appears you can't be Catholic and tone deaf) and pray in Latin. Occasionally English was read to us.
Now in Mass on Wednesday morning, we got lost in the ceremony and was aided by a kind old lady standing in front of us (you can sit down now, pass the kiss on! if you want a blessing, go up with your arms like this!) and the acolyte smirked at us as he found our floundering cute.
We had a group parlour with Mother Lucia, later joined by Mother Noella she's knows as the "Cheese Nun" http://www.shoppbs.org/sm-pbs-the-cheese-nun-dvd--pi-2231950.html . It turns out that Mother Lucia and Noella have known each other since kindergarden. They told us of how they came to find their vocation in this Abbey and spoke on feminism and life.
We returned to MHC on Wednesday, changed, rested and happy. Thank goodness.
The day after we returned was Dani's birthday so I threw her a party in her room. There was confusion at first because everyone thought it was a surprise party :P And it wasn't. I'm glad to say however that I threw a satisfactory party, complete with Ice Cream cake!!
I got to cook dumplings with my chinese class yesterday which was a wonderful experience. I also saw the Da Vinci Code with Marjorie and Dani. Man, that movie is a riot! Worth the watch.
Now I'm packing, or at least pretending to. I have a trash bag full of stuff to free bin and it's just the first. My room is a mess again (are we surprised? :P) and somehow I'll do most of this before the family gets here. I'm going to Broadway tomorrow to see "Lestat" heh and to Boston on Monday. Can't wait.
I'm also cleared for graduation - I got the congratulatory email from the registrar today.
I was supposed to see "Narnia" with Varn today but we ended up talking instead which was great. I'm glad we didn't see the movie :)
Anyway, I'm off to bed. Lestat and New York tomorrow!!