A Day in the Life of Formation

I've been in Italy for a few weeks now and am happy to be settling into a routine.

It goes something like this:

7am: We go to mass (luckily it's close so I can stumble out of bed at 6:45)

7:25-8:30: Breakfast (cornflakes and tea, maybe toast if I'm feeling gourmet)

8:30-9:30- Household chores (food shopping, tidying the house, gardening, sweeping the cockroach carcasses (Okay the last one is not really true...cockroaches are swept before breakfast))

9:30 to 11ish- Morning session with Sister Angela, the director of VOICA and Diggy who volunteers at the office here and has been to Papua New Guinea and Togo. So far we've been talking about the Canossian sisters, St. Magdalene and her charism, methods of prayer, and the Bible. Other topics will include the four pillars of the program (spirituality, formation, service and community), mission life, and stuff like that.

11ish-3- Lunch and siesta!! We (there are 3 of us, me and Lydia going to Congo with me and Diggy) take turns cooking lunch and dinner everyday. After lunch together we are free to ramble about the gardens, mosey across the street to the gigantic park, or sit on the roof and take in some sunshine and the view of St. Peter's (the third option has so far been my overwhelming favorite).

3-5: French lesson-one hour with Diggy and one by ourselves. Our French lessons also include attending mass at San Louis (a French speaking parish) in Rome once a week. Plus we try to speak in French from lunchtime until 5 o'clock, more or less (usually less, but hopefully more as time goes on)

And then we are done for the day. Someone makes dinner and we hang out until bedtime.

On Saturday morning we clean the house from top to bottom and then have lunch with the sisters at the convent (my favorite meal of the week, they have an AMAZING cook up there!).

After that we are free until Monday morning to explore Rome, ramble about the gardens, mosey to the park, sit on the roof, etc.

I have much more to tell about my adventures in Rome so far and will write again soon. I am hoping to have a lot of late night free time as I attempt to follow the Rockies through the postseason :)

Ciao!!