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Friday, March 11, 2011
New Plates and Springtime...
Hello again!
Apologies for being so woefully negligent in letting you know what I'm up to, I only just now discovered which libraries are open on what days and therefore where I can get internet access :)
I've been having a lot of fun here in Austin. Aside from the traffic mess from South by SouthWest, the music fest, right now downtown, this is a lovely and really fun city. My roommate, another VIDES who is originally from El Salvador (!), has been here since the fall so she already knows a lot about the city and how to get around, which has been wonderful. I felt at home right away and for the first time in...ever? I feel like I want to stick around for awhile...it's a good feeling. Actually, the sunshine isn't bothering me as much as I thought either ;) For the last month it's been about 70 degrees and sunny every day, which at first was weird and prompted the immediate abandonment of my wool sweater knitting, but there's a funny thing about sunshine: people stay outside and do stuff. Which is awesome. Also, the copious amount of hipsters and Latinos makes me feel right at home. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and the summer heat to drive me mad, but for the moment, I love this place very much.
Speaking of the weather, springtime is here in full force! I currently have dirt under my fingernails, and the sweet smell of ripe soil in my recent memory: I talked the sisters into planting a garden and bought seeds the same day. Every morning I come early to the convent to water the baby plants in their newspaper pots, mix up new potting soil, cultivate, prepare, plant, sing and bless the garden space. I have also started composting with the convent's food scraps; there was some resistance at first, but now that they trust I will follow through and no "friends" will visit our piles, they say things like "Everybody should do this!" Exciting compost story!: Yesterday one of the sisters was putting something in the trash and she saw a banana peel further down. What did she do? She exclaimed about its inappropriate presence and dug it out! And then she dug more food out! Go ahead, compost lovers: give a little shout! These sisters are compost converts!
In the spirit of enjoying Texas, I got Texas license plates. Not my choice but my tabs were expired and so I had to go through the whole ritual of getting my insurance switched over, my car inspected to make sure it's good enough for Texas, new tabs purchased, title surrendered, new plates handed over. Actually, they just grabbed the plates out of a box under the desk...I always wondered about that. Apparently they buy them in bulk and then the one you get is whatever they pull out of the box first.
I am really enjoying my work and the sisters and life...I went to Gratitude day last weekend (a celebration for the Provincial to say, you guessed it, thanks), and it was really fun to see all of the sisters from the western US gathered in one room, laughing at silly skits and songs, outrageous costumes and vibrant energy. Our community sang a song about shining like the sun and someone took my suggestion to do interpretive dance very seriously. So there was also dancing. To my surprise though, we were one of the tamest acts. The Province website has pics that are not to miss: http://suoprovince.weebly.com/
May God bless you and yours and happy Lent!
Mary
Apologies for being so woefully negligent in letting you know what I'm up to, I only just now discovered which libraries are open on what days and therefore where I can get internet access :)
I've been having a lot of fun here in Austin. Aside from the traffic mess from South by SouthWest, the music fest, right now downtown, this is a lovely and really fun city. My roommate, another VIDES who is originally from El Salvador (!), has been here since the fall so she already knows a lot about the city and how to get around, which has been wonderful. I felt at home right away and for the first time in...ever? I feel like I want to stick around for awhile...it's a good feeling. Actually, the sunshine isn't bothering me as much as I thought either ;) For the last month it's been about 70 degrees and sunny every day, which at first was weird and prompted the immediate abandonment of my wool sweater knitting, but there's a funny thing about sunshine: people stay outside and do stuff. Which is awesome. Also, the copious amount of hipsters and Latinos makes me feel right at home. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and the summer heat to drive me mad, but for the moment, I love this place very much.
Speaking of the weather, springtime is here in full force! I currently have dirt under my fingernails, and the sweet smell of ripe soil in my recent memory: I talked the sisters into planting a garden and bought seeds the same day. Every morning I come early to the convent to water the baby plants in their newspaper pots, mix up new potting soil, cultivate, prepare, plant, sing and bless the garden space. I have also started composting with the convent's food scraps; there was some resistance at first, but now that they trust I will follow through and no "friends" will visit our piles, they say things like "Everybody should do this!" Exciting compost story!: Yesterday one of the sisters was putting something in the trash and she saw a banana peel further down. What did she do? She exclaimed about its inappropriate presence and dug it out! And then she dug more food out! Go ahead, compost lovers: give a little shout! These sisters are compost converts!
In the spirit of enjoying Texas, I got Texas license plates. Not my choice but my tabs were expired and so I had to go through the whole ritual of getting my insurance switched over, my car inspected to make sure it's good enough for Texas, new tabs purchased, title surrendered, new plates handed over. Actually, they just grabbed the plates out of a box under the desk...I always wondered about that. Apparently they buy them in bulk and then the one you get is whatever they pull out of the box first.
I am really enjoying my work and the sisters and life...I went to Gratitude day last weekend (a celebration for the Provincial to say, you guessed it, thanks), and it was really fun to see all of the sisters from the western US gathered in one room, laughing at silly skits and songs, outrageous costumes and vibrant energy. Our community sang a song about shining like the sun and someone took my suggestion to do interpretive dance very seriously. So there was also dancing. To my surprise though, we were one of the tamest acts. The Province website has pics that are not to miss: http://suoprovince.weebly.com/
May God bless you and yours and happy Lent!
Mary
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