First Contact with Medical Services

I have been having trouble with my knee since I've been back in Leuven - not a lot of trouble, but some pain and stiffness. So I talked to Julie and on her recommendation went ahead and made an appointment to get it checked out.
I walked in Monday to the student medical service - it's right across from the Theology school. They made me an appointment with the doctor for the following morning.
At the appointed hour, I went in.
I gave my insurance card - with a little chip containing all my top secret information - to the receptionist who put it in a card reader and scanned it into her computer.
She asked a few more questions and sent me to the waiting room.
Before I was settled there, a gentleman can in and called my name - oh, my other name - you know Judith - the name that is on all my papers.
I went in described the problem. He asked a few questions and examined the knee... pushed, pulled, bent, twisted. Then said it probably wasn't serious but sent me for physical therapy and said I should rest it and not ride a bike. I grimaced more than I had during the entire pushing, pulling, bending, twisting event. So he said be careful and try not to bend it too much. He thinks the muscle is inflamed.
Then he printed out the letter for the physical therapist and gave that to me. He also gave me a list of physical therapists - asked where I lived and marked the one closest to my residence.
He hand wrote and stamped the bill and handed it to me. I could pay him by cash or pay the receptionist by bankcard; I chose the latter.
The appointment was for 8:30, I arrived shortly before, and I was home by 8:50. All in all it was a quite an efficient operation - we'll see how the therapy goes.
Peace,
Amy

Second Semester Starts

Greetings,
Thanks for your comments and email.
I've starting getting an idea together for a thesis for this year's program. It has to be something on rights, so I'm thinking of doing something on rights of religious. I could do Canon 662-672 - the section on rights and obligations, maybe tracing it back to see where they came from. Or I could take canon 220 on privacy and good reputation and see how it is impacted by members, particularly when entering or leaving a religious community. Topics have to be submitted by the middle of March.
I'm into my second week of classes. While last semester seemed to take forever to get underway, this semester seems to be already half over after a week and a half. That is at least in part due to the fact that I came back from Le Puy just in time for my Dutch Exam monday evening, and then I've been trying to fit Theology classes among Canon Law classes. Also, I had a webcast on tax law yesterday evening. And that had to include a new tax law passed last week, so I had to incorporate a new section into the program. Whew!
Some of you have been asking about my classes. I'm pretty much settled on the following:
-Theology of Canon Law - A little too early to say much about this other that what the title says.
-Teaching Office of the Church - This is the section of the code with some of the canons that are the basis of the canonical problems of St. Cronan's in St. Louis.
-Organization of the Particular Church (which I won't be able to attend because of a conflict, so I'll read the commentary and get someone's notes). (note, these first three classes are from the same lecturer who is less than a stellar presenter. Sigh.)
-Marriage Law by the first woman canonical judge in Belgium, a lay woman. She is delightful, so though this isn't my area of law, I think I'll enjoy the class.
-Parish Law by an adjunct faculty member. This class was canceled last week, so I have nothing to report on it.
-Onclin Chair - this is a week long seminar that will be held next week with visiting speakers. I think it is on Penalties, but they haven't given us too much information - after all, it's not till next week.
-Process Law which will be in a weekend course at a castle.
-For theology, I'm taking Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and Missiology. The missiology course is particularly interesting because we have the whole world in the classroom. There will be three lecturers taking sections of the course. The first is a German guy reading his lectures on Asia. Good information, but delivery is weak. And of course with all the students from all over the world, it is particularly interesting.
I am trying to decide whether to focus on History or Scripture for my Theology studies. I don't really have to decide this year. The down side of scripture is I would have an extra 4 courses to take (Greek and Hebrew) - since I like languages, that may be an up-side. But I will probably take the easy way out and do history - that's history of theology and spirituality, so it could be interesting. And it's more likely that I'll be able to finish it in the time I'm here.
The only other news is that I've installed Linux on my computer. It is an alternative to Windows or Mac, and it is open-source. That means that it is developed by people all over the world working together collaboratively for their mutual benefit and for others who could use it -- for free. The symbol is the penguin.
Peace,
Amy

This is truly the dwelling place of God...

Wow! I was 4 four days in Le Puy and it was really an awesome experience. I had not really had time to build up expectations, so I can't say it met or exceeded my expectations. But it was certainly a great experience. I'll load up some pictures as a slide show and maybe put together a few pages on the various places and sites.
As with many of the older cities, the place itself is a museum, the streets, the cobblestones, the centuries old buildings, the landscape. These were all the backdrop against which the first stages of the Sisters of St. Joseph were acted out. As I'm writing, I'm travelling by train back to Lyon, on my way back home to Leuven. We are travelling through mountains, by a little river most of the way. This could be any stream in the ozarks. It struck me when I was on my last train ride into Le Puy how similar this place is to the where I grew up in Missouri. And consequently, the first sisters who went to St. Louis must have felt some what at home in the hills there. And of course this is quite a change from the Low Countries where I live now.
Srs Sheila and Mary were at the center and were very hospitable, and pointed out all the sights I might want to visit during my stay. I came in Wednesday after dark, so Thursday was my first day to begin exploring. Each day, I mapped out a course in the small town of Le Puy. The Center is just outside the ring of the old town center. After breakfast and a leisurely start to the day, I would pack up a light backpack with water, fruit and snacks and head out. My first day, I met Sr. Simone at the Le Puy motherhouse and she showed me around there and showed me to the first kitchen and the archives. It was just like the pictures, but it was great to be there and Simone had so much information and background about what it was like etc.
My next day, I headed to St. Michel, a small chapel about 300 feet up on a volcanic spire.The center spout of the volcano was all the remained, so it rose steeply above the surrounding terrain. Apparently the site had been a sacred place long before christianity came to the region, as a place where the earth strained up into the heavens. I climbed the 293 steps that wound around the mountainside into the small chapel that occupies the entire peak of the spire.
There was a couple there when I arrived, but they soon left, and I had the whole place to myself and really soaked in the sacredness of the space and felt the long line of pilgrims that had made the place holy by their prayers and faith. From here, I could also look over the whole of the Le Puy valley, and see where the first Sisters of St. Joseph lived, worked, prayed and dreamed. What an experience.
On saturday, I had planned to go out to see St. Joseph, a large statue on another volcanic spire a little west of the center of town. But the sisters recommended that I might want to see more sites in town, since they might not be open on Sunday, which would be my final day there. On their advice, I headed to town, and got pretty lost. Well sort of. I pretty well knew which way the cathedral was, and which direction to go to get home when I was ready, but I didn't exactly know what I was looking for. So I wandered the streets of the old town, probably where the sisters would have walked, perhaps lived and even ministered. I ate on the steps of the Cathedral. Actually, I followed a rather unpromising route into the cathedral. I'm sure I couldn't do it that way again, but it was good to see things. Then after rounding a corner, I found myself at the base of the street where the Le Puy mother house is, and from there headed home.
On Sunday, I headed back into town to see some sites there, then went on out to St. Joseph. Again, I'm sure I didn't take the most direct route, but enjoyed seeing the sites, many of the buildings that would have been there through generations of Sisters of St Joseph. The statue of St. Joseph dates from the early 1900s, so wouldn't have been part of the experience of the first sisters. However, it afforded a wonderful view of the town and the sites I had been exploring over the past few days. So it was a great place to end my time there. The day was warm and sunny, as it had been my whole time in Le Puy. The sisters said that the weather was unusually nice, and I really needed some sun since the dark days of Belgium were beginning to get to me. The last day, I was able to sit outside in shirt sleeves with my shoes off.
So again, just an awesome experience and a delightful break before starting back for Second Semester at Leuven. In addition, I heard about the (almost) arrival of Henry - some in the family have dubbed him King Henry since we've awaited his arrival for so long. He will be coming back to the states at the end of February - and he will be about 10 months. My sister Julie is so excited; it's been a long journey. Then I saw the first pictures of another new nephew, a newborn adoped by my sister Jess. Some of you know and have been praying for them, so thanks for the prayers and support.


Peace,
Amy

Exams - Then What?!?!

With exams over, a number of us are wondering what to do with all the time on our hands and nothing PRESSING to do with it. Okay, I managed to catch up on my legal stuff - a contract and a webcast to prepare.

Then I did some experimentation and figured out how to make popcorn on the stove - I've been getting plenty of practice in to perfect my technique. Then of course there's knitting to be done, and some reading to catch up on.

On Friday after choir practice, we got together for a party. There are pictures here: Slide Show. The pictures on this post are also from the same gathering. My photos didn't come out well, so I took them from another guy who posted his photos.
On Wednesday I go down to Le Puy - It's about 4 hours from Brussels to Lyon, then another hour and a half to Le Puy. So I'll spend a good bit of Ash Wednesday en route. I'm looking forward to my time there. I'll take my camera, but probably won't be able to load up photos from there. It is interesting to hear where people are going, to take some time for "deep relaxation" as one student puts it.

I'll come home Monday evening - to the review for my Dutch language final exam. That will be next Thursday. But it's not at the university, so I'm not too worried about how I do. But it's my last chance to learn some dutch. Of course, my neighbors will keep me on the ball after that. But I won't continue with classes. I'll have more classes at the University in the spring, and a thesis to work on, so I think it will be good to have that finished. Anyway, I have to forget dutch for the next week and see if I can come up do a little french.

Oh, and in the next few weeks, I'll have two new nephews - Henry - whom we've been awaiting for almost a year, and then Ben is a newborn that my sister Jess is adopting. New life abounds.

Peace,

Amy