Of Friends and Folly

Yes, it happens! Just a momentary click as the latch seats securely, and the deed is done. You're locked out. AGAIN!!!

I've prided myself so far in my Leuven adventures that I've managed to lock myself out only when the landlord's office (around the corner) was opened. Such good fortune for bad luck. But that has all come to an end. Let me tell you the story of a girl named Amy on a tragic and fateful day.... (feel free to hum along.)

Let me tell you the story
Of a girl named Amy
On a tragic and fateful day
She put ten euro in her pocket,
Locked the door and set out
Went to ride on her velo bike

Amy set off for French class
At the CLT in Leuven
And she turned on to Dekenstraat.
When she got there something funny told her,
"I forgot my key."
Amy couldn't get home that night.

Chorus:
Did she ever return,
No she never returned
And her fate is still unlearn'd
She may ride forever
'round the streets of Leuven
She's the girl who never returned.

Now all night long
Amy rides through the city
Crying, "What will become of me?
How can I afford to tell
My friends here in Leuven
that I am locked out AGAIN?"

Amy's friends aren't home
But she knows the sitter (Gabrielle)
And thank God she let her in
And through the open window
She tells Amy stay with me
I've a mattress and a sleeping bag.

Chorus

Next morning just a short ride
To the landlord's office
Thinking, "Surely he'll have a key."
When she got there the poster told her,
"Our Office is moved south.
You can see me in Heverlee."

Back on the bike -
Head for Arenbergplein,
The Landlord has just come in.
"We've just moved in, and it's chaos,
I can't find your key here
It must be back in Leuven-stad."

Chorus

Just one more tragedy
On the way back to Leuven
On this tragic and fateful day
Her brake gave out at Grote Markt
Had to be repaired
And she walked on to Willemsstraat

Now you citizens of Leuven
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to ride and ride
And fight the memory decrease
Vote for George O'Brien!
Get poor Amy off the velo bike.

Chorus:
Or else she'll never return,
No she'll never return
And her fate will be unlearned
She may ride forever
'round the streets of Leuven
She's the girl who never returned.

Exams Over - Thanks for Prayers

January is almost over!!!! Exams are over, I'm chilling a bit and trying to do some work on papers so that I can enjoy Mom and Dad's visit. I am pretty satisfied with exams, except one question on one of them - there always has to be something....

My paper on Thompson is coming along - I have it probably about half written. I would like to get it pretty well completed by March since I'll be quite busy with Canon Law things as the semester rolls on. Thanks to Julie for reading this for me - if there are any proofers out there in blog land who would be willing to proof read a chapter or so, let me know. Another set of eyes always helps. I also have a paper on Eastern Canon Law - I've started researching and will probably write on the place of Monasticism in the Eastern Church. It will have to be long!!! But it's more technical, so it should go quick enough.

It's starting to get more light, which is wonderful. The sun was high enough to come in my window - I haven't seen the sun, or seen it in my window for a while - so that's a good sign.

I've booked my flight for Rome for spring break. I'll stay with the CSJs there, and there should be lots to see, they are pretty much in the middle of things. I'll be there for Easter so it should be pretty interesting.

Other than that, things are humming along. Exam time is always a challenge because everyone is off studying and there isn't much socializing, but we're coming to the end of that and once Mom and Dad go, classes will already have started. In fact I think I'll have to skip some classes to get them to the airports - so sad....

Peace,
Amy

One Down

This is the place I just rode to on my bike - Abdij van 't Park. Or Park Abbey for short. There is a great bike path from my place out there and back - about 30 minutes round trip. I've been wanting to start biking a little more - beyond just functionally getting from place to place, so today - just before dusk - I took off for a nice ride.

I had my salvation exam - sounds like the last judgment, doesn't it. But anyway it went well I thought. So I've been studying for the next two: temporal goods and vatican II - they will be more technical / factoidal. But not too bad. Those will be Jan 23.

In between I've been chipping away at my thesis and thoroughly enjoying that. I will have lots to do in April / May with canon law, so I'm hoping to get the thesis more or less out of the way before that. So I have a sort of routine to work on the thesis in the morning, then study for exams in the afternoon. I have managed to completely forget some evening things since I'm out of the regular routine. Oops.

There is a lot less interaction / socialization during exam time - so I really need to make an effort to get human contact. I go out at least once a day, usually to the library for a while, then to the coffee shop. I usually see people I know at one or the other place - that helps.

I've also been putting some effort into making contacts for my internships for next year. Some leads, but nothing definite yet. I was hoping for the Vatican's office for religious - but they said no. I'm also thinking of putting together a proposal for an exemption one of them - that would be great if I could get that - but we'll see. Anyway, this takes some initiative and contacting new people, etc.

I also have Mom and Dad scheduled to come next week. I'll be finished with exams, and have a few days off before they arrive. We don't have many definite plans, but Dad is going to visit a friend in England while Mom and I go to Switzerland for a few days. Mom is part Swiss, and has never been there - so that should be a treat for both of us. We'll fly to Geneva, then we have a sort of plan at some point to grab a train out to another town - through the alps, -- how cool is that!!!

So prayers for exams / papers are appreciated, but I'm pretty relaxed about it at this point.

Peace,
Amy

The Return of the Belgian Snow Cat

My brother Tom left on Thursday - before he left, he posed with the Snow Cat that was erected on our street. No explanation, but given the temperatures, the cat has stayed around for a while.

I have to get serious now - exams start Jan 12 - I have one that day and two more on Jan 23. I'm pretty much ready for the one tomorrow - it shouldn't be bad. I have some reading to do for the ones on Jan 23, those too should be manageable. In between I'm working on my thesis - and continuing to enjoy that. Classes still aren't scheduled for the second semester of Canon Law - so I'm not yet sure how that will go. ... in time....

This will be a fairly quiet time - the Flemish students aren't back in town - studying at home probably. And I will only have to go to school on the days when there are exams. So won't meet many other students. I've discovered one of the purposes of classes is socializing.

I went to the coffee shop on Saturday - but didn't meet anyone I knew. But at times like these, skype is a great tool. I called some folks back in the states and it was great to connect and hear news and even just a friendly voice.

We've had snow on the ground here for a week - a complete rarity for Belgium - even the locals say so. The temperature doesn't fluctuate much, and it's been just below freezing for the whole week - hence we still have snow. I'm trying to remember what the Ugandan sunshine felt like - and having people around all the time. It helps.

Well, all prayers are appreciated for exams and papers.
Peace,
Amy

Back in Leuven

We had several days to visit various people - Tom did lots of interviews on video and took lots of pictures. I took some, but not nearly as many. We went to Amuru, the town where the CSJs are hoping to settle. The Mass there was amazing - lots of lively singing, a group of dancers and a VERY packed church. The people were VERY friendly as they have been everywhere we went in Uganda. Just wonderful people. They have been living in camps with the grass roofed houses very close together. They normally live in the same type of house, but spread out with their fields and gardens in between. That makes life much more normal.
But they gathered in the camps for safety, and sometimes at the demand of the government - thus forcing them to abandon their farms, and their only source of lifelihood. The greater peace of the last year or so has given some the impetus to begin moving back to their villages and their land. However, this has been somewhat put in question by recent surge in violence. The situation is quite complicated, you'll have to get some more information from the video that Tom took, but I'm sure there is a lot more than he could capture on tape. Anyway - pray for the people there - wonderful people, but the violence has made life very tough for them.
I managed to fall coming home from a party after dark and I injured my foot - that slowed me down a bit, but I'm better now.
It took a day to drive down from Gulu to Kampala. There were errands to do in Kampala, but Tom and I managed to get to the Shrine of the Uganda Martyrs during the day. We left early for the airport - I was still on crutches - people were SO nice - crutches is definitely the way to travel. We got a wheelchair to navigate the airport in London. I think we went from the plane half-way across London, then back to the same gate for the next plane. So it was good having the wheelchair - Tom managed to skitter along beside. We had checked most of the luggage, so it worked quite well. When we boarded the last plane, the attendant directed us to the first two seats in first class - the plane was nearly empty.
We made it back to Leuven about 8:30pm, but we didn't stay up to ring in the new year. All the best to everyone for a blessed and peacefilled New Year!
--Amy