European Ministers of Education in Leuven

I've never seen the library empty - but as you see here, the entire library reading room has been cleared to host some sort of event of the EU Ministers of Education for a conference here. Streets blocked off. Protests for or against. Lots of police keeping the various factions at bay. And the best was when I awoke to carillons playing danny boy. I will try to get to the city hall today to justify my continued presence here in Leuven. Not sure what the problem, but I got a letter in dutch. Then I have one class this afternoon. I'll have to wade through the conference and it's attendant protests to get to class. Then I'm meeting with some CSJs this evening for dinner.
For more info on the events here, Click Here.
I might have double counted some points on the Rome entry, but I'm sure everyone deserves the bonuses if there are any.
Peace,
Amy

Canon Law At the Beach

I'm at Oostende, in the west coast of Belgium, for a canon law conference. It is a gorgeous day - and therefore it is a shame to be inside. Anyway, so far it hasn't been that bad (the canon law) and I hope to get to the seaside this afternoon - we have a break of one hour, so hopefully that will be possible.
I need to download some of my pictures from Italy and post them. Fausto took me for a lunch with friends out in the country, then over to see his family. Then gave me some fresh olive oil from a vat that he had there, from his own olive trees. Awesome!!!
This past week, we had a French professor from Strasbourg teaching History of Canon Law, which could be quite a drag, but this is one of the best Canon Law professors we have had. He is really interesting and enthusiastic, and has a charming French accent. He gets positively giddy about some dude that discovered some 12th century manuscripts of canon law a few years ago. So that has been really good.
We have more history of canon law next week, we'll see how that guy is. Well, off to lunch.
Peace,
Amy

Earthquake - Terremoto

All is well here - I felt the earthquake Sunday night that was rated 3 here in Rome, and 6.3 at the epicenter abotu 200 miles away. Just wanted to let folks know that it's cool, but be sure to say a prayer for the folks in L'Aquila, lots of destruction and some loss of life, lots are homeless. There is also some concern for rescue efforts because of possible damage to the bridges into the mountainous area.

Peace,
Amy

Me and the Pope at Church

This is a bunch of my good friends at church. I went with some CSJs from Chambery. We ended up just under where you see the camera stand at the right, and the pope got a pretty good seat too.
--Amy

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Seriously Old Stuff

There is a lot of old stuff here - I mean seriously OLD. I think living here must make a person think that the world never changes, so you don't need to change either. And if you think differently, give it another hundred years, and if you're still around, we'll check into it.
Seriously, just walking along the road over to the Vatican gives a lot of insight into Romanità. I normally don't use accents, but this keyboard makes it easy, so I may have to sprinkle them around just for éffèct.
çiàò à tùtti!
amy