LAMENTATION AND WOE!!

OK, so it’s not THAT bad over here…

There is a strange phenomenon in the European university system:  Classes for the first semester finish AFTER CHRISTMAS at the end of January which is followed by a THREE WEEK exam session. :-/  They really know how to drag out a painful event!

And that event is exactly what I am in the middle of right now.  For the last three weeks I have been sitting at my desk reading, writing notes, talking to myself to help remember what I wrote, and wishing that this coming Wednesday would get here already!  Our exams (except one this year) are all oral; they last ten minutes, and in those ten minutes, your grade for the entire class is determined.  So hours of preparation and memorization go into a ten minute encounter during which only one or two questions are asked out of the 20-30 that you studied for.  And then you walk out beat-down and depressed because you start remembering things that could’ve been said but all-around glad that it’s over with…all to sit down at the desk to prepare for the next one, two or three days away. 

However, there is a certain feeling of satisfaction that goes with devoting three full weeks to understanding the material and committing it to memory, like you really got something out of the semester.  What’s more, there is a lot of community building that happens right now:  guys will knock on your door and make you take a break for some coffee and more time is spent at the dinner table just because you don’t want to go back and study!  Despite all the tension and stress, this is a beautiful time.

I, for my part, have only one more test to go!  It is for a class on biblical exegesis of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and will be on Wednesday.  I LOVE the material (much more interesting than Latin and Greek!) and I am in the midst of 5 days to devote to only that topic…and I will need them.  And although the second semester will be starting next Monday, our community will be taking a trip this Friday to visit the monastery and tomb of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina as a sort of reward.  I’ll be praying for you! J

I will let you know how it the semester ends up and how our pilgrimage went soon!