Sorry for the lack of updates...last week was quite a long week for me and this weekend I was concentrating on catching up with the photos of my travels on here.
Anyhow...back to last weekend...because that's how far behind I am. Friday the 21st I got up super early to be at school at 8 am so that we could bus to northern Spain for the Loyola Pilgrimage Retreat (sponsored by the university, but open to students from another Spanish university as well).
Almost as soon as I arrived...came the first surprise...guess which professor was going on the retreat with us...yup...my phonetics professor. I kind of mentally freaked out a bit. I was still unsure about her and wasn't sure whether or not I liked the idea of her being on the retreat. It ended up being a good thing. Seeing her in a different setting made me realize that I may have misjudged her - she was a lot different outside the classroom and a good sort of different. (But then I went to class early last week and almost changed my mind about misjudging her).
Soon enough, it was time to get on the bus and begin our journey. I slept for a good chunk of the way. Then we stopped a few hours in for a bathroom break and snack. After eating a pastry and chatting with one of the girls from the other university, it was time to get back on the bus. I slept some more and chatted with the guy who had moved to sit next to me (I was sitting in the middle with the middle door behind me so we could lean our seats back further...he did not move because he specifically wanted to sit by me). As we got closer, I began to become interested in the view from the window and took a few pictures. Finally, we arrived in Loyola.
We were staying at this adorable retreat house run by nuns which is next door to/connected to the Cathedral and house where St. Ignatius encountered God. The rooms were huge and quite nice...I paired up with my new friend to share a room and we got along well. The food was okay (liked the first meal...not so much the rest, but mainly only because I was picky...everyone else liked it). But the hot chocolate was great.
Throughout the weekend, we walked around town and around the mountain, had some free time, prayed, listened to talks (one of which I gave - it was well-received), and visited various sites of significance (usually related to St. Ignatius...more on this to come).
It was a beautiful weekend to expand friendships with classmates, make new friends, disconnect (did not bring my laptop...how freeing!), and spend some time in prayer and reflection. I had a great weekend.
Several highlights:
1. Taking a walk around town with my new friend Erin the first day
2. giving my talk Saturday morning...I didn't think I did a fabulous job, but everyone else did.
3. Walking with Marta (she works in Student life and was our main chaperone) and some other classmates up to the house of silence on the mountain where the view is amazing
4. Accidentally being late (along with 2 friends) for the next activity/talk which was, of course, not in the retreat center...long story short, Marta was not too pleased with us.
5. Hearing Katie's (not Katie my friend or Katie my roommate...a new friend Katie) talk on forgiveness that night...after telling my personal story in my own talk, it was what I needed to hear.
6. All of the site-seeing/Ignatious-related sites
7. Our visit to the Cathedral on our second night there. We went at night and it was beautiful to see the whole place lit up at night. We met our Jesuit tour guide (probably the cutest man ever) and he took us inside and showed us where we were to sit and reflect as he turned on the lights and played some music. The way he set it up was beautiful...he slowly lit up the place, beginning with the area dedicated to Mary during the Ave Maria. After that he gave us a chance to ask questions. All this time, I had been admiring the dome and wondering if the railing around it indicated that one could stand up there..well, I was able to see for myself because our guide offered us the chance to go up there and see the dome and church from that level viewpoint! SO AWESOME!!! Then we walked back toward the sacristy and Jesuit Residence where we were treated to a snack before taking the passageway back to where we were staying.
8. Playing "Psychiatrist" with the other retreatants and Marta (Shout out to Double Take...was this what we played that one time where we were answering things for each other and based on the color of our shirts and then had to move around a lot? Because it reminded me of that...)
Here (coming soon) are some photos of my experience... (See the next post for all of the exciting Ignatius-related stuff)
Peace and Blessings,
Melanie
Spanish Words of the Day: retiro = retreat, cupula = dome, silencio = silence :)
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