Why I Don’t Like Latin, Hate Doing Laundry and Other Student’s Feelings

Hello folks!

It has been a while without a word on these lines. The reason for that, I think, is that I have to experience a little more before Rome became a routine. To cope, I am writing from a table in one of Rome’s best cafés: Caffè Greco, 250 years of tradition.  Not too bad for Rome’s millenarian time table. It was the 18^th century haunt of foreign artists and writers such us Keats, Byron, and Goethe and composers like Liszt, Wagner, and Bizet all breakfasted and drank here. So did Casanova and mad king Ludwig of Bavaria. Today, Italians stand in the crowded foyer to sip a quick espresso, and we foreigners sit in a cozy back room. It seems the perfect place to come and write. It is my first time here and I have wanted to come since the moment I heard about it. However, I am a little disappointed, here are not writers anymore. It is full of snappy tourists. I am sitting in the back room, the one straight ahead down the hall. It is beautiful. It has red walls, paintings with beautiful frames. There is a piano in the corner opposed to me, some sculptures, busts and portraits that recall the café’s former artistic patrons.

I won’t go around the bush with the proposed question. I will answer it right away. Right away, great expression. Every time I hear it or say it, I don’t think of something which will be instant but it reminds me of one of my altar servers at St Edna who said to me the second time I saw him: I will tell you it right away: you are my favorite! A quiet complement for the baby priest I was then, intimidated even by the candles.

Ok now I will go straight. First of all, I don’t like Latin because, at this point of my life, I should know it by now and shouldn’t be studying it still. Furthermore, it takes me a lot of time from doing other things. Secondly, I hate doing laundry for a similar reason. It takes so much time, perhaps, an hour and a half from the moment I decide to do it to the moment I close the closet with everything hung and folded neatly. Also because Mai, in St Edna’s rectory, did it much better than me and it makes me dizzy to watch the watcher and drier machines spinning around. About other student’s feelings, sometimes I feel like going to a particular class where the teacher only reads from his book is such a waste of time. In short, just in case you have not noticed it, what I don’t like about being a student is the amount of time it takes.

But the next question is: what do I need time for? I have all the time for studying! It is my job. But I think I know what I am going through. It is actually a well known syndrome: STFD and DD (student tendency for distractions and daydreaming). Maybe some of you can relate to it. I suffered from it before, back in high school and college. But I think it is always there each time we are labeled with such noble activity.

Now I got distracted with the new set of customers at the table in front. This time there is a young couple with a baby. The mother unloads her bag with baby stuff: a thermo, baby bottle, dippers. The father holds the baby while checking his cell phone. She looks overwhelmed and the infant demands attention. Well, if this is not a writer’s place anymore, definitely it is filled with stuff to write about.

Now going back to our conversation, daydreaming is the closest attitude for prayer, especially when I feel prompted to be distracted from praying. When there is noise behind. When there are people running around in what is supposed to be a quiet place. The solution is to daydream. When I am in that almost mystic experience with my thoughts, I don’t hear anything nor notice anything around. It is only my dream and me, isn’t it? That’s the attitude for prayer in noisy circumstances. It is entering into the silence of myself shutting down the world for a while. Just like daydreaming.

At this point I changed my table. This new one has a very good view and sense of the room. This is a good place, except for the noisy people on the back. I am just going to ignore them because I am distracted writing. By the way, I am drinking tea, just in case anyone wonders.

So I guess what I want to say here is that time and responsibilities go together. It seems like time goes against fulfilling tasks. It is not because time got mad about it; but because I don’t make them to go along well. So I created a strategy against it. Normally and honestly it takes only 20 minutes to do Latin drills; but in real time I spend 2 hours. I don’t wonder what happens with the extra 100 minutes. It is crystal clear, or do you want to guess? I daydream or get distracted by unplanned stuff during those extra minutes. Therefore, the strategy is to plan the distractions beforehand. Every time I will study Latin or have to do laundry I come out with some distraction to go along the way. For example, laundry time is now an hour of spiritual reading. I got down one book so far. I don’t plan to do laundry anymore, but to read some chapters from any spiritual author in the laundry room. It is great, because it is like doing spiritual laundry. I am not sure what that should mean, but it sounds interesting. When I find out its meaning I will tell you. On the other hand, every time I go to a class where the teacher just reads from his book, I read too, and I even make some progress with complementary readings. It actually has given me a little bit more of free time to visit churches around and to practice Latin reading every inscription I see throughout the city. Just like when I learned how to read back in first grade.

In the end, time does not matter so much here, I am in the eternal city anyway. I am enjoying my studies along with the opportunities to live the culture and faith of this town. And the Lord? He is the one who takes all my time, even when I am not in prayer. What I found myself doing with my free time is looking for lost saints in Rome. Like Luigi. ...(will continue )

No, I am not sleeping. I am daydreaming!

This St Peter's basilica. Catholicism's major shrine full of "pilgrims." Imagine praying in this context.

Keeping vigil for the Immaculate Conception Solemnity. Inner courtyard in the house.

Immaculate Conception Column in Piazza Spagna.

The pope has arrived. Prayer service on December 8th.

Traditionally the pope comes on December 8th to pray here. It also has become the event to officially starts the pre Christmas season in the city.

Pope's Mass in St Peter's of Our Lady of Guadalupe commemorating the bicentenial of Latinamerica countries' independencies.

The pope prayed for our continent through the intercession of la Morenita del Tepeyac! He also announced his visit to Mexico and Cuba next spring.



This is the closer I could get.