How the Mighty Have Fallen

Morning Folks!

It's now 6:42 in the morning. Yes, 6:42. I haven't seen this side of 7:00 in a long, long time...not since I was in high school, I think. To give some perspective on the gravity of this situation, consider this: as of just a month ago, I'd be going to bed and hour or two before this.

Why, Ryan, are you up so early?

Because I'm going to Mass. At 7:00 IN THE MORNING. And then I'll have breakfast (though I'm enjoying my tea right now). I'd rather *celebrate* the Eucharist rather than sit there, numbed by sleep.

Yeah, so what else. Today is sort of the first day of the real novitiate. These last two weeks I've had considerable downtime to relax and get to know the other novices. Today, however, begins the regular ordo where we have classes (religious life at 8:30, a course on the history of the Jesuits, a course on the Constitutions of the Jesuits, Spanish, etc.) every day. It'll be nice to get into a regular routine, but this routine involves being up before 7:00 every morning in order to attend Mass (Tuesday and Thursday) or morning prayer (MWF). Weekends we do sleep later.

This is not, all in all, a bad way of life (as of yet!). We have a great cook who comes to prepare our meals, and with 22 novices living in the house, there's always someone to talk with. We all went out to Manresa - one of the retreat houses - yesterday for a picnic and afterwards some guys played cards and six of us went out for "ice cream" er, ah, beer. Having only $75.00 a month to spend certainly curtails your spending habits, so I'm learning to savor the taste even of Bud. BUD. Yick.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I don't have any profound or original thoughts, sad to say. But this will give you all some strange inkling as to what it is I do during the day. As I get more acquainted with life at Jesuit camp, I'll post it, too.

Cheers!