Getting ready to travel

When I left Rome last June, I traveled by train to Fiumicino… Jesus Manuel García brought me to the train station in Nuovo Salario, but it was a pain to carry the luggage. Since then I have done my usual fair amount of traveling, using taking BART to the airport, and picking up the metro or public transit on the other side. Since here I travel with a backpack, this has not been problematic. However, as I'm getting ready to go back to Rome, I decided that I need a larger piece that has wheels.

Anyway, this has been on my mind since I stood on that train from Nuovo Salario to Fiumicino, and this morning I finally acted on it. As soon as my class was finished with the ISS people, I hiked into downtown Berkeley, to the luggage store. I found a nice piece by Samsonite -- one that they call the "hardside spinner". It was a bit pricey, I thought, but then I haven't purchased luggage since 1992, and so I decided that this was not the time to be worried about the economy. $275 later, I was rolling my way through downtown Berkeley and back up the hill to Don Bosco Hall.

Ah! What a difference. I think this is going to work. Anyway, I quickly packed and that part of my trip is ready. Now I've got to finish my class prep for this week, and clean my office. What a mess… but that's another story.

Tonight we have a couple of birthdays: Sr Anne Collins (who is from Ireland and doing the ISS course) and Fr George Allengadan (who is from Bangalore and now works for the diocese of Oakland). They are both great folks, and I'm looking forward to the celebration.