This has been the day to change the clocks in Europe. The USA now does the changing (as of this year) two weeks early, so now my computer if not by body is caught up for both time zones. I awoke at 6:30 (Central European Daylight Time), thinking the mass at the Don Rua community would have the mass at 7:30, as it usually does on Sundays. When I got there, I found a sign saying "La messa alle 8.30: Nuovo Orario". So, in the hour that I waited I did some laundry and went back to preparing my presentation for tomorrow's lectures. I also discovered that it was raining again!
Because I am so busy during these weeks trying to get my classes prepared and then correcting drafts of theses of my students, the best time for me to interact with folks is during the meals, and in the period right after dinner. Today I had a chance to touch base with John Roche (but mainly about his thesis) and with Marco Bay. I also met a young man from the Central American province whose name is Raymond, and who is enrolled in a four month course for formators. He will work with the Brothers Professional Formation Group, now moving from Salvador to Guatemala, come June when he returns to his province. He told me of how the Interamerican region is restructuring some of the interprovincial formation projects. I wonder that I never heard of this, being on the formation commission of the San Francisco province. I suppose these details are not thought to be significant for us. Instead, they color what we do in Berkeley. How do we keep on marketing ourselves to these provinces if we don't know that the criteria for formative courses and itineraries (as they love to call them) are shifting.
Oh well… what can you do? I suppose it is impossible to keep up with every trend… but as I was speaking with the young Raymond, the rain stopped and the sky opened slightly. The thunderheads are still imposing, but not delivering any action at the moment.
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