So it has begun — the real life. It didn’t take long to arrive. ;-)
I was allowed to clean lanterns and place them in niches, and then I sorted old books. It’s always surprising what treasures you discover. Picture books with copper engravings depicting the landscapes and cultures of all continents from a hundred years ago, a similarly old book on experimental physics with drawings of the experimental setups, and much more. I could spend hours browsing through these old books. But the structured daily schedule in the monastery thankfully prevents me from getting completely lost in something, losing track of time, and spending the whole day doing nothing else. When the bell rings, it means putting everything aside and rushing to the choir prayer.
A sister from another monastery, who was visiting and left again today, said goodbye to me after lunch and gave me a compliment that made me incredibly happy: "This house deserves good sisters. And with you, I feel like you really are one." Coming from her, that means something. She’s not the kind of person who would just say that casually.
A good sister. Well, in the making. But maybe I’m on the right path. I’m still far from being used to being a sister now. On the phone today, I had to think so long about how to introduce myself that the people present started making fun of me. Even when someone addresses me that way, it still feels totally unreal. As if they’re just calling me that for fun and will soon go back to normal. I keep expecting the whole thing to end soon and for everyone to suddenly start using my baptismal name again. I’m really curious how long it will take for it to truly sink in that this is simply my name now — until the name feels completely normal.
In the afternoon, I had the first real Latin lesson of my life. It was great. I hope I can keep up the motivation for the next two weeks, while the teacher (she is a guest in the monastery) is here, and beyond. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be able to read texts by Bernard in the original?
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