nun sighting

but only if seeing a buddhist nun counts. she was walking down b'way past the duane reade. i think it counts.
also, i had a dream last night that i was visiting order of the holy paraclete in whitby, yorkshire. i was very happy and excited but also nervous - like the first day of first grade kind of feeling. i had to remind myself in the dream that i was only visiting for a couple of weeks, not moving in yet.
the funny thing is, when i did visit ohp a few years ago, i had an ego freakout and instead of hearing the small, still voice and the "ah, i'm home" feeling that i had hoped for, i heard a squeaky, shrieking voice in my head as i crossed the threshold saying, "I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!" like in monty python or something! so, i'm taking this dream to be propheticish.
when i live in spain, it'll be easier and cheaper for me to visit england and africa so i hope to take a couple of trips to each.
the first time i went, i was freezing ... in august. i had my little heater on. i shivered, my fingers were cold, i wore sweaters and jackets. not my ideal weather. we shall see.

my plan so far

well, i was hoping to go to swaziland this summer to visit order of the holy paraclete's orphanage for girls in bulembu village. however, i don't have the money for the plane ticket right now so we'll see. if not this summer, i certainly have plenty of other vacations as a teacher so plenty of other opportunities to visit.
meanwhile, i'm working on a plan to transition from this life to that one. i want to live in europe again before i enter the convent. i also want to be warm. i am a heat-seeking missile, a delicate hot house rose. so, i'm working out a plan to move to spain in a year and a bit. i probably can't teach english b/c i don't have e.u. citizenship, despite my qualifications (a masters in teaching english to speakers of other languages). i could tutor and teach online university like phoenix u. and i want to write. i have a couple of good stories in me. i'm thinking of doing this for a year or so. a gap year if you will. i will bring my dog and my bunny. i will sell everything i own. i will give up my life here, which i am getting ready to do. nyc is not for the middle class anymore. i can't afford it here as a single school teacher. i'd also like to live a slower-paced lifestyle than nyc. a mediterranean (sp?) lifestyle.
so far i am torn between moving to barcelona and seville. barcelona is colder. seville is right on the beach. barcelona has an anglican church with a woman rector. there's most likely a bigger expat scene in barcelona (my spanish sucks and i'm not going to have an easy time making friends with natives, plus, my experience of living abroad has taught me that i need american and english-speaking friends who get my humor and whose humor i get). barcelona is more expensive. i guess i could live in both places. i guess i don't have to make this decision right now.
i do enjoy imagining my dog and i walking along la playa. she is getting old - 10 and a half. i have to wait for her to die before i can enter the religious life! can't bring her with me to the convent. bunny bun bun will like spain too, i'm sure. he'll just hate getting there.
i'm going to flippin' love it!

nun sighting

i went to trader joe's today (usually a nightmare b/c it's so crowded w/new yorkers i want to push my cart into people's ankles) and i saw a couple of the missionaries of charity (the mo. teresa nuns) loading boxes of food from the service entry of t.j. into a van. i confirmed w/an employee, t.j. gives their excess food to the missionaries of charity. what a mazel!

nun sighting

saw a nun in blue habit w/white veil on 3rd ave. and 85th street. white veils used to mean a nun was a novice, but not with all habits and some orders have pretty much gotten rid of the term novice and are just sisters.

michael o'sullivan

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jen

a second graders immigration story

i was reading a chapter from a book called the drinking gourd about a family of runaway slaves in the 19th century. they are walking from the south to canada to be free. the kids were really into the novel and didn't want it to stop at the end of the chapter. they are second graders and just developing an understanding of concepts like slavery. we talked about slavery in the u.s. and how hard it was for families like the one in the novel to walk all the way to canada with small children.
one of my kids raised his hand and said, my family walked from mexico to the united states when i was 7. we were caught by the police and sent back to mexico, then we walked back again. wow. that hit me like a ton of bricks. i know that many of my students made a tough journey to come here, but a lot of them were born here. this is also the age when kids start making the connection between characters in a book and their own lives. a lot of children's literature is about issues like being teased or bullied or having a baby sibling. this is a whole different level.

nun sightings

ever since i was called to the religious life i started seeing nuns around nyc. i see them on the subway, on the bus, at the symphony, riding bikes in the park, at the airport, random nun sightings. if i lived in ireland or rome this might be considered normal. in nyc there simply aren't that many nuns. they all seem to condense within my line of vision. at first i used to think it was god pressuring me to keep my vocation in mind or hurry up and become a nun. that is so not god's way. that would be my way if i were god so it's a good thing i'm not. thank god for god.
i often hear god speak to me through other people and i was telling a woman about how i see nuns everywhere and how at one point i was seeing three different nuns a week for several weeks. i mean, the average new yorker could go their whole lives these days without running into a nun. this woman said to me, how comforting of god to send you a reminder of your vocation. suddenly the nun sightings seemed less like a pressure stunt from god and more like, "i've got you covered. just so you remember what's important. keep your eye on the prize."
i decided i'd start documenting my nun sightings on this blog.
i saw a nun walking down 72nd street as i was passing by on the 2nd ave. bus last week. this pretty much doesn't count because i know that there is a convent on 72nd street between 2nd and 3rd avenues. that's too easy.
i saw two nuns in those mother theresa white with blue trim habits (can't remember the name of her order as i'm not catholic) just missing the r train as the doors closed at the lexingon avenue subway station on friday.
i never say anything to the nuns i see. but i think in my head, oh, you're my nun of the week, my reminder of what is important. thank you, sister.