Dear Friends,
After Virginia left Amsterdam on a flight to Detroit with connection to Milwaukee, I enjoyed wandering around the airport in Amsterdam. I had nearly four hours in Amsterdam, and used the time to explore the Airport Library, which had shelves of books in about two dozen different languages. I found an interesting book in English, and sat in a comfortable chair for about 40 minutes to read. I made note of the title and author, and may look for that book in the near future as it was interesting and well written. Then I found the Museum, an extension of one of the bigger museums in Amsterdam, which had an interesting exhibit of paintings of Dutch painters. I explored some more, and found that there are two areas (at least) where they have comfortable lounge chairs for those who need to sleep (or at least rest) between flights. And I walked a lot ...
My flight left Amsterdam a few minutes late, and arrived a few minutes early in Boston. Overall an uneventful flight, ... and I admit to sleeping more than staying awake. I watched the movie The Devil Wears Prada, and found it interesting. My seat companion was a young woman from Turkey who was coming to Boston to visit her sister. We didn't talk much, as she was not comfortable conversing in English and I was too tired to make an effort at conversation. We were comfortable seat companions, both sleeping, reading, and each watching a movie. The plane landed just before 1 pm on Thursday afternoon.
My friends Tom and Kathleen met me where I came out from the Customs Hall, and brought me to Boston College, where the Clavius Group was happy to welcome me. Tom is scheduled for open heart surgery on Thursday, July 14; both he and Kathleen ask for our prayers for a successful outcome.
At 4 pm on Thursday Ellen Ryan, a psychologist who specializes in gerontology, gave a lecture "Choose to Age with Spirit." She shared some of the writing of older adults that she works with as well as some research on persons who have lived healthy lives past 110 years. Her most recent book is a collection of poetry by persons over 70. Ellen will lead a Faith Discussion on Monday night on "Writing as a Spiritual Practice in Later Life."
We had Mass at 5:30 pm, and then two of the couples here (Tom and Kathleen, and Jack and Ruth) took me out to dinner where I had soup, salad, and a glass of wine. I was in bed by 9:00 pm, and slept soundly through the night. I got up about 6:30 am (conscious that it was already 2:30 pm in Masasi) feeling refreshed. I was able to do all the things that one needs to do when arriving on a campus as a visitor -- get my ID, register my computer and get passwords for the internet, and do a load of laundry. Then I attended three lectures (on various topics in mathematics) ... and participated in Mass at 5:30 pm. By 8 pm, I was aware that it was past midnight in Masasi ... and went to bed early again. I slept well for about 3 hours, woke for about 3 hours, and slept again. I got up about 5:30 am and took a long walk. It felt good to walk, and I realized how much I missed being able to take long walks in Masasi. Now I've had a shower, eaten some breakfast, and made a cup of tea. This being Saturday, things here are rather unstructured -- nothing really scheduled until Mass at 4:30 pm. I will relish the unstructured time!
As soon as I send this message, I will take time to pray ... My room here is in a corner apartment on the fourth floor. My windows look directly into the tree tops, where there are several families of birds of various kinds.
I think that this will be my last entry for the blog, as it tells of my re-entry back into the US and seems a good place to end. Sending these reflections for the blog has given me an opportunity to reflect on the experience of traveling to Tanzania to work with our sisters there. Now here at Boston College, I'm scheduled to give a talk on Tuesday on "Integrating Values into the Teaching of Mathematics," and then Mission Appeal talks next weekend. So I need to settle in and do a different kind of writing.
You each continue to be in my heart and prayers in a special way.
Peace,
Sr. Barbara Reynolds, SDS
