Hello, everyone!
Yes, I promise I am in fact alive and well, I’m sorry it
took me so long to update again! It’s been a whirlwind few days, but I can say
today that I’m settled in and comfy. I still don’t have internet in my house,
so I’m writing from a very cool café that’s about five minutes from the house
called Bohemeo’s.
I have done so much over the past week! It’s hard to put
into words. I think there will be a post to follow about my retreat, but I’ll
answer questions that I’ve been getting the most- questions about my community!
This is my little corner of Houston!
We have a great closet! It's a lot more organized now that I have some bed risers :).
I live with 6 girls, and the first few days have been so
much fun. One of our community members, Cassie, unfortunately had to go home
after orientation because of a death in the family, and she will be back in
about a week. We miss her, it honestly feels like something is missing in the
house!
The rest of my community:
Eva- from Springfield, MA. Eva went
to Holy Cross and Worcester State (smarty pants), and is working as a
caseworker for Catholic Charities in Houston. She is hoping to go to med school
after JVC. Her roommate is…
Megan- from
Marlton, NJ! Megan and I had actually met before we got to Houston due to a lot
of various connections from home. And it has been so fun to live with her, and
GREAT to have another Phils fan in the house. Megan is working with the St.
Vincent DePaul Society in Houston, and went to Loyola Maryland undergrad. She
and Eva live across the hall from me and…
Karen- Karen is
my direct roommate! She’s from Chicago, and is working with Houston Rescue and
Restore to advocate against human trafficking. She’s a lot of fun, and went to
Loyola Marymount in LA.
Rachel- is from
Cincinnati originally, but went to Loyola Chicago (are you sensing a theme
here?). She is working at Star of Hope Mission in Houston, an emergency shelter
for women and children. She lives in the front room with…
Cassie- from
Burlingame, CA! Cassie is home, but when she comes back, she’ll be working at
Catholic Charities doing refugee resettlement. She’s a BC grad, and we can’t
wait to have her back!
So, as you can tell, I’m the only community member who was
lucky enough to be Dominican-educated instead of “Jesucated” and proud of it! I
have lots of Dominican things sprawled throughout the house already, and I am
so excited to connect with the Dominican sisters here in Houston. I have really
liked what I’ve learned about Jesuit spirituality so far, but I’m a Dominican
at heart.
Our house is called Casa Rutilio Grande, named after the
Jesuit martyr who was a friend of Oscar Romero in El Salvador. Eva’s family is
Salvadorian, and her grandma actually knew both Rutilio Grande and Oscar
Romero! We have pictures of them all over the house, and are excited to do more
research on their lives. We call Rutilio Grande “Ruti G,” a nickname that was
passed down from communities before us.
We spent the weekend getting settled in the house- cleaning,
re-organizing, and unpacking. I have definitely made my room feel homey, and
one of the first things I hung up was a set of Christmas lights! PC has very
strict fire codes, and I wasn’t allowed to have them in my room for the past
four years, so I was really excited to be able to use them here in Houston.
Last night, three of us went to the Astros game, and we’re looking forward to
the Olympic closing ceremony tonight!
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