I had a nice little surprise fly by my window Thursday morning. I guess I should say it was two little surprises. Two military helicopters flew past my window. I wish I had my camera ready, but I really didn't expect to see something like that while I was in my room; the occasional bird diving for food, sure, but not two helicopters.
I had to do more cleaning again this morning with Don Ignazio inside our chapel where we pray every morning. He wanted me to clean and polish all of the wood, because after the mass for St. Benedict, there had been many people inside leaving marks. We were both surprised when Diego and Francesco showed up at Sacro Speco. Apparently they had a meeting with Don Luigi, but decided to stop by for awhile to pay us a visit. Inside the chapel there is this old pipe organ. I never knew if it worked or not, because no one here plays it. Francesco turns it on and starts to play. His is a very talented organ player who plays by ear. I don't think I have ever heard such wonderful music from an organ. I wasn't the only one who was impressed, because Don Ignazio wanted to recruit Francesco to stay here at Sacro Speco to play the organ for us every morning. Don Ignazio complemented him on his playing along with his singing. He said we could use someone like him for our morning prayers. They even said that I could join them and perform Gregorian Chants as they are meant to be sung. I had to decline considering I don't know Italian all that well and the fact that my voice isn't the best for singing.
After I finished cleaning, I decided to head into the shop to see if Clara needed any help. It was a pretty slow day, so there wasn't much to be done. My source of entertainment was a little writing contest between Clara and Francesco. Clara wanted to find someone who could write really well and wanted to test Francesco's skills. She handed him a pen and gave him a name to write. Francesco wasn't happy with the type of pen and said he couldn't write like he normally would with that kind of pen. He said he needed one with a point, not just some normal pen. Well Clara created one letter, which in my opinion looked very professional. He said that she should be the one to write instead of him based off my comment.
Since the schedule was pretty light today, Don Ignazio figured he could get a lot of cleaning done, well he was wrong. He went to the cave to sweep and mop up after all of the visitors from Sunday and Monday. He just finished cleaning when he heard this large group of kids coming. He already knew how this was going to end and couldn't do anything but helpless stand back as they trampled through leaving their little footprints over the floor. I am lucky considering that my area I just cleaned is located in a locked area, so I don't have to worry as much when there is a group, unless that group has a mass scheduled.
I was flying solo in the afternoon in the shop, which was a pretty difficult adventure. There of course was a huge crowd that came to visit the monastery, about 50 people or so, and all came into the shop together. It always seems like when I am there alone things get hectic, but I guess that is what's supposed to be expected when things warm up. Well this group had no concept of a line and people were throwing things in my face trying to pay and head out. I wish people would realize that I am only one man and can only do but so much. So I had to point things out for one person, while another was asking the price of a certain object, and then another wanting to check out. I don't think I have ever moved as fast handing out receipts and putting things into bags. I am a one man army.
I do have a questions about something that has been bugging me for quiet some time. Why do some people feel the need to pay with 50 euro bills when their total isn't even close to 10 euros? People should realize that this is a monastery and not a bank. We don't just have a infinite about of money to give everyone change for a 50, especially when things are slow. I can't even count the number of times I have people if they have something smaller. I can understand if your total is close to 30 euros, but when it's less than 10, let us be serious. You don't just walk around with a 50 in your wallet hoping someone will be able to break it.
Another round of cleaning for me on Friday. This time I had to clean and polish the seats in the lower chapel. What is so different about this chapel is that it is very old. Some of the wood is falling apart and some pieces are on their last leg. Don Ignazio brought Fabrizio down to see if he could fix any of the pieces so that people don't fall and hurt themselves or destroy what is left. He said the chapel is about 400 years old or so, so I think you can understand why it's in such bad shape. This discussion of fixing chairs prompted Don Ignazio and Fabrizio to tell stories of when they witnessed people fall through chairs.
Fabrizio chimed in with his story of having to fix one of the seats inside the very chapel I was cleaning. One monk would always do every action forcefully, from slamming a door to even sitting down in a chair. Well you know that during mass there are several times when one gets up and sits back down. Well this time he did it so strongly that he broke the support underneath the chair, causing him to fall on the floor. Fabrizio showed us where he had to put in the new support beam. I don't think I have ever seen anyone actually fall through a chair before, but if it is as funny as someone missing a chair completely, I think I wont be able to stop laughing.
No comments:
Post a Comment