Ariccia, one week in

Well, the first thing to note is that I now know how to spell the name of the locale. One "r" two "c's."

My spot in the Chapter Hall; you can see the buttons behind my name card
(the audio dials are for the simultaneous translation, offered in English,
Korean and Japanese); each seat also has a microphone from which a delegate
can address the whole assembly.

Today we were introduced to the apparatus we will use in voting. Since the facility is typically used by religious orders, the electronic voting buttons are marked not in Italian or English, but with abbreviations of the Latin. And not for "yes" or "no," either: The choices are "placet" (it is pleasing), "non placet" (it is not pleasing), "abstentio" (vote withheld/abstain) and "iuxta modem" ("sort of").

After a week here (mostly spent on retreat, though, Lord have mercy, I fudged a bit), the rhythm we've gotten accustomed to is starting to change. Even the weather is changing, as if on cue! I wonder how that is going to affect our evening sunset photos. (Every day after supper we all seem to have the same pattern of going to watch--and photograph--the sunset behind Castel Gondolfo.)

There are other things to take pictures of, naturally. Here's the welcoming statue of the Divine Master at the front gate:



I'm probably not going to have time to do more than send a twitter update or two from now until we get a break (a Year of Faith pilgrimage is being planned!), so you're on your own to remember to pray the occasional "Come Holy Spirit" for our proceedings here, which are meant to guide the entire worldwide congregation over the next six years!