happy new year from rome

its been too long since ive done this.
well, now is a good time to restart. i am going to try to blog about 3 times a week.
here are a few pictures of st. peter's square and the 'presepio'.

absolute torture

i did 2 exams today. i re-did the exam i got a six in and i think i did a little better, maybe 6.5-7.0. that wasnt the torture. next up was canon law. i thought i was ready, but he was asking things i dont even remember being on the dispense. it turns out i had to read a couple of encyclicals, which i didnt know. and to top it all off, it seems like every answer i gave, turned out to be wrong. when the exam was over, i think my t-shirt was all wet with sweat. that exam also went on and on. i think it was about 45 minutes long. when he wrote my mark down, it looked like he wrote 8.25. its over, so i really dont care about it right now. my problem now is the "Trinity" exam. im doing that on wednesday, but there is so much to study. i went into intense studying mode this afternoon. what is getting me thru is that it is the last exam. well, back to studying.

another exam bites the dust...

as i was reading over my notes just before friday's exam, freddie asked me what book i read for the exam. i totally forgot about it and i nearly got a heart-attack! thank god freddie had a book with him, so i started reading that one. the exam went ok, but when he asked me questions about the book, i had the "deer-in-headlights" reaction. i looked something like this:
im not sure what happened after, the next thing i know the exam is over and we started chit-chatting. im 100% sure he didnt say to redo it, so another one bites the dust.
next up: "canon law" and the redo of "theological anthropology", both on monday.

ALLELUIA!!!

the dreaded day is over. ever since that exam, i feel so much better, like a piano off my back. what i was hoping would happen in the exam happened: help from the Holy Spirit and mercy from the prof.
when i went in, he said i can do the exam in english rather than italian and also that i can look at my notes! no kidding! i started talking about the only chapter i knew and everything came to me, i didnt even have to look at the notes. that was the Holy Spirit's part. he then asked me a question about a chapter i knew nothing about and gave him a blank look for a reply. he ended the exam and then said, "how about a 9/10?". A NINE!!! i just wanted to pass it! he said that he takes a lot of things into consideration for the mark, not just the exam. that was the mercy i was hoping for.
words cant express the peace and relief i feel now. im noticing that im a bit more social now, more happy. but i have an exam coming this friday, "Historical Old Testament Books". im not too worried about that exam. i still have to study for it but there is no fear of failing it.
after friday's exam i have 2 exams on monday, the redo of "Theological Anthropology", and "Canon Law" and then the beautiful wednesday when i do the last exam, "Trinity". this one also worries me. there is a lot to know and memorize.
well, back to studying canon law.

the day has finally arrived.

well, its 7:30 in the morning and im off to my doom. i actually got a good bit of studying done, so the chances of me failing is greatly reduced. on the list, i am one of the last ones to do the exam, so i can get some studying done at that time. but im sure when i see my classmates that i havent seen in a while, ill be yapping instead of studying. ah well.
the good news is that after the exam im going to lunch with some friends here in rome, something to look forward to.
well, off i go.

will the day ever come...

...where i finally get the "Sacred Scripture" exam out of the way. i should see it positively, as two more days of studying, but now i see it as: when are these two days finally going to pass? it like knowing something bad is going to happen, and you just want the bad thing to happen just to get it out of the way, so i dont have to think about it anymore (at least until the redo exam). im skimming thru his dispense and im getting only bits and pieces. i have two hopes that i will pass this exam: the teacher is a good guy and i get along with him very well, and the Holy Spirit will come thru. did i mention that i cant wait for this f&$^%# exam to pass?

8.5 for "faith and theology". yahoo!

another exam down. this one went ok as expected. i just hope the others go this well. this afternoon and this evening i didnt study. i gave myself a break before the storm of studying for "sacred scripture". there is no way im going to read 150 pages of an italian dispense, so what im going to do is make a list of his chapter and headings and search books and the internet for an english version of it and pray to god that his material matches what i studied. if not, then im in trouble.

redo monday's exam

i have to redo the exam i took on monday, "anthropology theological". i didnt fail, but the prof send me an email and said that i got a 6 and that he recommends that i redo it on the 18th. my new motto is: "if at first you dont succeed, make sure you succeed on the second try".
i thought it was 3 down, 5 to go, but now it is back to 2 down, 6 to go.
my next exam is tomorrow, "faith and theology". this one i am not worried about. after that, i have an exam next tuesday, "introduction to sacred scripture". this is the one i am worried about. the dispense is 150 pages AND in italian. there is no way i can read the dispense, so i am not sure what the hell im going to do. pray?

im alive!

this blog has been a long time coming. also because i cant take freddie's wise-guy comments anymore :)

i cant believe it has been this long. that exam i was suppose to do a few months ago, i failed it. i re-did the exam a few weeks later and passed it. thank god. since then, i did the morals final exam and passed it. whew! thats out of the way. im going nuts over this exam on wednesday, "faith and theology". the dispense is actually interesting.

last week, we had special guests to our house, 2 of the 5 FRASCATI BOYS. they are student friars from the rome province who i have studied with for 3 years, since i arrived here in rome. one of the guys is a fellow blogger, freddie.

this is costantino branic stuffing his face.

this is luca di pietro with an after lunch espresso:

chris taking a picture of all of us at the lunch table:

all of us on the roof: chris, luca, alvin and costantino:

well, back to studying.

another exam on tuesday...

this entire week, ive been studying for the morals mid-term exam which is on tuesday. eventhough he cut out alot of stuff, there still is tons of stuff to study for. this weekend i wanted to go to naples, but that went down the toilet because of this exam. ah well. as for my weight, i havent been able to keep up with the 1KG a week. this morning i weighed myself and was 101.8KG. i didnt go jogging this evening because of this friggin exam. i cant wait until its over.

102.2KG (-0.1)

102.3KG (+0.3)

took a step backwards. i did the same things i did the previous days (jog + eating habits), but my thyroid is down. i will really have to watch what i eat today and wait it out. by saturday evening the thyroid should be back up. DAMN! i was doing so good.

102.0KG (-0.3)

102.3KG (-0.8) yahoo!

gotta keep it up now.