ALiFe

I had my morning off today, and my students decided to take me to Hue's cemetery. It's huge. Think: Tampines. Passed by this huge carving of the laughing Buddha, and thought how it should be on my blog.


My students and I climbed a hill and there in this little pavilion, stood a huge bell. A monk would gong the bell every five minutes and he let us give it a try!


Down the hill outside a temple, we met Nghi. He's a trained craftsman adding dragons to pillars. It is pretty amazing how fast this 24 year old applies the mixture of water, cement and sand to create beautiful art.


The next stop was the Benedictine Monastery. I really love how they've allowed the culture to influence the style of the building.


On the way back to DMI, we stopped by Hue's cathedral. Maybe I'll come back for a proper visit.


Nearly 40 of the junior sisters renewed their vows today at the evening mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Hue. It was a simple and beautiful ceremony. (Can't wait to experience the bigger dedication mass next weekend.) Truly inspired by how the sisters dedicate their whole lives to serving God. They face the same issues like us (well, more or less), and they're no different than you and I. This is where focus is really focused.

Just the other day during class, while filling in the blanks of the sentence, " ____ is more important than ___ ." An aspirant student replied, "Married life is more important than singlehood." I prompted her, "What are you doing here in the convent then?" She answered, "I want to marry Jesus."