Of Washington D.C. and Its Surrounding Environs

 

As Dorothy said to Toto, "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."  Nor, to be certain, have I been in Kansas for some time now.  

I made the drive to Washington, D.C. over the course of three days, stopping first in Madison, WI, just shy of half-way, and spending the second night in Pittsburgh, PA.  That left me with about a four hour drive to the metro the next day.  I planned it thus so as to ensure that I would arrive with plenty of daylight and ample time to move into my room and unpack.

As regards my room, I was pleasantly surprised to find it much larger than I anticipated.  About five days before leaving South Dakota, I received word that a room had been reserved for my at Curley Hall, which is the housing for the priest teaching faculty on campus.  Though the building is old (more on that presently), it is far more spacious than the dorm style room I had been planning to occupy at Theological College.  I have a large sitting room/office, a decent bedroom, and a small private bath.  These are clearly rooms academics.  The place is filled with bookshelves, and the small collection I brought with me makes but a pitiful dent in the available space.  Though three years of study is likely to fill much more it, this room was obviously originally meant for a man of letters who would spend years here as a teacher, researcher, and writer.

My room is in the "annex" - a building behind the main building.  They are both old sick buildings, and are among the oldest on campus.  Little has been done by way of updating the facility.  there is no central air, though I have an effective window unit.  Because of the itinerant nature of this building's residents, the rooms are all furnished in haphazard fashion with furniture and wall hangings reflective of the decades of through which the room has been occupied.  There must have been a priest who resided here at length during the 70s judging by the art.  The bed is hard, paint is peeling, and I had to scrub mold off one of the walls (D.C.is built on a swamp, after all).  But, I am not terribly particular about that sort of thing.  I was instructed by other student-priests to take any furniture I would like from any other room in the building.  It is all community property, and when I finish, I will leave it for someone else to use as they see fit.  Apparently last year one of the residents used a sawzall to, for whatever reason, cut all of his bookshelves in half.

Between instructors and students, twenty priests live here.  As per priestly custom, we are all on a first name basis, titles being unnecessary among peers.  Many of these men are my classroom instructors.  I find it odd not to use some sort of title when addressing them.  I find it odd to converse with them as brother priests in the dining room and then as professors in the classroom.  

Meals are served here in the building three times per day, and our classroom is about a two-minute walk from the front door.  The National Shrine is just across the street from us.  There are three chapels, all outfitted to say mass privately or in small groups.  A community Mass and Evening Prayer is offered each day.  I sense the younger priests are disinclined to join the old guys, their liturgical tastes tending toward greater formality and adherence to the liturgical norms outlined in the various liturgical books.  That said, there is, at least so far, a strong spirit de corps in the house.  Everyone is eager to help those of us just arrive to acclimate to our new surroundings.  Perhaps most encouraging of all, however, is that I have experienced none of the hubris common the Catholic Church on the East Coast among the men here.  I find that kind of pretension utterly repugnant.  At least among the students in this house, everyone is just trying to get their degree and go home.  It is a sentiment with which I resonate deeply.  All in all, among the available options, this is an ideal living situation.

Catholic University, or at least the School of Canon law situated therein, is notorious for poor communication, and has been my experience from the day I applied for study.  Emails are generally unanswered, phone messages unreturned, and notification of important events often arrive after the event has already passed.  Apparently there was an online student orientation on August 20.  I learned about it on August 25.  This is a source of profound frustration to me.  Similarly frustrating is the university's infatuations with technology.  I have a new file on my phone entitled "Bullshit I Had to Download for CUA."  There is an app for using the printers.  There is an app to access the gym.  There is an app for email.  There is an app to guarantee that's actually me using the other apps.  Beyond these, the classes now distribute all materials online.  Seldom does an instructor provide a printed copy of the readings, the syllabus, or other course documents.  I can print these myself, using the printing app, and then walking to a computer lab and somewhere on campus to collect them.  Similarly, there is no bookstore.  They are all ordered online.   These are, I suppose, cost-saving measures.  I have often wondered if I would keep pace with technology, having been more or less raised with it.  I find, however, that I tend toward becoming a luddite.

This part of the city, I am frequently told, is very safe.  The regular presence of police helicopters and the sound of gunfire two nights seem to mitigate against these assurances.  In spite of these concessions, I find that I do not feel unsafe, especially during the daylight hours, and given that I am her to study, there seems little reason for me to be out after dark.  Even if I were, however, out and about, most of the violent crime is directed toward people who had it coming.  Basic precautions (avoid walking alone after dark, stay where there is light, don't make ostentatious displays of valuable things like computers, jewelry, or cash, travel by taxi or uber when alone) are sufficient to avoid trouble.

Parking is a problem in most of the city.  So, shopping, at least for me, means a trip to the suburbs where there is a bit more room for sprawling lots.  The suburbs are also, generally, safer.  I found a Target within a reasonable drive of the university.  There is a Safeway within walking distance of there.  By taking advantage of these two, vendors in advance, I suspect I will survive Election Day and Inauguration Day.

I do not have classes on Fridays, and with Labor Day, I will have no classes on Monday.  I hope that affords me some time to see some of the more typical destinations for visitors to the city.  Maybe Arlington or the Smithsonian Zoo.  And, I need to track down a fly shop.  I know there has to be one.  They will provide me with what I need to know in order to escape and at least pretend that I am not surrounded by the unwashed masses.  

I found, at the Shrine, an altar to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  She was a great comfort to me.  I suspect I will go see her often.  She reminds me of home, and she helps remind me why I am here. 

I have lots of deeper things to write about.  I am still trying to formulate them in my mind.  For now, I am here.  I am safe. And, I am finding myself sliding relatively naturally and serenely back into academic life, if not city life.  Pray for me.  I'll do the same for you.