On the first of October, I started a journey from Malta, my home country to Genoa, Italy. A journey similar to the ones I did before except for the fact that I did not have my mobile phone. A journey that brought me to the Novitiate: a physical location but also a journey of two years.<\/p>\n
Before I started my flight, I gave my time of arrival and landmark to Josef (another Maltese novice who has just started his second year), hoping that I will find him upon my arrival. Throughout the journey I was worried about whether we will actually manage to meet. But to my surprise, not only did we meet but he arrived dressed up in an elegant suit. What a service! I thought to myself. As I spoke to him, I learned that it was only because he came straight after a wedding ceremony.<\/p>\n
Throughout the journey, I was also thinking about how I would communicate in Italian. A language which I studied in secondary school but it has been quite a while now, almost 15 years. And to say the truth, I always struggled with it. In this respect, during the first few weeks I found it tiring to speak, hear and listen only in Italian. But slowly, slowly my language skills are improving, not to mention that every now and then I invent some new Italian words myself when my vocabulary is not sufficient to communicate my message.<\/p>\n
It is also not the first time that the cook asks me to bring something and he greets me with a baffled look when I return with another. I am not the only foreign novice. I started my novitiate with seven other novices. There are four Italian nationals, two novices from Romania and a Slovenian. We joined nine other second year novices who did their best to help us settle down easily. Together we create a multinational environment.<\/p>\n
I am now about to start, the first of a series of experiments, that will help me test and clarify my vocation. The first experiment is the Spiritual Exercises which grew out of Ignatius Loyola\u2019s personal experience. I realise that I am in the fourth month of this journey. A journey of new experiences and new people….to be continued<\/p>\n
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