Arrival at Musica Sacra Colloquium in D.C.

I had a nice drive up from Va Beach today; took my time, and stopped along the way to pick up a few items at Old Navy.

Was moving along on I-395, expecting to arrive even before check-in began at 2; then I hit a terrible back up on 395, just after the exit to the House of Representatives. All due to construction on New York Avenue. I don't know what a good alternate route would be, but 395 will be a mess as long as that construction goes on.

I had a brief conversation with Fr. Skeris, who directed me toward the check-in location. The irritatingly young-looking but very helpful students there directed me to my accommodations in Reardon Hall, where I am cooling off for a few minutes before I go retreive more stuff from my car.

Now, some folks have the idea that I am "living it up" on my vacation; and I have had a good time. But let me describe my accommodations: I'm in a college dorm. If that doesn't explain everything, let me describe the room. It is 15' x 10' or thereabouts, painted cement-block walls, with nothing on them. The doors are metal, painted a lovely shade of light olive-drab, accented by battleship grey. There are two beds, two small bureaus, two desks, and two chairs. Each room houses two people (although, judging by the quantity of linens left for me, I think I will not have a roommate); and two rooms share a bathroom, although each has a sink.

No complaints; it's clean and I expect it will be very quiet, and the a/c is icey cold. Oh, and they have wi-fi, which is handy.

The plan for this colloquium is for everyone to learn more chant and polyphony; I hope they aren't expecting great things of me, although Father Skeris, full of hope, asked me to be celebrant at Mass later this week, and sing a lot of it. Well, it'll be a win-win: either I'll do well, or they'll never ask me to do it again! But I will make a game effort. (Realize, as a parish priest, you are the only priest at 99% of all Masses you celebrate; and almost never is someone around who can give you helpful tips on your celebrating/singing methods. Result: you can become rather confirmed in bad and sloppy habits, which you don't know about until you come to something such as this.)

So we're supposed to gather for dinner later, then some talk, and I assume some explanation of where we go to participate in our choirs and such. This may end up being quite a bit of work, but that's fine.