Reached our Generalate (international headquarters) in Rome last night for a workshop/seminar on the revision of the Manual of the Salesian Rector. My first impressions of the house itself:
- The first thing that struck me was the simplicity of the house. The building is old but in the name of modernising it they have not made it posh! It certainly has a very rustic feel about it. No frills, no extravagance!
- The Chapel is very beautiful. Perhaps the only place that looks 'rich'. Rooms are frugal and functional. Reminded me very much of our guest rooms back in India.
- The dining hall is just tables and chairs, a TV set. That's it! The community room has some drinks and snacks, with expresso machines for coffee and tea. Again, nothing extravagant or posh.
- The room tags on the keys are hand written and simple ordinary plastic tags.
- The building itself is old and has several patches and sections broken and needed repair, but nothing needing desperate reconstruction... and therefore a typical house, in use.
I know not to whom should the credit of it all go to: of keeping the standard of the house functional and neat rather than posh and elegant... personally, I found it a very good balance of the poor and rich parts of the congregation!
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| A decent km drive around the building |
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Found several peacocks... am told there are white ones too.
This particular one walked straight into the foyer. |
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| Chapel (from the adjoining terrace) |
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