Here are just a few glimpses of my everyday life here. While so many things are constantly up in the air (the term <<on verra>> which means “we’ll see” is used ALL the time), I love being able to have things to look forward to.
1. Drinking coffee from a bowl and eating toast in the morning. It’s always the exact same for breakfast and it really is the greatest way to wake up.
2. Babysitting on Tuesdays. I found a wonderful family to babysit for their adorable one-year old baby named Illy. They’re American and British and maybe some of the most intelligent, well-traveled people I know. This was just a crazy opportunity that I found and one that I’m most thankful for.
3. Our thirty minute walk anywhere. The constant burning in my quads from hiking up and down and up and down the sidewalks is like an old friend now.
4. Madame Brémond. She’s our wonderful professor for the majority of our week. She’s just this tiny, energetic French woman who, even though she speaks a mile a minute in slurred French, is helping me understand more than I ever thought possible.
5. My culture and communication course with Madame Sellé. I always leave our Thursday sessions feeling much more knowledgable and passionate about the subject (see next blog posting for more details)
6. Going to church on Sunday. Funnily enough this wasn’t a real constant to me in the states or something I particularly was excited about waking up for but here it’s one of my favorite parts of the weekend. We go to the church of the director of our program, which is a small Protestant charismatic church. We’ve gone enough times that we can recognize people and always have someone coming up to us to meet the “Americans”. The service is fascinating; people will randomly start praying or going up to share their testimony or insight during the middle of worship where people are dancing or humming or just crying out praise. It’s so interesting and great practice for my French!
7. Going to a cafe for coffee in the middle of the afternoon. This is obligatory nearly every day. It’s just a way of life.
8. Having a delicious meal with Madame every night from exactly 8-9. We catch up on each other’s day and she’s always got a funny story to tell. Funnily enough I can technically say that I eat with a countess every night. (Yeah I thought I’d casually drop that bomb that Madame is a countess (( a REAL COUNTESS, guys I’m not making this up)) from her late husband’s side. de Vergnette is an old aristocratic name and they hold the title of Count and Countess)
9. Thursday Bible studies. We have a big community dinner before hand and then break into smaller groups. It’s a mixture of international students and French theology students, so the conversation is always lively and thought-provoking.
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