Quelque Chose!

Remember when I said that speaking French makes me tired? Try being tired and having to speak French! Wow! I’m pooped! Today was a gift! I didn’t deserve it, but it was given to me anyway!

This morning I met Rachel, Linden, and Jonathan at the tram at exactly the right time. We made it to church before it started, and enjoyed every minute of it! The songs were wonderful, the message was great, and I could understand almost every word spoken! At the end of the service we were surrounded by people that wanted to know us. It wasn’t like the zoo, but more like the petting zoo. When we stood up, there was a woman behind us who happened to be from the United States, but moved to France to be with her daughter who was married to the pastor who is from Morocco, but lives in France with his American wife and French/Moroccan/American children. Crazy! She was SO nice! Not only did she invite us to come over to her house sometime for dinner, she spoke French to us the entire time! It was amazing! Even when we were confused on a few words, she still stuck with the French! Amazing! After we talked with her, we spoke with her daughter (the pastor’s wife) and she invited us over to her house for a gathering of college and college age students at 19h30 (7:30pm) tonight! We were much obliged! After that we went downstairs for some coffee and fellowship with the other church members! It was Petting Zoo Part Two!

After church we went into town and ate Kabobs! AMAZING FOOD! Dad, if you come to France, this is the one thing you will love! It was so nice! After Kabobs we walked through the market and then to a bakery for desert. After desert we went to a café for coffee and talked for two hours! We then decided to depart from one another to freshen up for our soirée.

In order to get to the pastor’s house, we had to take a tram to a certain stop, and walk about two miles. It was actually very fun! We knew exactly where we were going, but it seemed like it took us forever. When we got to the apartment, we rang the bell and went right on up to a place full of people who welcomed us with open arms! There was food and fellowship out the ying-yang! I spent the entire evening chatting with everyone in French while Rachel targeted the Jamaican girls again and spoke English. She was having a ball! I met a guy named Kemuel from Haiti who spoke French very quickly! But as the night progressed, I was able to understand him without a problem. We laughed and joked all night and then exchanged numbers so that we could meet up some time at the university for lunch. I also got the opportunity to talk with the other students (only two of which were French, while the rest were just Francophone). It was great to have such an international group, but sad to see that only two of them were actually French! As I said, young French people don’t like to go to church at all! It’s very sad! There was a girl from England, two girls from Jamaica, one guy from Haiti, one girl from Martinique, a couple from Gabon, a guy from Hungary, the pastor from Morocco, two French girls, and of course, several Americans. It was such a special night! We stayed for three hours! At the end, we all caught rides home from various people so that we wouldn’t have to walk two miles back and catch a tram. These people are amazing! I’ve found a place to go to church and be involved!