Just got back from a students' retreat in St. Hilaire. Photos will be coming because I had the opportunity to "practice" running down a hill with a paragliding parachute billowing above my head. Also enjoyed folk dancing and salsa dancing with the other students in the common room with the chairs pushed back. At one point, I leaned over to Lindsey, another American who is encouraging and so great, and I said, "When we dance, I forget these guys speak French!" :-)
The discussions about commitment leaned towards dreadful for me because I could only understand about 20% of the conversation and I would have much rather prefered to be outside where I could breathe fresh air and enjoy the distraction of the shifting clouds, bugs, trees and fallen leaves. Maybe I also didn't like the topic because every time I heard the French word for commitment, "s'engagement", I had to remind myself that they weren't talking about marriage-prep.
So thankful that Lindsey, Sharon and Sharisse where there because they all prefer English to French and while we tried to be polite usually by trying to speak French, to see their reactions and that they weren't understanding everything either even though they speak better than I do, was encouraging for me. It is difficult to have a group of people speaking a foreign language around you. It is difficult to go out on a limb and try to speak, making yourself an open target for French criticism. It is difficult for one's ego and self-perseption.
However, to the credit of the student's in this church group, most of them were so so great about being friendly in their corrections. I finally started teasing them because if they asked me something I understood, I would pretend I didn't and they'd start to stress out thinking, "I don't want that much cake! I just want half a piece!" before I'd say, "It was a joke!" and we'd all laugh. A great moment: Lindsey and I were cuddling on the couch, speaking English and Renault (who I had already asked, "why do French people insist everyone speak French all the time?!") shouted from across the room, "Français!" Without a blink of the eye, Lindsey shouted back in French, "Shut-up!" It might sound rude (because both sides would be considered rude at home), but I think in France it was a bonding moment.
Lindsey and I really enjoyed hanging out with Florian, a twenty-two year old, who does that eye contact thing that Mr. Keith does. When everyone is sitting around in a circle, both of those guys will catch your eye, not to flirt, but to acknowledge your presence. It kind of reminds me about how God sees us, loves us, encourages us and wants us to spend more time with Him. OK, maybe with Keith, it's more of a, "Heather, you are ridiculous" way, but with Florian it was much appreciated by Lindsey and I. Overall, it was a pretty good weekend.
VISA update: Just got a phone call from the head of my volunteer program saying that he asked my tutor to find me a university inscription, that the program would pay for it, that we need to speed rush the document process because if we don't, I have to leave the country on Thursday. Wow. And they had an American volunteer a couple years ago who had to leave in Dec. because of her VISA problems. Oh, dear. But I've been praying about this a lot for weeks, along with a lot of you all (thank you) and I'm calm about it right now. Whether I stay or go, my only concern is the cost of a flight home at this point.
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