A little ridiculousness from last weekend in the beautiful Alps

Talk about a good picnic. Can you see the mountains behind us? As for the people, Delphine (the young pastor I work with) is in the grey sweater sitting on the end, Lindsey (another American friend) is in pink, and Florian (Lindsey and my favorite because of his eye contact) is next to Lindsey.

As for learning how to take off with a paraglider, here are my attempts. I did get off the ground my second time just a bit. Very exciting!!

Paragliding, Salsa, Eye Contact and VISA

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.

Too big to fit in his luggage

Because the situation with my VISA is uncertain at the moment, at least to me, the first sad moment will occur tonight-- I have to say good-bye to my only male French friend, Félix, because he's off to visit his girlfriend in NYC for 11 days and if I have to go home, then I won't see him again. :-( We've been joking about his trip since the day we met when I asked if I could be packed in his luggage. Unfortunately, the French have been fattening me up with cheese, chocolate and wine so it doesn't look like I'll fit...

So complicated?...

How desperately difficult it is to communicate in a foreign language... Talk about trying to understand motives in a different culture... Pretty confused about what's going on within the church, how it affects me, and about the situation with my VISA... How in the world did volunteering in a church abroad become so complicated?...

Burning Cars, "C'est normal." (?!)

In which other country can you wake up in a chateau and go to bed later after seeing two cars ablaze outside your foyer?! First the cars: so I'm in the computer lab with the other American girl in the foyer and we hear a rumble. Looking at each other, I suggested it could be a rockslide from one of the three mountain ranges surrounding Grenoble. When we heard a second strange noise, we went to the window and discussed the possibility of Grenoble being bombed by another country. Deciding that no one would want to bomb Grenoble, we returned to our seats to hear a few pops. Sharon made fun of me saying, "I can tell you're not from the city. We hear gunshots all the time in Oakland (CA)." Done with the computer, I walked into the hallway to find five girls at the window and a huge fire outside.

About sixty feet from our foyer, a car was on fire! A French girl tried to explain calmly, "C'est normal!" and I ran upstairs to get Nannan and show her. Watching from a third story bathroom window, another French girl explained that when two people get in a dispute, one will set the other's car on fire. Am I glad my students at Southern Vance HS never heard of this possibility for conflict resolution (or continuation)!! To the defense of the firemen, they were already pumping water onto the car which had set another on fire because of the wind before I realized what was going on. By the way, the firetruck was probably only about 10 or 12 feet long, two perfect squares no wider than a car. Notice the size of the truck in comparison to the men standing in it!

Next, the chateau: The AD reunion for the volunteers in the southeast of France was in Lyon this weekend and my favorite part, besides enjoying the company of the German boys who speak English and also recently experienced similar struggles with the language and cultural differences, was sleeping in a beautiful chateau at Valpré, a Catholic retreat center. There were exactly six doors between the front step and my bed... we're talking open a door to find a square room only large enough to open the next door. Overall, I think Lyon is beautiful and clean and I enjoyed seeing familar faces of other volunteers I had met at the beginning of September.

Of course, the forever inconclusive update about my VISA: the consulate (of what, I don't know) was called this afternoon to see why I had been given a student VISA when I'm not a student. Apparently, no one knows and they haven't decided to change my VISA. Thus, the church council is going to discuss it tonight to see whether I should try to get accepted into a university for my VISA or if there is any other way around this problem. From what I understand, it's not looking great for me to be allowed to stay but I also don't know what would happen if I became an illegal alien/volunteer. I understand Canada is currently blocking people from entering their country based upon old records and I hope that something like this wouldn't be a problem later in life. Truly, I wish I knew what was going to happen so I could rush off to Paris to retrieve Noah Nathaniel and try to visit Anneleen, Mattias and Nikolas before I'm deported.

Noah Nathaniel

Some of the English speaking volunteers in Strasbourg;

Mattias, Anneleen and Nikolas are on the left

He said, "Go."

Here's something that I have been pondering for a while: Why does Jesus so often say, "Go."? From this experience of going to another 1st world country, "go"ing has meant the challenges of depending upon other people for the basic necessities (unlocking my blocked cell phone, translating at the prefecture, explaining the city transportation system, etc.). "Go"ing without the ability to speak French fluently has meant being restricted to the simplest phrases ("Good day!", "How are you?", "I am American"). When I attempted to share more about my experiences and faith with a limited vocabulary (and personal patience), misunderstandings were construed and I was advised to stick with casual conversation (How can I glorify God with only casual conversation?? Perhaps by using more than words...). "Go"ing has meant leaving my loved ones behind in the hopes of developing other close friendships (which just makes the middle months difficult). "Go"ing has meant leaving most of my clothes, books, cds, shoes and Starbucks behind (yes, I can survive without most of these things, including Starbucks, but it's not "normal" for me to have only one pair of jeans). "Go"ing has meant the necessity of quickly adjusting to not having a dryer, coffeepot, car or CD player. And I'm still in a 1st world country!

So why does Jesus encourage us to "Go."? I think it has something to do with acknowledging our dependance on God and our independance from worldly goods. When I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight or whether I can handle another overwhelming conversation in French, I pray. When I don't know if I'll have enough money for food for the month, I pray. When I'm scared because of the city crowds and the rowdy men in the street who seem to prefer the company of large dogs rather than other people, I pray. When I go to a new place or meet new people, a shyness comes through that gives me just a little anxiety and I pray. Since all these things happen often, I've been praying a lot.

And I've been learning that it is possible to only have one pair of jeans, to air dry my clothes (not so fluffy though), to survive without Starbucks, to maintain my composure when people are yadda-yadda-yadding at me, to depend upon God in a foreign country. Surely, it's not the same feeling as being able to fully relax in beautiful Gilford, NH, depending upon my parents and not questioning my security. But with my present situation alone in France, there are so many people who would consider this to be a pleasant change from their truly dangerous, inconsistent lives.

Thus, I don't think these situations that force us to recognize our dependance upon God are bad. They're not always comfortable or enjoyable, but at least we can depend upon Him. Thankfully we can depend upon Him.

Proof that I'm Alive

To celebrate the "I've survived 2 months in Europe" moment

(which was exactly 17 minutes ago

without regard to the time difference),

here are finally some photos of Grenoble. :-)

HP livin' in the city.

(sorry, Mom;

I had to try scaring you with the first one.

Love you!)

I recognize a word!

I'm terribly afraid that people have died in this river at some point.

It's the only water source I refuse to get near.

Not my best photo, but the view is great.

Welcome to Grenoble surrounded by three chains of mountain ranges in the French Alps.

Celebrating Chinese Mid-Autumn Day

Chinese food and French wine is the perfect meal.
Meeting international students is good too.

I think this guy is Austrian.

Dinner at the ladies' foyer.

Note the designated shelf and refrigerator space.

I think this was my pre-Chinese feast face. :-)

Hopefully more will come eventually.