in 3 hours, i'll be on a train to brussels, belgium. i'll spend 24 hours with my family there before flying back to the homeland. whoa.
it's crazy to think that i've been gone 5 weeks! in some regards it seems like a long time, but to another extent, it seems like i have been here that long. i'm sad to leave the Feria's and Paris. they've been so hospitable towards me, the kids are so great, and Paris... well, it's a beautiful city full of so much history and life. it's been exciting living here for a month and experiencing Parisian life with them. however, i'm definitely excited to return home and see my family and friends and share stories and pictures (22 gigs worth!). (tomorrow! it's only a day away!)
i'll try to post some more pictures later! now, i'm going to eat breakfast and chill with the kids before i take the train!
grace & peace.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
just a little taste of the gorgeous sunset from the other night! my computer has not been a good friend to me the past couple days. by some miracle it is a bit workable right now. nonetheless, i can't promise many updates before i leave... on wednesday! just a few more days here. the time has gone so fast. it's crazy.
grace and peace.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
yesterday i witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets i've ever seen... and that's just because it was in paris. God is so glorious.
today i bought red shoes. check.
right now i'm babysitting some cute kiddos. (don't worry... they are sleeping!)
tomorrow we're having a family day! L'Orangerie Museum, dinner and ice cream downtown!
Paris is good. God is better. I have one week left. crazy!
today i bought red shoes. check.
right now i'm babysitting some cute kiddos. (don't worry... they are sleeping!)
tomorrow we're having a family day! L'Orangerie Museum, dinner and ice cream downtown!
Paris is good. God is better. I have one week left. crazy!
Monday, June 9, 2008
a view from the top... (almost)
today was a good day in paris. i started it off with family sunday at church. this was a great laid-back service. they had a guest speaker who was american, but he preached in french. it was easy to understand him :). afterwards there was a lunch and i had two extended conversations with some adults in french. they were so patient with me and really were taking the time to talk with me and help me. plus the food was good!
after lunch i met up with two girls from my french class - katie & wanley. we went to the picasso museum together and then walked around the 3rd district for a while. wanley left us and then katie and i spent another few hours wandering - eating ice cream, grabbing a coffee at a cafe, taking pictures - it was really fun. we had some great conversation, too. it's been fun to get to know her. we're going to try to connect again this week.
after katie and i parted ways, i buzzed over to the eiffel tower to meet up with the texas group! and tonight, ladies and gentlemen... i climbed the eiffel tower (almost)! the lift to the VERY top was closed by the time we got there, but we were able to go up to the 2nd floor, or the middle of the tower. it was gorgeous. and it was really special to experience it with some other people besides just myself! i can't wait to go alll the way to the top :)
anyways... i had to quick write-up about my day just because it was wonderful.
thanks for your love.
grace & peace, jenn.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
samedi (saturday)
my day consisted of baking, children , crepes, and texans. i didn't step one foot out of the apartment today... and i didn't care. a group from texas came to help out with passion: paris and passion: london (thursday). and of course, in typical FERIA fashion, we had them over for a french meal tonight. tomorrow i'm going to the eiffel tower with them! woo!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
i kidnapped a kid today... kind of. a few days a week nicole watches a girl (maria) from emma's class after school. well i was on pickup duty today. nicole didn't mention anything about picking up maria - just emma. however, when i picked up emma, maria started to get her stuff together to come with us. now, maria is french - she doesn't speak english. i had to think french fast. i asked her if she was coming to emma's house today. "oui." i asked her if she was sure because emma's mommy didn't tell me she was coming over. "oui. je suis sur." after a few minutes (and no sign of her mom) we started walk back. i asked again, clarifying that today is thursday in case she had her days mixed up (i certainly don't know what days she comes over!). her answer was the same.
i returned to the apartment with the two girls. "nicole, was i supposed to pick up maria?" "no. why?" "oh, because i have her with me. she told me she was supposed to come today." whoops... fortunately, the teachers told maria's mom that the [stupid american] girl who is helping with the feria's picked up emma and maria. she wasn't too worried and took the extra time to do errands anyways. oh well.
i returned to the apartment with the two girls. "nicole, was i supposed to pick up maria?" "no. why?" "oh, because i have her with me. she told me she was supposed to come today." whoops... fortunately, the teachers told maria's mom that the [stupid american] girl who is helping with the feria's picked up emma and maria. she wasn't too worried and took the extra time to do errands anyways. oh well.
tuesday, wednesday, thursday
it's going to be a cool evening in paris tonight. the sky is cloudy - threatening rain. i'm hoping to enjoy a good parisian sunset before i leave... but we gotta get these clouds out of here! not to be boring and talk about the weather, but the weather in paris has been pretty moody. you never really know what the day will bring (kinda like michigan...), so when you're out for the day, you probably want to bring a jacket and an umbrella. the times i bring my umbrella, it doesn't rain and the times i don't bring it, it does rain. thanks, murphy. anyways, i like to take advantage of the blue skies when they grace paris with their presence. the sky really makes a difference in my pictures!
tuesday night was the Passion World Tour stop in Paris. i really enjoyed the evening and i hated for it to end! it seemed like a quick 4 hours! there were about 1,000 in attendance which was great because at the beginning of last week there were 200. at any rate, this was the largest known christian college event that paris has ever seen - praise God! it was pretty cool to have a translator for louie (giglio) and french words for the worship songs. my prayer is that there will be an obvious impact on the city because of this event and my prayers also go forward to london where the passion team is tonight!
wednesday began round 2 of classes for me at the alliance francaise. this week is an oral workshop. again, i am really pleased with the teacher and my classmates. i wish i could take more classes! after class i had lunch with another american, katie. i had a really good time talking with her over sandwiches. she has a pretty interesting story. i'm praying that i'll have the chance to spend time with her. she mentioned that she wanted to go to the picasso museum while she was here - which ironically (or, divinely?) is on my list! it'd be cool if we could go together! i like crossing paths. after lunch i wandered around the 6th & 7th districts (Paris is divided into 20 districts) until i stumbled upon Saint Sulpice church - an amazingly large and ornate cathedral that has been around for hundreds of years. i took the opportunity to look around there for a while and sit and reflect. pretty cool. i headed back to the apartment around dinner time where i was on childcare duty! al & nicole went out for the evening with some passion leaders while i watched the kids for them. i think they enjoyed getting away for a bit and i was glad to help :)
today was a good day. part of my "internship" with al is cultural immersion. this includes a variety of things from going to the market to visiting a museum to watching the news. one of my 'jobs' is to see a french movie. so this morning, i headed downtown to catch a flick. after doing some research, i found that a morning show is "only" 5.90 euros - translate that into USD... i won't be seeing any evening movies here! anyways. after the movie, i wandered the streets (my favorite thing to do!). today i saw part of the luxurious fashion paris that is famous around the world. i felt like i couldn't even walk by with my jeans and flip flops on! haha - i don't think i'll be doing any shopping in those neighborhoods, but it is sure fun to window shop!
grace, peace, and love.
tuesday night was the Passion World Tour stop in Paris. i really enjoyed the evening and i hated for it to end! it seemed like a quick 4 hours! there were about 1,000 in attendance which was great because at the beginning of last week there were 200. at any rate, this was the largest known christian college event that paris has ever seen - praise God! it was pretty cool to have a translator for louie (giglio) and french words for the worship songs. my prayer is that there will be an obvious impact on the city because of this event and my prayers also go forward to london where the passion team is tonight!
wednesday began round 2 of classes for me at the alliance francaise. this week is an oral workshop. again, i am really pleased with the teacher and my classmates. i wish i could take more classes! after class i had lunch with another american, katie. i had a really good time talking with her over sandwiches. she has a pretty interesting story. i'm praying that i'll have the chance to spend time with her. she mentioned that she wanted to go to the picasso museum while she was here - which ironically (or, divinely?) is on my list! it'd be cool if we could go together! i like crossing paths. after lunch i wandered around the 6th & 7th districts (Paris is divided into 20 districts) until i stumbled upon Saint Sulpice church - an amazingly large and ornate cathedral that has been around for hundreds of years. i took the opportunity to look around there for a while and sit and reflect. pretty cool. i headed back to the apartment around dinner time where i was on childcare duty! al & nicole went out for the evening with some passion leaders while i watched the kids for them. i think they enjoyed getting away for a bit and i was glad to help :)
today was a good day. part of my "internship" with al is cultural immersion. this includes a variety of things from going to the market to visiting a museum to watching the news. one of my 'jobs' is to see a french movie. so this morning, i headed downtown to catch a flick. after doing some research, i found that a morning show is "only" 5.90 euros - translate that into USD... i won't be seeing any evening movies here! anyways. after the movie, i wandered the streets (my favorite thing to do!). today i saw part of the luxurious fashion paris that is famous around the world. i felt like i couldn't even walk by with my jeans and flip flops on! haha - i don't think i'll be doing any shopping in those neighborhoods, but it is sure fun to window shop!
grace, peace, and love.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
another lesson
i think perhaps God is teaching me patience, in addition to love. i really wanted to go to this play last night. 18-25 year olds were free with a limited amount of tickets. i knew i had to get there early to get the ticket! well i hurried of with plenty of time. as i was leaving the apartment a bus was just leaving as well - so i missed it and had to wait 8 minutes for another one even though the schedule said it would be 5. i got on the next bus to catch the metro only to realize that i hadn't bought my metro ticket for this week yet. no big deal - i could buy a metro ticket at the machine. well, when i got to the machine, they didn't take cash and i'm using my credit card sparingly due to international fees, so i couldn't buy a ticket. i ran up to ground level and caught a bus to take me to the next nearest station where i guessed there would be a teller. when i got to the next station there was a line. so i waited. i bought my ticket and headed to the platform... except i was probably the farthest away from the specific platform that i could be in one of the bigger metro stations in paris. as i was finally approaching the platform, a train was pulling away. so again, i waited for the next train. the whole excursion took about 50 minutes when it should've taken half that.
i got to the theater, found the ticket counter only to find out that there were no more free tickets available. darn! i lost the battle, but wasn't willing to just turn around and go back to the apartment after all that. i checked out the pricing and found out that last minute tickets (if available) can be bought at a reduced rate.
i ended up sitting in one of the better seats in the theater for only 12 euros. i was so close! so i didn't get a free ticket... but God had a good laugh with me and i had a good time at the theater. i probably wouldn't have gone if i didn't think i was going to get a free ticket!
patience is a virtue, right?
6 months already??
my dear boaz - i can't believe you're already 6 months old! you're growing so fast! happy half birthday, little man! i wish i could be there to celebrate with you and the family! enjoy some cake for me :) love you!
Monday, June 2, 2008
so it's been a few days
...and there have been some complaints from the peanut gallery. but its just because i'm keeping busy. after 3 years away at college, my parents have figured out that when i don't call, it's usually because i have a lot going on. so if i was blogging all the time, i couldn't be enjoying paris, right? so consider that my excuse: i'm enjoying paris :)
i filled my week since i posted last. the past week has been a lot of helping out around the house as i mentioned before. tomorrow the passion world tour (www.268generation.com) makes its stop in Paris. this is a big project for Al, so it's been my priority to help with the family this week which meant extra runs to/from school and doing what i can around the apartment. i ran alot of errands with nicole last week which i really enjoyed. they may have been boring in a sense, but hey... i've never been to a french pharmacy or supermarket before! i also got to join emma and elizabeth on their annual checkup at the doctor's office. france has a public health care system and as apart of that, all children (0-6 years old) receive free checkups and vaccinations to make sure children are healthy and that parents are informed. my days following around a 'french' parent definitely allows for good cultural immersion!
wednesday and friday were my writing workshops at the french alliance. i really enjoyed both sessions. i interacted with adults from (literally) all over the country. the only common language among us was french! i was the only person who spoke english as their first language. it was a bit challenging, but a really great experience. there was a mixup on the first day of the workshop with my online registration... so that was frusterating. however, it turned into a positive experience because i spent a greater part of my morning with a french professor working out the scheduling (in french) and it was a good opportunity to have an extended one-on-one conversation involving comprehension and speaking. and with the timing of the mixups and the classes, i had 3 free hours to kill. i opened up my map and found that i was just a couple blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens... so i was able to spend a few hours enjoying creation and the sunshine. pretty cool.
thursday night i helped out at le pave d'orsay with an artist's 'vernissage'... which is the unveiling of a new gallery (or, the varnish. get it?). the vernissage was apart of an event called 'les portes ouverts' (or, the open doors).. where all the galleries in the area (it's a very artsy area) open their doors for the evening while people walk around, in and out, talking to artists and friends, eat free food, etc. our gallery wasn't too busy so i had the chance to walk around with adrian for a while. adrian is an american who has been doing an internship with la fonderie for the past year. it was great to have the time to interact with another 20-something, hear a little about her story and enjoy a parisian evening together!
when i'm not helping out with the family or coordinating events, i'm wandering the city. my mother has subtly (was it subtly? :)) asked a few times if paris is a safe city to walk around at all different hours of the day and night. surprisingly, paris is just as busy in the evening as it is during the day... but that doesn't come without caution. it still is a city and i still am a 21-year-old female. while i am cautious walking home/taking the metro late at night, i haven't felt overly unsafe or threatened. i try to take the time to pray for the people i pass and ask for God's blessing on the streets i walk along and the locations i pass. it keeps my mind focused instead of being fearful. but don't worry, mom... i still carry my pepper spray in my pocket. ;)
as i sit in the little office of the small apartment that is home to me for the remaining 2.5 weeks (yea, i'm halfway done! crazy), i'm trying to iron out what it is God wants me to learn while i'm thousands of miles away from anything familiar. i'm trying to help out with the feria's as much as i can while i cram in so much of paris while also trying to polish up what french i can understand/speak. a lot of what i do seems pretty trivial especially while i'm helping hang laundry or carry groceries or the french person resorts to using english with me because they see i'm slow at comprehending their french...
but even as i type this, i'm reminded of a quote from mother theresa (as quoted in shane claiborne's irresistible revolution), "we can do no great things, just small things with great love. it is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it."
so i'm probably not here to do great things. maybe i'm just here to learn how to love... love strangers i can barely understand, love a family who is doing the best they can to share Jesus with parisians, love a city who doesn't really care about God, love annoying tourists and point them in the right direction of the notre dame (even though i have yet to visit it).
...but then again, maybe that's just today's lesson.
tomorrow is another day with more faces and different challenges.
on the docket tonight... hopefully a free play downtown - woohoo! tomorrow - spending the day keeping nicole sane with the kids while Al prepares for passion. and tomorrow night - Passion Paris! :)
grace, peace, & love.
<3 jenn
i filled my week since i posted last. the past week has been a lot of helping out around the house as i mentioned before. tomorrow the passion world tour (www.268generation.com) makes its stop in Paris. this is a big project for Al, so it's been my priority to help with the family this week which meant extra runs to/from school and doing what i can around the apartment. i ran alot of errands with nicole last week which i really enjoyed. they may have been boring in a sense, but hey... i've never been to a french pharmacy or supermarket before! i also got to join emma and elizabeth on their annual checkup at the doctor's office. france has a public health care system and as apart of that, all children (0-6 years old) receive free checkups and vaccinations to make sure children are healthy and that parents are informed. my days following around a 'french' parent definitely allows for good cultural immersion!
wednesday and friday were my writing workshops at the french alliance. i really enjoyed both sessions. i interacted with adults from (literally) all over the country. the only common language among us was french! i was the only person who spoke english as their first language. it was a bit challenging, but a really great experience. there was a mixup on the first day of the workshop with my online registration... so that was frusterating. however, it turned into a positive experience because i spent a greater part of my morning with a french professor working out the scheduling (in french) and it was a good opportunity to have an extended one-on-one conversation involving comprehension and speaking. and with the timing of the mixups and the classes, i had 3 free hours to kill. i opened up my map and found that i was just a couple blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens... so i was able to spend a few hours enjoying creation and the sunshine. pretty cool.
thursday night i helped out at le pave d'orsay with an artist's 'vernissage'... which is the unveiling of a new gallery (or, the varnish. get it?). the vernissage was apart of an event called 'les portes ouverts' (or, the open doors).. where all the galleries in the area (it's a very artsy area) open their doors for the evening while people walk around, in and out, talking to artists and friends, eat free food, etc. our gallery wasn't too busy so i had the chance to walk around with adrian for a while. adrian is an american who has been doing an internship with la fonderie for the past year. it was great to have the time to interact with another 20-something, hear a little about her story and enjoy a parisian evening together!
when i'm not helping out with the family or coordinating events, i'm wandering the city. my mother has subtly (was it subtly? :)) asked a few times if paris is a safe city to walk around at all different hours of the day and night. surprisingly, paris is just as busy in the evening as it is during the day... but that doesn't come without caution. it still is a city and i still am a 21-year-old female. while i am cautious walking home/taking the metro late at night, i haven't felt overly unsafe or threatened. i try to take the time to pray for the people i pass and ask for God's blessing on the streets i walk along and the locations i pass. it keeps my mind focused instead of being fearful. but don't worry, mom... i still carry my pepper spray in my pocket. ;)
as i sit in the little office of the small apartment that is home to me for the remaining 2.5 weeks (yea, i'm halfway done! crazy), i'm trying to iron out what it is God wants me to learn while i'm thousands of miles away from anything familiar. i'm trying to help out with the feria's as much as i can while i cram in so much of paris while also trying to polish up what french i can understand/speak. a lot of what i do seems pretty trivial especially while i'm helping hang laundry or carry groceries or the french person resorts to using english with me because they see i'm slow at comprehending their french...
but even as i type this, i'm reminded of a quote from mother theresa (as quoted in shane claiborne's irresistible revolution), "we can do no great things, just small things with great love. it is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it."
so i'm probably not here to do great things. maybe i'm just here to learn how to love... love strangers i can barely understand, love a family who is doing the best they can to share Jesus with parisians, love a city who doesn't really care about God, love annoying tourists and point them in the right direction of the notre dame (even though i have yet to visit it).
...but then again, maybe that's just today's lesson.
tomorrow is another day with more faces and different challenges.
on the docket tonight... hopefully a free play downtown - woohoo! tomorrow - spending the day keeping nicole sane with the kids while Al prepares for passion. and tomorrow night - Passion Paris! :)
grace, peace, & love.
<3 jenn
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