Happenings of november

I realized I have not really written much in the last couple of weeks so I decieded to post and give an update. This may be long but here goes.

A few days after my dad left my friend Andrew from home came to visit. He is a friend of mine I have known since freshman year in high school. We stayed in Aix and just hung out. It was so much fun to catch up and see how things were going in his world. He currently is living in Germany. I introduced him to crepes which are just amazing.

After he left another friend from the states came to visit. She is currently living in Northern France and working as a teachers assistant. This is something I am contemplating for this next fall. The day after she arrived one of my friends here called and asked if we wanted to go hiking. It was great. We hiked Mount Saint Victoire which is a mountain that Paul Cezenne painted often. We had a blast going up. It took a little longer than it should have going up because we kept stopping to take pictures and we stopped for lunch. The group who went were just a fun group of people so we had a good time. Thankfully every one knew how to speak french so we all were able to have some good conversations. Not one of us in the group were from France but rather the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Yeah for representing north America. When we reached the top there were a bunch of guys where were working to preserve the little church at the top. One of those men gave us a little overview of the chruch and the importance of the mountain. It was really interesting from what I could actually understand. After resting at the top for a little while we started to head back down. The sun was setting as we were heading down which just made the sky light up. The rocks behind me turned a reddish color. It was just beautiful.
Instead of going on some really big trip Kate and I went on little day trips. We went hiking, and then went to Cassis which is this really pretty town on the cost. While being there we found the town to be more of a tourist spot for the French than anyone else. We had some really good pizza and just enjoyed walking around. Unfortunately we arrived too late but we tried to take the boat which would show us more of the town. Then we had to run to catch the bus back to Aix. Thankfully we got there just in time. We also spent part of a day in Arles which was lots of fun. We walked along the market and got some amazing humus and bread for lunch. While there went and saw a bunch of old roman ruins and learned a little about its history. It was rather interesting. We decided because we had some time left in the day we would go from there to a random city close by to see what that town (Mirmas) offered. As it turned out there was nothing particularly because it was sat and not a lot of things are open on the weekends especially in small towns.

During her stay we went to the french church and ended up eating lunch and talking with the people from the church for three hours. It was amazing. The elders seemed to take us under their wing. They made sure we met every one we needed to and had enough to eat. It was so much fun. We also went to a museum of different arts which was fun to walk around in and learn about different paintings that were popular at different times. I also got her hooked on crepes but decided to try a new type of crepe. This one had cheese and ham rather than nutella and bannanas. Needless to say we had a lot of fun together and hanging out.

Most recently there has been a strike at my school and for two weeks I only had class twice. What was supposed to be a 4 day weekend became a lot more than that and it was right when Kate came to visit which was rather nice. Because the strike continues my program thankfully changed where we meet so classes can continue. I am sure this sounds weird to some of you but my classes have been helpful in learning the language.
I also recently joined a small group in french which is really interesting but rather difficult to keep up with. All the same I enjoy the time I get to spend with the different French people. It is great to listen to their discussions and debates over issues in our religion. I definately went home very tired after we met that night.

The other day I went to a wine tasting. It was soo much fun to try some of the affordable wines here and learn what things go with what wines. It was also really tasty. There were two that I liked the most. One of which was a red wine that was really smooth but also had a good spice to it. The other was a wine from Chili. It was interesting to find I liked the red wines more because in the past when I tried wines I liked the white more than red. Also if anyone has not tried it yet try a deep red wine with dark chocolate. It is a really great combo.

This last weekend was just amazing in regards to learning and the experience I was able to have. People from the english speaking church (of which i was part of) stayed in a castle this last weekend. This place was beautiful. I got there earlier than the others and was able to look around a bit. Each of the rooms were different in some way. There was this huge library in one of the towers with books that dated back to 1804. The pages had dust in them. One of the evening I had the opportunity to listen to the owner of the castle who gave us the history of the castle. It was rather interesting. On top of that we went to this museum and cave. The museum was about all of these protestants who were persecuted by the catholic church. Granted I had learned of the idea and the fact that it had happened a while ago but it was really interesting to learn in depth different things that took place. This town was where a lot of persecution took place. They had tons of the old letters from the king and old sermons. Everything they did in regards to the service had to be able to be hidden in case someone came to check the house. One of the hidding spots were underneath the kitchen of this man's house. You could probably fit two people there but a whole family would make themselves fit there. It is hard to explain everything that was there but it really was amazing to see and learn about. There was a poster in french (obviously) which stated something along the lines of "If I fear God I do not have to fear anything else". The museum and the hike to the cave later really made me think of my faith and what lengths I would do for it and how complacent our world, myself included, have become. It was rather humbling. In everything these people did they did it with joy for God and giving him all the Glory. It was really interesting to ponder and think about.

After the museum we went to this cave. It is about a 20 min hike (although short it had a rather large incline). This cave went back really far but there was a smaller group who decided to cross the water in the cave to by jumping rocks to go back even further. At first I was the only girl willing to go but after two other girls found I went across with out getting wet they came as well. While walking to the back we saw this small group of bats. I saw a ton at camp but never saw a clump together sleeping. It was neat. Then we went to the very back of the cave and turned out all of our flashlights. You could not even see your hand right in front of your face. The only way I knew exactly where it was was if I had it touching my face. After doing that we looked the other direction and saw this really small ray of light. The next day we sang Here I am to worship. In it there was two lines which stated "Light of the world you stepped down into darkness, opened my eyes and let me see. The beauty that makes this heart adore you and a hope of a life with you". It was neat to see that song in a different light and reflect on the cave and what I had learned. In a lot of ways God has been opening my eyes so that I see things in a different light.

Those are most of the adventures I have been having here so far. I am daily learning something new and am really enjoying my experience thus far. Hopefully sometime this week I will put pictures up online. I have tons for people to look at it is just a matter of finding a computer that will allow access with my camera. Not as easy as you might think. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. This week I am going to have a Thanksgiving dinner with the english church which I am excited about.

Little things that make you smile

This blog may seem random but it is the little things over the last couple of weeks that have made me smile which I decided to share.

I have come to realize just how much I love the market in my town. Three days a week it is right next to my dorm and three other days it is all over the main part of the city. I love just being able to walk through there and listen to people talking while looking at all the things being offered. My favorite is buying some fresh fruit, looking at the different flowers, and walking past the herbs and spices. Simple I know but it is one of the many things I have comet to appreciate about this town.

A couple of days ago I was sitting in the part when this little girl came running up to the fountain near where I was sitting. She sat down and just played with the water and then ran up to meet her parents. It was not like she did anything special but in a way she reminded me of my brothers-just the fun playful spirit.

It amazes me how much God works through our lives and those around us. Lately I have been learning more about our walk and how safetly plays a role (if it really does at all) as well as our faith and what it looks like. What was neat was I got an email from a good friend who was able to challenge me although he did not realize it. At church this last sunday that is what the pastor spoke on. It just made me smile at the different ways we affect each other and God uses us.

This last Thursday my friend David called me randomly and asked if I wanted to go hiking. I said of course and made sure my friend Kate (who is visiting) wanted to go as well. We had a blast that day. Half way up we decided to take the difficult route and let me tell you it was definately a challenge and at times you had to use both hands and feet. My favorite part of that day was climbing down. We made it to the top where this man started giving us some history so by the time we started our descent the sun was setting. It was amazing. We had to stop time and time again because it really just took your breath away. The sky was several different shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. The mountain we were on is one in a small range with deep valleys. The sun hit everything just right making the whole place just shine. For example the rocks behind us were this beautiful color of red and orage. It was also just good to be out and hiking again. The whole trip was about 6/7 hours.

Trains and buses are a very easy and reliable form of transportation but at times too reliable. My friend and I went to Cassis for the day and caught the bus there which was almost 1:45mins. We spent a couple of hours in this really cute little town right on the water. It was amazing. In its own way it was a touristy town but more of a touristy town for people who are french rather than normal tourists. We decided to head back to Aix en Provence and get dinner back at my room so we went to the bus stop. We waited and when the time came we got a little nervous because generally if it is not there you somehow missed something, and ofcourse we did. We found out that the bus we needed was around the corner. Finding this out we run to the bus just as the last person was getting on.

This last thursday and friday we had off due to all saints day. Interesting how there is a huge separation of church and state and yet they take a holiday which is supposed to be religious...Interesting but I am not complaining. Anyway I went to school this last Tuesday to find my school was closed. none of the students were allowed to enter the building. My sources could be wrong and my understanding of french may be off as well but from my understanding the school does not have en ough money and were trying to come up with more ways to come up with this money. In order to do this the faculty besides most of the professors were in meetings all day but in hopes of keeping the students from striking or doing something stupid to the school they cancelled all classes for Tuesday and wed. In turn I had basically a fall break this week. Yeah go french school system.

This may sound random but I am really excited about it...I will be singing in a choir for the christmas church service coming up in about 3weeks. They were trying to get as many people to be in it as possibly so we could fill more seats with locals. There are going to be about 50 people in the choir so my voice will not really be heard. Anyway we get to sit up front during the service and get to look out at crown who will all be holding candles. It is an event where both French and Internationals come together to celebrate christmas. I am sooo excited.

I will write up an update on what I have been doing at a different time but I thought this would give you a fun idea of some of the small things that have been taking place. I will also be putting up pictures probably on monday (I hope). Until next time.