I have been blessed with both many more adventures and more wonderful new friends since I updated last. When we got back from our trip we were met with four more girls who were going to be in our program for the month of July.
Two weekends ago the girls who were with me during the month of June and I went to a charming small French town laden with tourists shops called Annecy, which is know as the “Venice of the Alps”. After visiting the must see hot spots (certain buildings, churches, etc…) we were able to escape the swarms of visitors by renting a paddle boat and going out on the lake. The four of us enjoyed the fine and weather, and two of us worked up the nerve to go into the glacier lake! Getting to swim there was one of the most tranquil and surreal experiences as I could hardly imagine anything else that would make the environment more enchanting. Pictures and words can not do the refreshing swim in a clear lake surrounded by mountains justice.
Also, I was able to go on a trip to Dijon, France with just one of the other girls in our group. Dijon was like a mini Paris, without the dirty streets and city stereotypes that make people not want to live in Paris. It was towards the top of our favorite cities in France list, and it was good for Caroline and me to be able to get away and have quality time together.
I went to Avignon last weekend with a girl in our group named Chloe (Avignon is where the papacy was located in France for about 100 years). It was wonderful, but I unfortunately realized that I have become a self proclaimed museum critic. The palace there was rather unique in construction which was fun to spend time in, but after all the museums I have been to I now have very strong feelings towards good set ups, arrangements, information given, etc.... After being there a while I found myself critiquing the museum rather than trying to read the French history. Chloe and I laughed hard towards the end as we made it through the museum because its audio guide was like an audio version of someone’s dissertation. All that to say, I will be eager to give free consultations to those looking to construct a museum exhibit.
Also to our enjoyment, there was a theatre festival going on in Avignon while we there. This resulted in numerous people walking around in all sorts of costumes all of the city, advertising to go to their play while street performers were putting on acts almost anywhere there was free space. Chloe and I also visited the city of Orange before stopping in Avignon, getting to see the best preserved Roman theatre in Europe. Chloe is getting her masters in theatre history and absolutely loves being on stage, so it was wonderful to get to experience these things with a theatre enthusiast. It is always a treat to get to see people do and experience what they love, so I am so thankful I was able to share all those things with Chloe.
It was initially hard transitioning back to classes after we had the week off, especially when it would be 98 degrees outside with no air conditioning anywhere. But I found that things like a day of for Bastille helped break up the week as I watched the most beautiful firework show I have ever seen. We had one professor for two weeks, and then he went on vacation and so we have another professor for the last two weeks, whose first day was this past Monday. I think the change up, in both structure and teaching style, helped kick a bit of enthusiasm back into classes. I leave in about two weeks, and getting to speak the language and have it all around me is one of the things that I will mist the most. Other things that top my “to miss” list are the mountains, the walking culture, and general French life. When I was showing the July group of girls around when they first got here, we ran into a Tunisian friend of our who owns a Kebab shop (Kebabs are a Tunisian thing- imagine good Pita bread and mystery meat inside). He is a quirky man who has always been very nice to our group as he stops to talk to us almost every time we pass by, consistently inviting us in for a drink or a Kebab. Often time when he stops us to talk we are headed to go somewhere or do something, never really taking him up on his offer. It was same on this one particular day... As he asked us sit down with him and I declined he responded to the other girls in his broken English, “I always invite Claire to sit with me, but she is always headed somewhere”. I was reminder that I am not French. Rarely do I leave the dorm merely to meander around, or take time to enjoy where I am in the midst of a task. I was speaking to another American student while waiting outside the room for class to start, and he asked why he had beat me to the class room when we were on the same tram. I responded with the confession that I meandered my way to class, talking to different people and what not. He sternly responded that he never meandered. If he had a destination, he went straight there... we continued to talk about that being a stereotypical American thing to do. Not that this is good, bad, or always true, simply different. I appreciate the French’s meandering, and I am looking forward to trying bring a bit of French-ness into my life back in the states.
Comparing the cultures is a frequent conversation among international students. For example one day I met a lady who taught French in Philadelphia while I was waiting in line for something (in France, there is a lot of waiting in long lines), and she was awful deterred that day about the French. She found them all particularly rude for some reason or another. I find it intriguing that what some see as rude, other see as respectful; and what some see as hospitable, others see as offensive. Thinking on what is “right” verses what is simply cultural; I began to see a lot of things I do just to strive to look good in an American Christian Culture. A wonderful reminder for me that holiness is not found in comparing myself to those around me, but I am to strive toward a standard of holiness- a standard that transcends culture. As an obedient child, to not be conformed to the evil desires I had when I lived in ignorance, but just as He is holy, I am to be holy in all I do. For it is written, ‘be holy because I am holy’.
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