A few things you should know

Since the time I decided to move to France people have had different reactions...some saying that I was crazy to move somewhere that they hated Americans (which is not true), others saying that they were jealous and that it would be like a dream to live here, and one man warned me that France has only been "modernized" for about the last 50 years and there are still some kinks in the system to watch out for. I had no idea what he could be talking about at the time, but now these "kinks" seem to have found their way into my everyday life. I have a few stories that I think you will enjoy and have decided to post them periodically under the heading-- "can you imagine if this happened in the states?" (b/c that is what I always say afterwards to put it in perspective) Enjoy!

can you imagine if this happened in the states?

I returned from my trip to Morocco on the evening of August 16. There are a few ways to get to my house on public transit from the airport but I decided that this one particular route, though it takes a few minutes longer, it drops me off less than a block away from my house. I was exhausted and had all my bags with me so I did not mind a little wait to get closer to home.

I exit the metro at 10:05 and check the bus times, I was excited to see that the next bus was scheduled to leave at 10:15 which would put me home by about 10:30. Normally, since this stop is at the end of the line, a bus will pull up and sit there for about 10min prior to departure...there was no bus in sight. So I took a seat and put on my headphones to wait. About 10:17 a bus pulls up...there are no passengers on it and the sign on the front indicates "Sans Voyageurs" (No Passengers). Two men get off the bus, one of them wearing shorts conspicuously like a speedo, and they start chattin' it up with some other bus workers who were standing around. Those of us waiting on the "10:15" bus are getting a bit impatient and wondering how long it will be until we can leave. One man goes over and asks if we can get on the bus and is told "No, this bus is not for passengers" without further explanation. So then about 10:25 another bus pulls up, this one full of people who all get off and go into the metro. Everyone waiting decides this must at last be our bus so we start to get on...only to be told by the driver "No, wait outside, this bus doesn't leave until 10:56". What?! This driver then joins the cocktail party of 6 other drivers gathered in a circle, all smoking, and apparently having the time of their lives not to be disrupted by the fact that they have apparently canceled the next bus because...ummm...well there are only 6 available drivers and 2 empty busses, yes, this makes sense that we would ask the 30 hungry and tired people to wait another 30 minutes!!!

Then at about 10:45, 11 minutes before the next bus is scheduled to depart mind you, one of the drivers gets on the second bus and looks at us like we are crazy for not following...we quickly get on and find seats, a bit confused, but happy to be on our way home.

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The next morning I checked my mail and found that I had received a package, the paper indicated that it was at the central post office and that it was available for pick up at 11 on Aug. 17. Knowing this was a birthday package from my mom I quickly got ready and arrived at the post at precisely 11.

I hand the woman the paper and she replies "Oh, you can't pick this up until 15:00(=3pm)"..."oh, I thought that said 11h is it a 15h and I read it wrong?"..."No, that says 11h but we recently hung up this sign that says packages can't be picked up until 15h"..."Oh,well why does the paper that someone hand-wrote and put in my box yesterday say 11h?"..."because that is what time it used to be, but now we have this sign"..."Ok, is there any way you could just check in the back to see if my package is here?"..."No, they bring it to your house and if you are not home then they take it to this other place and it does not get here until 15h"..."Well, what is this other place? isn't this the huge city post office?"..."Yes, mademoiselle you must return at 15h if you want to collect this package"..."Okay, Thank you"

...But what I really wanted to say, and maybe will someday when I am more confident in my French, is that first of all they never try to bring the packages to your house- I have been at home all morning and then gotten a notice saying "sorry we missed you at 10am, come pick up your package".
Secondly, I am fairly confident that there is no "other place" where they send your package between when they notify you and when it gets to the post office for pick up--this is the place they sort and send out mail from, it is huge, why should there be another location?!
Thirdly, why is the guy still writing 11h on the papers if the time has changed till 15h? did he miss the memo? oh well, at least people will be notified of the time change once they take a 20 minute walk down there and see it on the door.

french? anglais?

This week (Aug. 19-27) I have the privilege of taking a seminary level course at the Institute Biblique de Nogent, a small city on the outskirts of Paris. It is on a subject that is very interesting and helpful to my work, but...ummm...it lasts about 8 hours a day, and did I mention that it is ALL in French?! My conversational language skills are progressing, but this level of a class would still be hard if taken in English because of the depth of study. My notes are a melange...one sentence will be in French b/c I can't translate fast enough in my head and then be ready to hear the next one...the next sentence will be in English b/c I got the general idea of a few sentences and then can't take the time to translate it back into French for writing...well, you get the idea. By the end of the day my head is tired. A girl asked me today if I was understanding everything , I lauged and said "No". I wonder how long it takes before you really understand every word someone says in your second language because I think it will be a while yet for me to dream of that. At least I am interacting and learning from some interesting people :)

10 days in Morocco...

There is no way to sum up this experience in a post, each picture has a story that I would love to tell. For now I will share a few highlights from my journal, but if you are interested in more let me know and I would be glad to expound.

Upon arriving after dark in the village, where we had been invited to a wedding, we were welcomed by the family and us women were quickly segregated from the men. The women were celebrating by decorating hands (for single women) and feet (for married women) with henna (temporary tattooing), a traditional practice in preparing the bride and is considered good luck for everyone present to be decorated.

For dinner, at 11pm, we were served a "meat" dish of...well...every part of the sheep that we don't eat in America...at the time I didn't recognize much, but later, after some discussion, we realized what it all was (tongue, arteries, male parts, fat from the brain, spleen, heart, etc). My strategy was to turn my head and grab a piece, put it in my mouth, and tried to get it down without knowing what it was. God was gracious to get me through without offending my hostess.

The women can use anything to make music. They pass around various types of drums, beat spoons on a metal cylindrical device, know all the words and tunes to the indigenous folk songs, and dance like you have never seen. I was chosen to join in the dancing. I was nervous and kept stopping to laugh at myself...though to my credit I was being stared at by about 200 women who were straining to see if the foreign girl could move.

While on the roof we saw the sheep that had been killed and skinned earlier that day. It was dark but out of the corner of my eye I noticed a smallish creature eating on it and after a few more nonchalant glances realized that it was a monkey!! Odd, yes. Hilarious, yes. But did I eat that meat the next day, most likely.

Since men and women are kept segregated I did not know how he was related to the family. He was very nice and was fascinated by my digital camera. He is from this village, way out in the mountains where some houses just got electricity but none of them yet have running water or a phone line. My camera is decades ahead of anything he has seen. He took us to the well and taught us how to draw up water in a bucket. Later he took us on a 45 min. hike up the mountain, and asked if we wouldn't like to stay in Morocco...pretty sure this was a proposal, I was quick to reply that it was lovely but that I really enjoy living in France.

Things I saw but was not able to photograph: camels grazing beside the road, goats that climb trees, women dancing, the monkey that eats sheep, local men & women who transport goods by mule, hundreds of colorful and unique doors on houses, inside a mosque, a shepherdess herding her goats on the mountain we climbed...I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the idea :)

Morocco is truly a beautiful place, I loved it

on our way to Tafraoute for a local festival we stopped to enjoy the view

my feet on African soil :)

i am back in paris after an amazing trip to africa...so much to share, but it will have to be later...i need to get some rest because, as my mom said, tomorrow i have a busy day of turning 24...ahh, where does the time go...bientôt je promets

Mr. Chad Hugghins made a brief stop through Paris on the end of his exotic tour of Asia...we took in a few sites around the city and then enjoyed a relaxing home-cooked American dinner (prepared by me)

be sure to enjoy all the photo albums (listed on the R) while i am away...there is more to come i assure you