Le Papillon

Salut à tous !

Sorry this post is longer than usual. But I can assure you that the colorful stories included will make it worth your while !

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's eve ! I certainly did ! As I mentioned in my last post I went to visit Corey and Tanya Best near Zug, Switzerland. It was a very relaxing time being around friends that are like family. They are so generous and I love their family and their new one, baby Sarah, so much.

For Christmas eve we had appetizers at the Stalder's, Tanya's sister and brother-in-law, place and then went to LIFT's (the church) service and afterwards returned to the Stalder's for a great meal and opened presents. I love Andy and Katja's three kids- especially their little girl. She's adorable ! Christmas day we headed out to Tanya's parents for lunch and diner. I always overeat at their place because Eva, Tanya's mother, always insists I take more, especially during Christmas.

She says, "Oh it's Christmas. Go on. Take more." Haha, I love it ! She's like my grossmami over here ! I no doubt gained several kilos :) To work it all off I played the Wii with Livia and Silas Best, winning every time of course ;) (yeah right, haha) and I was able to help Corey with something at LIFT a couple times- which was a blessing to be able and give something back.

But the story to hear was my ride to Zug from Paris on the 23rd. At first I was frustrated but then God made me realize that it was more like initiation into French life. I left my place at 11:30 because there had been a strike on my train line for over a week. My train to Mulhouse, France was to leave at 13:20 but we didn't leave until about 14:00. About 30 minutes out we took an unexpected stop to pick up passengers from a train with a probleme. After all the stations we hit along the way we were late and didn't even stop at Mulhouse, but at Belfort- two stops down the line. The next train to Mulhouse was an hour late. When I arrived at Mulhouse at 23:00 I found out that my train to Zurich, Switzerland was 30 minutes late. Thankfully my train from Zurich to Zug pulled up on the same platform as my train from Mulhouse arrived in Zurich. Corey picked me up in Zug and when we arrived at their place it was 01:00.

On top of this I got to hear all the grumbling and complaining and saw an old man get a talking to from the police because in his anger at everything, he hit the main conductor at the station. Looking back on it however I appreciate it as a rich cultural learning experience.

New Year's eve was equally great and was spent in north-western Paris with some friends I met through GBU, a university ministry. We dansed, ate and played

games. Good times :)

It was afterwards that I was able to experience yet again a cultural learning experience, haha. My friend was gracious enough to drop me off at my line, instead of having to take a connecting line, and I waited for my train home. On the way through Paris we stopped at Charles de Gaulle Etoile, the station just under the Arc de Triomphe, at around 03:30. There, many people got on the train including many hooligans and gangs (gangs here aren't the same as Stateside so you can wipe that image from your brain- nonetheless a gang). They were very loud and obnoxious. A couple stations down another gang got in my car and were yelling out the door and obstructing it closing. Then all the hooligans started leaning out the widows to see what was going on. Several minutes later some police officers appeared and the kids started taunting them.

Soon they and other police officers ran down the line to stop something and others appeared with shields. I thought for sure I was going to see something wild ! However, the train finally pulled away and we continued on. But now there were two American women near me that a gang member started harassing. At one point I thought I was going to have to defend them... and if so probably against the other gang members too. Good thing for those guys I didn't have to ;) Luckily they got off soon afterwards and their humiliation at my hands was avoided, haha.

Monday I need to renew my temporary visa as my real one is still in process. But then Tuesday I will go back to school and ministry. This semester ends the 15th with the exam taking place somewhere between the 16th and 22nd. Next semester, God willing, I will be enrolled in pre-university courses at the Sorbonne to bring me up to such a level. Even though I do not foresee God leading me to take uni courses these classes will teach me much more about France through : art, history, geography etc.

Prayer Requests : 1. Finish the semester strong 2. Study hard and pass the exam 3. Preparation for next semester 4. Get all my ducks in a row to go on the mission trip to the Ivory Coast at the end of May 5. Grace for the ministry 6. To develope a couple contacts through the ministry

Praises : 1. Great Christmas and New Year's spent with friends and family 2. Safety through it all 3. Incredible cultural experiences 4. Snow in Paris 5. One more semester of French 6. My niece Mya and the new one who's expected any day 7. God's love in sending Christ to bear our sins !