I did have a bit of trouble falling asleep last night unfortunately. I didn't fall asleep until around 1 am, but once I fell asleep I was out until it was time to get up around 8 for church. So I got up, got dressed and went down to the common kitchen to grab an apple for breakfast. There were about 5 other students down there, all speaking French. Feeling rather awkward, I went to the other room to eat and read my Bible a bit before Mme Coates came to pick me up for church. It was a good thing she was picking me up too, because it was down-pouring!! Though I secluded myself, one girl named Yasmin, came and asked if I would like to go to church with them. Which was very sweet of her, but it was actually Mme Coates who ended up giving her and her friends a ride since it was raining so hard outside.
We arrived at church and I was showered with kisses. It's French custom to give two kisses, one on each cheek when greeting someone. You always start on the right side. (unless you want to awkwardly kiss them on the lips) It was a nice service, two hours long. (Though it did not feel that long). The music was really good and they had the words projected so I was able to sing along and worship just as I would back home. Mme Coates was very impressed with my ability to pick up the songs so quickly. She clearly doesn't know that singing is kind of my thing. After church we talked to some people (which was awkward for me since I didn't know anyone) then we went to a store called Picard. This store is pretty cool. It's like a grocery store, except it is all pre-made frozen foods. We don't have those back in the states! Then we headed back to Mme Coates' house for lunch with Grace and Joshua (another student in the program).
It was during lunch that I learned some basic French table manners. (All explained in French). First of all, your hands are ALWAYS on the table during meals and it is not inappropriate to put your elbows on the table. It's going to be very hard to unlearn such an ingrained American tradition. (At least it was stressed in my home). I also learned that when you eat salad you either use a knife (couteau en Francais) or a piece of bread to put the lettuce on your fork. I found that rather odd. By the way, lunch consisted of salad, bread, chicken and pommes frites (french fries). After the main course, the French serve cheese, so I tried an assortment of local cheeses with bread and determined that I much prefer the milder cheeses but I do not mind the stronger ones. Then for desert was a clementine, which I am guessing is in season right now.
Then Grace, Josh and I walked back through town to head back to our respective homes. Josh does not take classes at the language institute that Grace and I study at, nor does he live at the seminary. Instead he attends SciencePo for international relations and is living in a home-stay. On our way through town we met some fellow classmates of Josh from SciencePo. Three girls, one from Mexico and two from Brazil. The girl from Mexico quickly switched to English when she realized we were from the states and talked about how she has a hard time expressing herself in French. I know exactly how she feels!!! It was maddening today to understand almost everything but not be able to interject anything intelligent to the conversation.
The sunset was beautiful tonight (it stopped raining) and once Josh parted ways from Grace and I. We saw a beautiful rainbow! I took it as God saying that things are going to get better. I really found that rainbow a special blessing. Grace and I then returned and made dinner. More pasta...we are going to work on that girl's cooking skills!! In the meantime I am going to unwind. Today was a lot of French and my brain is a bit fried. But every day it is getting better!
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