Whale and Wine

Well it's been a week since I last posted. Life gets busy quickly here. First I am going to answer Aunt Marcelle's question. She asked me what God has been teaching me since I got here. God has been teaching me His faithfulness and the joy that comes only from him. There has been a good part of the semester where I wasn't faithfully spending time with my Lord. I when I hadn't spent quiet time with him for about a month I started to get restless, lonely, stressed. Recently, thanks to a dear friend of mine calling me out, I have gotten back into the word. There has been an instant change, I am much happier now and I again remember how much I love it here. So that is what I have been learning.

Thursday really nothing of note happened which is why I did not post. Friday we had our Gordon class which was about Judaism, so that was interesting. After our class I had dinner with Grace and Ingvild and while I cleaned up after us they went to Dia (the cheapest local grocery store) to buy tons of junk food for us to eat! A little fun fact is that Smarties here are not at all like Smarties in the U.S. They are basically mini m&m's that taste like the candy covered Kisses that Hershey's made that one time. We watched Friends and pigged out and it was great! We then cleaned the kitchen which was actually surprisingly clean for a Friday night.

Saturday I went back to the Musee du Desert this time with M. Berthud, Sarah and Josh. It rained all day so that wasn't very fun. Especially since after the museum and lunch we went to Aigues-Mortes, a place where Hugenots had been imprisoned (pictures to come...I don't have my camera at the moment). It would have been even better had it not been raining because we could have walked the wall around the entire town. We also visited a 12th century chapel that was made entirely of stone. It was quite pretty but apparently Protestants had done some pretty bad things to it in the past. We then came back and I spent some time with Ingvild chatting.

Sunday was a wonderful day! I started my day by heading to market to buy some fruits and vegetables. The weather was gorgeous! As I entered the center of town there were a bunch of people with drums and fifes. I really don't know what was going on and I didn't know who to ask since most people looked just as confused as I was. Anyway here is a picture and a video...

I then went to the market which is probably my favorite thing about Aix! I really need to buy a basket so I don't look like a loser anymore. Everyone has a basket and I need to get one! As I was walking back to the seminary I walked by the park (as I always do) but since it was such a beautiful day I was inspired to get Ingvild to come with me for a picnic in the park and studying. It was such a relaxing afternoon!

We then went to church at ICCP which was great as usual. And then me, Ingvild and Naomi grabbed some ice cream and pizza. We saw this crazy motorcycle that I thought for sure was decoration but it wasn't! I wish I had taken a picture...(edit I saw it again so I took a picture!) It looked like it came straight from a Disney ride like the Safari ride. I finished off my Sunday by chatting for two hours with my sister!!!


Monday's dinner was definitely the most interesting part of the day. Napoleon, who comes from the Faroe Islands (they are between Norway and Scotland) cooked dinner. He had brought whale from back home! So I got to eat whale!! I am pretty sure that is illegal in the states.

Tuesday the only thing of note was that we had free Ben and Jerry's and that was great! (Picture to come I am having internet issues)

And that leads me to today. Today I had my last test in my language class and I had my last theater class. The semester is ending quickly! I also went to buy wine with M. Berthud. I have to send it home with my parents since I am not over 21. I figured that I should note the purchase of wine since it is my first time buying alcohol and that's a milestone. I didn't even get carded...that's France for you (not to mention the age you can buy alcohol is 18).

Since I probably won't be able to post again before I leave for Paris on Friday, here is a schedule of events I need to remember to write about.

Tonight I am headed to Bible study where we are going out for dinner!
Tomorrow I am going to my women's study leader's home for dinner!
Friday I leave for Paris!!
Sunday my family arrives in France!!!!

(Edit more pictures to come...still having issues)