Camp Adventures and Miscellaneous Musings

Alright, so for my last two weeks in France I am at French church camp. Now, you probably just got a mental picture of what camp must be like because you're comparing it to what camp is like in the states, but you would be wrong like I was. Just as an example, today our meal, instead of hot dogs and Kool-Aid, was seafood paella and pumpkin bisque soup; haha we'd never get that back home. 

Seafood paella

The diswashing team

So to tell you a little bit more about what I do here, I'm a part of what is called "equipe technique", and what that means is that I spend half of my day doing manual labor things and half of my day with the kids. My specific job is vaisselle (AKA dishwashing). After every meal, my friend Pierrick and I wash between 400 and 700 dishes, which sounds significantly more boring that it actually is. Since we're together 7 hours every day doing dishes, Pierrick and I have had lots of time to get to know each other, but I don't mind because he happens to be totally interesting. He's going to school for theatre, composes music, plays multiple instruments, is a great singer, dances with a dance crew in Lyon, and lots of other things. I got so lucky to work with someone as pleasant as he is because washing dishes for 7 hours a day would be miserable if I was stuck with someone cranky and boring. So that's half of my day.....

....And the other half of my day is spent with the kiddos! There are about 130 kids here (ranging from 7-17 years old), and they're from all over Europe (mostly France, but not exclusively). Every morning after breakfast, there's a devotional with singing, prayer, and a short lesson; then after the devo, they all break out into small groups and have a Bible class for an hour. I sometimes get to sit in on various classes, but I always participate in the activities during the day. Their activities vary from things like crafts to salas dancing lessons to learning Hebrew to launching water balloons from sling shots--huge variety. On one specific day, I made a Cleopatra costume (Catherine was the Pharaoh) and we had races with different teams of kids to see who could make the fastest human pyramid. Later that same day, Catherine and I dressed up like Spartan warriors and we did a workout for the kids "to get them in shape for the upcoming battle." We do really cool and fun stuff like that every day, so it really is a blast getting to be here. In the evenings, we have another devotional time with the older kids and sometimes a special event like eating "American pancakes", watching a movie together, or playing games. 

With some of our kiddos (they were the ninja team)

Also, since I've been here, I've used some of my free time to go running. I'm training right now to run my first marathon on December 8, so there is a lot of running I need to do before that time comes. Conveniently, this summer I've been blessed to live in an incredibly beautiful country with lots of mountains and high altitude to train in. In both Marseille as well as here at camp, I've been running a couple of times a week up and down the mountain ranges. And I almost feel gluttonous when I'm running because my eyes are just feasting the whole time on the beautiful landscapes. This week, on one of my morning runs, I actually got chills when the sunrise came over the horizon and just covered the whole field of wildflowers I was in with this shimmery, golden light. It's hard to describe, but I think you get the idea; it's really lovely here. 

My favorite mountain/volcano to hike up

Man, I'm going to miss this place--the literal country of France, but mostly the people I've met. With really short mission trips (1-2 weeks) it seems to be harder to form those really long-lasting relationships, but I've now been here for three months, which really is quite a long time when you're spending 24/7 with the same people. Now, I have some fantastic relationships with the girls in the youth group here (they always run up and hug and kiss me every time they see me), and I've also become great friends with the other cemistes, interns, and my wonderful Marseille church family. This really has been an incredible internship and experience. However, that being said, it hasn't always been rainbows and butterflies. Thus begins my lists of what I've learned and so on. 

What I've learned about French meals:

1. It is ABSOLUTELY necessary to have bread at every meal. 

2. No meal can have fewer than 3 courses--even a simple lunch. 

3. Between the main dish and dessert, you must serve bread and cheese. 

4. When you take a piece of bread, you always put it on the table and not on your plate (by putting it on your plate you're saying "I think your table is dirty.")

5. The meal should last no shorter than three hours. 

What I've learned about French people: 

1. They are rarely ever barefoot--even inside their own homes they wear shoes. 

2. They don't smile, wave, or talk to random people on the street. This was a culture shock for me coming from friendly Texas. 

3. They are incredible hosts--incredible hospitality here. 

What I've learned about missionaries:

1. They work REALLY hard. 

2. They are incredibly passionate about the work they're doing. 

3. In France, they're all men. There is no female leadership as of yet. 

4. They have to be incredibly patient people because there is a pretty low success rate when it comes to various conversion efforts. I think I would have a hard time not getting discouraged and giving up. 

5. While some of the roles they take on seem incredibly noble and worthwhile, others feel a little trivial and not quite worth all the expense that a church spends to keep them there. I'm speaking of the difference between helping women get off the streets versus singing to old people. While I think that singing to old people is a nice and pleasant thing to do, it doesn't seem like the most important or pressing matter when looking at the grand scheme of things. That's something I've thought a lot about here.

6. They love God and they love other people with a fervor that is nearly unparalleled. 

What I've learned about the church:

1. I love being a part of one. No kidding, even if I was an atheist  I'm pretty sure I would go to church just for the community there. Really, few other groups have the same kind of community that churches (especially small churches) have. It's just incredible to have a support system of people like that who are praying for and loving on each other all the time. I think that's so awesome. 

2. No matter where you go in the world, when you find a church home, you will feel at home. 

3. While it's far from perfect, and there are people there who annoy you, and the leadership isn't exactly what you want, and, and and, it's a wonderful environment to surround yourself in. I'm 100% certain that I wouldn't be half the person I am today without my awesome Minter family; I've been SO blessed by my spiritual family.

What I've learned about learning a new language:

1. It's REALLY HARD!! I was completely unprepared when I came here for the language avalanche that was about to overcome me. It can be so frustrating to not be able to communicate yourself to other people or understand what others are saying to you. At times, I'll admit that it was very difficult not to be discouraged and give up.

2. You have to just go for it. I had an extremely difficult time at the beginning saying anything to people because I didn't want to speak until I could say what I wanted perfectly, but I had to just realize that it was never going to get better until I practiced with people. That was probably the hardest lesson for me to learn and one I wish I had learned earlier. 

3. You are going to make lots of mistakes, laugh it off. Yes, a good sense of humor will serve you well. 

4. When learning a new language, I think that complete immersion in the language and culture is the best way to learn. I'd taken French for a couple years in school before coming here. but I quickly found out that I didn't really know anything at all--or at least nothing very practical for actual speaking. 

Okay, so these are just a few of my thoughts and a few of the lessons I learned this summer. There's no way I could ever write down everything being here has taught me in the last three months, but I can say for certain that this has been an incredible experience, I'm so thankful for all the support I've had from family and friends to get me to this point. I'm headed home in just a few days (I have a 21 hour layover in Dublin, Ireland first, so I'll do a little Irish exploration in that time), and I'm very excited to see my friends and family again. Being away from home really makes me realize how much I love my people back home, so it'll be a happy reunion. God bless! :)

Enjoying the cool thatch-roof farmhouse

Goodbye, Marseille! Ah, yes, you will be missed

Alas, I have now officially left Marseille---although I haven't left France yet. Right now I'm spending my last two weeks in France at church camp with about 200 other Christians in the mountains of Ardesche. I'll post more about camp later this week, but now I'll tell you about my last few days in Marseille (because they were AWESOME!)

This is one of my writing samples. It says, "This too shall pass."
 It's a common Persian expression. 

Okay, so first thing. When we were participating in the English conversation class this summer at the university in Marseille, we got to be good friends with a couple of the people in the class. Our friends Ali, Shabnam, and Hilal (Ali and Shabnam are married and from Iran; Hilal is from Lebannon) came to lots of our events at the church, participated in LST, and played frisbee with us at the park a couple times. So before we left, they wanted to have me, Bethany (my roommate), Catherine (other summer intern), and Derek (cemiste) over for a meal and movie. We went to Ali and Shabnam's apartment, and they had an incredible meal prepared for us. Oh man, homemade Iranian goodies galore! I would tell you what we had, but I have no idea what any of it was called or even how to describe it because I've never had anything like it before. However, it was delicious, and we were full to the brim by the end of our snacking. And then after we ate, Ali had a little activity for us to do. Backstory: when I met Ali on my first day in Marseille, we talked for a long time about how we can write in Persian, and he even showed me how to write my name in Persian and stuff. So since he knew that I was really interested in leaning how to write, he got his calligraphy stuff out for us to try writing in Persian when we were at his apartment. So fun, and it turns out that I'm really good at it too. He showed me how to write the alphabet, happy birthday, I love you, and a couple other random phrases I wanted to learn. And then after our super fun activity, we got ready to watch a movie called "La Belle Verte" (which translates to "The Beautiful Green"). Okay, so this was one of the most awesome, bizarre movies ever. It's about this utopian planet  that has to send someone to Earth to inspect how things are going, and it's sort of a commentary on the Earth's political and economic systems, pollution, etc. Really really funny, and we laughed all the way through. I just can't even describe to you how blessed we have been by the friendships we have made here. Ali, Shabnam, and Hilal are all Muslim, but they loved hanging out with all of us Christians because they could just see how much joy there is in our community at the church. It was the best, last night with them that we could have asked for. 

Then the next night, another one of our friends from the university class invited us over to his house to have a meal with him (Richard), his wife, a few others from the class, and a couple of his friends. And when I say we went to his house, I mean that we drove out to his giant France villa! Oh, my word. He has a gorgeous home, a pool, and outdoor terrace that overlooks the city. Now, get ready because I'm about to describe to you the seven course meal that we were served. When we first got there, he offered us drinks and homemade hummus to start on. We all sat around and chatted for a while, and then the next course of couscous and some sort of veggie/fruit smoothie were brought out. Of couse, everything was delicious. 

After we ate, it was time to take a dip in the pool, and, boy, did that water feel incredible! I haven't been swimming in a pool all summer (at home I get to swim all the time), so I was so happy to be in the water again. And swimming in a French villa is just cool anyway :) Then, after we swam for a while, the real dinner began. (Side note: the French take their meals very seriously. One does not simply eat a quick bite, it's a multiple hour, multiple course event.) With that being said, for dinner we had homemade stone-cooked pizzas, quiche, chicken, salad, and bread. Surely Richard's wife is a gourmet chef or something because everything was tasty and extravagant. And all throughout the night they kept offering us different types of wine and traditionally Marseillaise drinks to try; their hospitality was just incredible. And for dessert, we ate apple tarts (two different kinds) and a rich, dark chocolate mousse cake. Yum! Now, back to when I said that French meals are a multiple hour event, I wasn't kidding; we got to their house at 6:30, and we didn't leave until 1 a.m.! Mind you, Richard and his wife are probably around 60, but meals here are a special event that last late into the night. Again, the friendships we have made here this summer have just overwhelmed us with the incredible blessings that have come out of them. I'll always remember the good talks I've gotten to have with my friends over here and experiences we've shard together. 

It literally felt like I was looking at a live postcard when I took this picture. 

Now, speaking of friends, there are a few people that it was REALLY hard to say goodbye to. Since the very beginning, Forian has been my best friend in Marseille, and we've become best friends. His was the shoulder I cried on multiple times over here when I just felt overwhelmed, sad, lonely, and a variety of other things. I have learned a lot from him (both in terms of French as well as what it means to be a good friend). On my last day in Marseille, he, Benjamin, and I spent the day together walking around downtown. We went shopping, ate ice cream and drank coffee in a little outdoor cafe, and just talked. For dinner, I went with Benjamin, and a couple friends from his track team that I have gotten to know, out to eat. I love spending time with other people my age, and it's a great opportunity to practice my French. After we ate, we just walked around for hours; the best way to spend my last day in the city. 

All in all, my last days in Marseille were well spent, but I definitely cried while saying my goodbyes. It's crazy to me how it's possible to become so close to people in such a short amount of time, but let me tell you, it really is possible. These last few months have been incredibly formational for me, and I definitely have my friends here to thank for that. Okay, I'll stop being all mushy now, but I think you can really tell how much these people have really impacted my life over here. A summer well spent.

CEM Summer Missions Week

Whew. Just finished the busiest week of the summer. CEM Summer is an event hosted by the church in Marseille every year for Christians all over Europe. It's a big deal here because we have people from all over Europe staying with us at our homes, eating meals together, attending Bible lectures, and doing various missions with them in the afternoons. In our tiny apartment of tiny, we had six girls crammed in here all week (Pauline and Clotilde who spoke French and Semiye who spoke Dutch in addition to us). In fact, one of the coolest things of the week was that I got to be friends with people from all over the world--Alistair from Scotland (yes, he had an awesome accent), Sean from Belgium/The Netherlands, and Andrea from German-speaking Switzerland.

It was awesome to be surrounded by so many young people who are Christians here in Europe because, as I've learned, being a Christian over here is so different than in the Bible Belt. The churches struggle so much, and the young people feel really alone in their faiths. There isn't necessarily persecution, but it definitely isn't easy to tell people that you go to church on Sundays and love Jesus. And that's hard for me to even comprehend because in Abilene it's almost completely expected that you attend church and are a believer because so many people are. But because it's hard to be a person of faith over here, it means that the Christians really are super intense about their relationships with God and their love of the church. It gave me new perspective to be around people my age and hear their stories of faith. Actually, this trip has been incredibly eye-opening for me in terms of how I look at the church and Christianity. At the end of the trip, I'll express to you all of my insights about the church, missions, and Christiany, but for now, just know that I'm thinking about all of these things and trying to formulate some more solid opinions.

So every day, we had Bible lectures in the mornings (great speakers, and they were translated into both French and English), and then after lunch, we did various missions activities. One afternoon I sang to blind people; another afternoon I did a Bible study with a woman named Samira; one morning we served coffee and croissants to homeless people on the streets. It is hotter than creases over here (no one has air conditioning), so I'm feeling pretty roasted and missing Texas for that reason. However, one day this week, we did get to go to the beach together, and the water felt incredible! I miss swimming so much, and especially when it's so hot, that cold water is awesome. One more thing I missed about home this week was celebrating the 4th of July. It was pretty sad to not be with all of my family for the weekend, but I did go get to see the Tour de France that day instead. Very cool. Great week, but I'm completely exhausted. Last four days in Marseille begin tomorrow--this summer is flying by.

Summer interns!!

My salad making skills are improving. 

Friends from Scotland, Belgium, California, and Indiana

Sweet girls at the church. They call me their big sister and always give me a big hug and kisses. 

We sang a concert at the end of the week for people in the neighborhood. 

Pitman Work Week

So there's this place in South New Jersey called Pitman. And in this town, there's a Church of Christ that has connections with the church here in Marseille. What that means is that every two years, around 50 members of that congregation fly to Marseille to do manual labor at the camp with us. It's a huge blessing that they come because there is a lot of maintenance that needs to be done there, and by having so many hands all at once, we could really get some serious work done. They got here Saturday night, and we had a big meal at the church for them, and then after church Sunday morning, we hit the road for Ardesche.

For our actual tasks at the camp, we all had different things to do. Of couse, some of the beefier men built walls and fences, some people poured cement, others did some heavy cleaning, and I painted. And when I say that I painted, I mean that I painted nearly 40 hours in 5 days. Yes, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (with a break for lunch) I painted doors, windows, rocks--you name it. In fact, I got to be pretty handy with a paintbrush, and the camp looks a lot better now that it did before.

Also, a cool thing about painting is that it can be a fairly social event, so while I painted, my painting partner, a guy named Raphael, and I spoke together in French. While I'd love to say that learning French is easy and that I can understand everyone I talk to, I'd actually be lying if I said that. Some people speak far too quickly, mumble, use too many coloquial expressions, and such things. However, that being said, Raphael was just about the most patient person ever and awesome to speak with. He spoke very clearly, and he didn't mind waiting for me to take forever to formulate sentences sometimes. He's just a few years older than me, and we got to know each other quite well while I improved my French--double win!

All in all, incredible week. We young people played card games every night and had a devo every morning at 7--I even led the devo on Friday morning. Really fun (though it was pretty frigid cold), and we got the camp ready for the end of the month when 150 campers are going to be there for 2 weeks. Love my new Pitman friends.

We all went for a hike one afternoon. 

At the top of a beautiful mountain with my best friend

Painting with Raphael

A yummy lunch with fresh bread...mmmm

Sweeping away. That place is spotless now.