les vacances

So I hate blogs. I never remember I have one, and then by the time I remember SOO much has happened that it's overwhelming to think of an update. BUT I'll give it a try because it's been such a fun two weeks I feel like I should share my joy!

DISCLAIMER: here is more information than you want to know; feel free to skip through and just look at pictures - it won't hurt my feelings :)

WEEK 1 - you know about Budapest. Will and I had so much fun staying with the Coppages (their mission page is www.coppages.org ) they have a really neat ministry and Will and I made it onto the latest blog update so check it out!

Easter consisted of: Easter baskets (!), an Easter Egg hunt (I think I saw Will knock out a 4-year old for an egg) a pleasant hillbilly-golf/ladder ball tournament (double elimination, Shannon and I came in 2nd place!), and GREAT food! Oh and an Easter service in Hungarian at the Coppages' church! And yet it was so good to go "home" (don't get me started on how fluid that word is lately) but it wasn't so good to leave people I love :(

FRIDAY - Upon my return to Aix, I had Friday all to myself to recover. Totally needed. I sat outside most of the day - doing nothing and loving every minute.

SATURDAY - My parents arrived! I got them set up in their centre-ville-view apartment which I borrowed from fellow CEA students who were out of town. Right away my parents broke out the PEANUT BUTTER, REESES, VENISON JERKY, and OREOS they brought along with SPRING CLOTHES! It was like Christmas! I changed into a skirt toute de suite and we headed out to see the town! We walked ALL over - even parts of town I hadn't been yet! We grabbed some french pizza at one of my favorite pizza stands and went our separate ways for the night. I think they went to bed at 8pm :)

SUNDAY - We met up in the morning for french church while my mom could understand most, my dad played on his new Kindle most of the time (he says he was reading the Bible, but there's no telling). We did sing "Shine Jesus, Shine" in French which tuned my dad in for a few minutes. After church we (Matt, his parents, Will, Elea, Sher, me and my parents) all went to Paul, a local sandwich shop, for lunch and took it to eat in the town square. It was a beautiful day with lots of friends, an accordion player for entertainment and nice café seating!

So the best part of Sunday was the dinner. My host family invited Matt's and my parents over for dinner that night. It was a very dynamic group of people! Charles and Eve don't speak any english and Matt's dad and my dad don't speak ANY french; needless to say there was a lot of both languages going on. It was a great evening of magic tricks, food, mafia and one measly Charles explosion. It was kind of funny for Matt and I saying goodnight to our parents and staying at "our house"!

MONDAY - We had a low-key day. A slow morning and it was raining so we ended up going to Carrefour (equivalent to a wal-mart in the States) and exploring the bus system of Aix! Dad and I also pulled together information for snowboarding...continue on...

TUESDAY - snowboarding! Dad rented a car and we drove to the closest Alps that were open (they start closing around Easter and we were a week late!). Manon (my host sister) even joined us! I didn't realize how helpful that would be until the man at the rental place started taking to us and she responded :) So we drove about 2.5 hours, hit the slopes from 9-2pm - it was amazing. The sun was shining, it was snowing up past the tree-line and we only had one minor issue. My dad, Manon and I all went on one of the back hills trying to get to the peak and we found ourselves mounting a t-bar (that you put between your legs and it pulls you up) the main problems being 1) I've never ridden a t-bar and dad's never ridden one on a snowboard 2) it ROCKETED you out. I mean I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it was like a theme park ride! I could not stay on, and even my Dad and another woman fell trying to get on. Unfortunately for my dad, who didn't want to leave me behind, it was just not going to happen for me, so my dad and I ended up HIKING up the hill we had just snowboarded down - talk about rough. It was about a 45 degree angle up, above the tree-line, in the thin air, on icy snow, in snowboard boots - I know I sound whiney, but I just wanted you to see the perseverance I thankfully inherited from my dad.

WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY - Wednesday we left for PARIS. We got in pretty late on the train and went straight to our hostel. We grabbed some sandwiches from a street vendor and crashed for the night. Thursday we woke up early for a big day in Paris (cause we only had one day!). We started our journey at the Sacré Coeur which was right near our hostel which was huge! and the architecture was astounding! We also got our first glimpse of Le Tour Eiffel from high up on the hill. After surviving the "sex" street of Paris walking with my parents (way awkward dad, I am your daughter and you are not allowed to make jokes about strip clubs), we treated ourselves to Starbucks (coming soon to Marseille!). It was my first time in a french starbucks which was SO fun and you'd understand if you know my passion for coffee and obviously french!

After a good dose of caffeine, we found our way over to gander at Le Moulin Rouge and finally made our way to L'arc de Triumphe! Holy cow! I have come to the conclusion that every town in Europe has an arch, but this one takes the cake! Looking down Le Champs Elysées was absolutely superb! It was everything I'd heard about and more! My french textbooks came to life right before y eyes and even more as we walked toward Le Tour Eiffel! As soon as it came into view I was in awe, I mean, at least half of my awe was from the media and world fame, but the other half was genuine. It was much bigger than I expected and much more majestic too. Once you got past all the street vendors (all selling the EXACT same thing) it was awesome. We ended up meeting up with a couple from our church back home and explored with them!

After Le Tour Eiffel we continued through Le Jardin des Tuileries to Le Louvre (bien sur!) and finished off our day with good ol' Mona and Venus de Milo. The next morning we woke up at 4:30am to catch our train back to Aix

This is pretending not to be too tired to love the Mona Lisa :/

Oh and I forgot - they asked me if I would please be the new exhibit at the Louvre. I'm not sure how the officials feel about me climbing on their future-famous-art-work-displays...

FRIDAY (after returning) - After avoiding an international crisis on the train because of the strike going on, we made it back to Aix and found time to explore Marseille! The pictures below are from the Château D'If and the boat ride out.

SATURDAY - It was at this point that we started taking the volcano seriously when matt's parents' Saturday flight was canceled, so we decided to explore more of Southern France while keeping our spirits high. Matt's parents, Will and his dad, brother and sister, along with my parents and I all made our way to the Mediterranean Sea off the shores of CASSIS. It was a gorgeous day with plenty of sun, sand and gelato!

SUNDAY - We decided to hike around Sainte Victoire (not up it this time, my poor legs needed a break!) Dad decided to be tour guide even though I was the only one who'd been there before (dads. typical.) and we ended up running into some very friendly french people (shocking i know!) who informed us we were on the path to montez st. victoire (climb it!) which is not what we wanted...sooo after taking a big group picture with nice french people (see below) we continued on the RIGHT path.

After Sunday we weren't quite sure when the parents would get home, but Matt and I started up classes again Monday. So our parents are having the time of their lives (thankfully the two couples get along great!) we found them housing with some wonderful MTW missionaries in Marseille and are keeping in touch via skype from a 20km distance...life is so fascinating! Ok that's it for now. Countdown: just over 3 weeks left in Aix!

we're world travelers - don't even worry about it

OK, wow! Will and I have safely arrived in Vác, Hungary! We woke up at 4:30am Wednesday morning to catch a 6am flight out of Marseille, almost missed our bus, but while running were cheered on by a group of transvestites/dates drunk and wobbling down the street. We caught our bus by a few minutes and headed to the airport. After preparing nutella and jelly sandwiches (don't try it at hoem folks), we ran and caught our plane too!

2 hours later we were enjoying a long layover in Paris-Beauvais (which may be misleading because A. it's 80 miles north of Paris B. it's not even close to the town of Beauvais!) Will and I had coffee in the same place twice, played an hour-long game of war (I won), and took goofy pictures at a large real-looking town backdrop. (pictures to come most definitely!) When we finally made it into the boarding area, genuinely, I've never been in a more diverse language/cultures group of people in my entire life! There must have been over 25 languages being spoken at one time in a 200 square meter space. Incredible. It was also a new experience to be holding my US passport and feeling incredibly blessed. There were so many people around me that came from oppressive or uncaring/unmotivated countries that I was consumed being thankful for freedom and liberty and a just, democratic governement.

4 hours later we were grabbing a inter-city bus on our way to Hlvana Statica (that's not pronounced like the movie title Gatica it's with a 'st' sound in place of the c - we learned the hard way). We kept our eyes glued outside the bus for our 30 minutes "tour" of Bratislava, Slovakia. We had a few hours until our train left for Budapest, so we sat down and ate a true Slovakian meal at the "Antic Restaurant" and wandered around the train station area.

2 hours later we were getting off the train hoping we were at the right stop because it was all dark without a soul in sight when there at the end of the platform is a guy in an Australian hat waving to us! Lea told me to look out for a guy in an Australian hat, so I put two and two together when he was the only person in sight AND he was wearing a hat.

10 minutes later we were sitting in Lea and Doug's flat in the center of Vac muching on crackeers and asking about a million questions. It is such a blessing to be with such gracious hosts and a hot shower, comfortable bed - you name it! (for those of you who don't know, Lea and my mom were college buddies)

So, Easter's on the horizon, along with hotsprings in Budapest (?), Will's branching out and going to stay with a church friend and live in Budapest for the week, and we'll be aiding Doug in a baseball camp here! Oh and Will turns 21 on Tuesday :)

Pictures to come. Mom, Lea says HI, although you already knew that...and now we're sitting down to lunch we're real hungAry...

ma vie en France est hors de commande

don't know if that translates - but what i was trying to say is that "my life in france is out of control!" -- but so fun!

Let's see, the second week of March we had our friends Hannah and Hunt visit from Oxford which was SO fun! We got to show them around Aix and Marseilles and they got to see our lives here!

Movie night with the gang at Will's apartment! Love Actually was playing with a bottle of wine to go around :)

The one and only Château D'if (Count of Monte Cristo of course) this is just off the shore of Marseilles!

We hiked Sainte Victoire together which was (really hard) and so fun! We had a great picnic at the top and because it was such GREAT weather we were joined by other interesting folks - including the man in this picture :/

This is in the courtyard of our university. Of course we weren't on spring break so we were taking shifts keeping hannah and hunt company.

These next pictures are from CEA's excursion to Camargue and Saintes Maries de la Mer (how exotic right??) It consisted of horseback riding, flamingos, the mediterranean, food, lots of bulls, and friends!

This is from our excursion on horseback - yikes! All I know is that I had zero control over that horse and, Minuit, did whatever the heck he pleased! And for the most part it was a little dreary and muddy and totally fun for those who didn't get thrown off (there were 3 incidents for our group!)

Everyone ready helmets and all to brave the white ponies!

This is my new french boyfriend also our cowboy/'gardien' - but don't worry mom, i'm still coming home!

This is the church in the center of Saintes Maries de la Mer. It dates back to the 11th century!

Some of Vivienne's friends run a bull-breeding farm in Camargue and we got a nice tour from the back of a tractor where we were nice and safe! They showed us the different techniques to round up the torros one by one starting with the leader in order to move them to a different part of the farm!

This is my friend Brittany, and i just love this picture! Camargue is known for it's flamingos all year long!

We also had the opportunity to attend a bull-fighting/local "course de camarguaise"...this is the commencement ceremony.

The participants wore all white and the contestants with black name lettering were competing and the ones with red (one in the upper right corner) were experienced fighters who were there to attract attention and basically get the bulls fired up a little bit.

These bulls were annnnggggrrrryyyyy; and each contestant was aiming to rip off as many ribbons as possible tied to the horns of the bull.

They were incredible and clearing that wall just in the nick of time!

So! That's a little update for you. Will and I leave next week for Budapest and Matt, Elea, Sher and some others are camping in Corsica! We'll be bringing plenty of stories for the next time! That's all for now!

Update through pictures.

Hey all! Hope spring is finding its way into the weather reports for everyone...oh wait you guys are still getting SNOW! At first everyone was rubbing it in my face that I was missing the winter of the decade, but who's laughing now? I am sunbathing at 2pm (sure trying to avoid a little rain here and there) but overall, it's gorgeous. And you have snow!

Now that I've got that bitterness out of the way, let's get a little update via pictures:

Here's the gang: four corners - Me, Elea, Matt, Will middle - Sheralynn. We were celebrating Elea's big 21!

That is mac and cheese (harder than you would think; Elea and Sheralynn were in charge of this); les haricots verts (green beans which Matt did a fantastic job on); and my very own pounded chicken (chicken + cream cheese + bacon - thanks mom!). And of course a bottle of wine to celebrate the occasion!

Aix is known for its drinking waters/fountains (some people even drink from the fountains - but I'm not convinced yet) This is where most of our water comes from; which in turn, comes from the Alps! This is at the base of Sainte Victoire (Aix's only claim to a mountain).

The view from the top! I believe that is the Mediterranean off in the distance.

This is about halfway. We hiked that whole ridge and made it to the itty-bitty cross you can see on the top. You can hang-glide here when the weather gets nice :)

Did I mention I went to a chocolate festival in Marseille? We got to ride in classic cars and parade to the festival. Anyone wondering if I go to school ever, I don't; I dropped out and now all I do is drink wine and eat chocolate.

This is a group of CEA kids that hiked Saint Victoire last Saturday. This Mistral Wind was in full action so we didn't stay at the top long, but it was fun!

This was in Oxford the night that Will, Elea and Matt went to the concert and Hannah, Laura and Kate came over to visit me! We put the camera on self-timer and Ken (one of our gracious hosts) walked in at the perfect time!

Anyway, that's it for now. Other updates include: Will and I's excursion to Budapest in April; we'll be visiting one of my Mom's best friends and her family there! I believe Matt will be heading to Italy or some other exotic country!

I woke up with an ear infection this morning (I know, how old am I again?) and tested out the health system here in France - not too shabby! Got me some meds which was hilarious to try and read and take them correctly. I put some pills in my mouth to find out there were effervescent and wasn't sure whether to spit them into my water and let them fizzle out or chew or let them sit in my mouth...it was quite an experience (I ended up letting them sit and chewing - any recommendations?)

In other news, Hunt and Hannah are coming out to visit us a week from tomorrow - which I am thrilled about! They are two of the kids we went out to see at Oxford, so they're returning the treat! After that it's just a few weeks until Spring Break, and after that just a few weeks 'til we come home! Time is flying! Anyway, more to come sooner than last time. Thanks for reading!

Wow, long time no post. It's been an eventful few weeks here. We had our winter break all of last week and so we (Elea Geerlings, Will Lutz, Matthew and myself) decided to hop up to London to visit the other Covenant students at Oxford and to SIGHTSEE!

Traveling in Europe CAN be cheap - but you have to know what you're doing. For us, we had a little of both. So Saturday morning we took a train into Nice where our flight would leave from. The cheapest train ticket was a 6am to Nice and the cheapest plane ticket out of Nice was at 9:15PM. Needless to say we had the entire day to explore Nice (with hefty backpacks - and a suitcase for elea). It was beautiful and we were pumped 1) because we were exploring Nice but 2) because we were leaving for LONDON!

Some of the things we did in our entire day in Nice included but not limited to: taking pics at the mediterranean, eating at "ah-ha!" chinese restaurant, the boys explored a waterfall while elea and i grabbed a quick café americain, saw all of old nice AND new nice, saw the set-up for the Nice Carnival, walked the entirety of the boardwalk, etc etc.

We arrived at the airport about 2 hours early worn out and ready to go to London. So I could make this story into a dramatic, pitiful, truthful story about how we were miserable and had no idea what was going on and when our plane was coming, but I'll cut to the chase and say that we had a 4.5 hr delay. Which if you do the math correctly, put us into London at 2:45am. Yikes. So our options were to wait until the public transportation started running again at 6am or hire a private taxi for a lot of money. After spending over 24 hours traveling, we decided to splurge for the taxi. Now this wasn't just any taxi, this was entertainment + ride! We got in the car and after a few minutes Will asked "so, how ya doin?" and that opened the floodgate! This guy did NOT stop talking for 45 minutes! I'm not even exaggerating. He had a stereotype for every single ethnicity including pakistani in which he said "no matter what country you go to you can find a pakistani taxi driver". He proceeded to go into ALL of the comedians he knew and listened to etc etc. Wow.

Well, we got into Tooting Bec at 3:45am (where Will had hooked us up with housing through his cousins who live in London, but their flat isn't big enough for 4 people, so they found 3 guys from church who had a bigger flat and agreed to let us crash). Lauri woke up and walked us to the flat we'd be staying in at 3:45am! He was so generous, and he told us there was a big jug of milk and cereal for whenever we got up - we are SO blessed! So we crawled into bed after a long journey and SLEPT!

Sunday morning (after our large bowlS of cereal) we met Ken and Guy who were our hosts for the week. They were so generous and wonderful showing us the map, inviting us to church, leaving 4 umbrellas for us (it's London ya know). We decided to hit up "speaker's corner" which is a hundred year tradition of dialogue between different opinions at High Park. BYOS(bring your own soapbox). This is the essence of freedom of speech. It was way cool and a little stressful if you don't really like distress and loud "dialogue". But overall it boiled down to Christians talking loudly with Muslims. Fascinating!

That night we joined Ken and Guy at their church service which was absolutely delightful! It was a small church plant that met in a school gym. Every single person introduced themselves to us I think, and we had to explain how we "knew" ken and guy and it was quite a night! After church a group of people usually went to a pub for a little fellowship - naturally we went along!

Monday was our day to Oxford! We found cheap tickets and rode the Oxford tube out to see our friends! It was such an incredible feeling to see a familiar face in a foreign place. When we saw Kate we didn't really care what we looked like, we just hugged and laughed and hugged some more. We bought some lunch food and headed back to their ginormous house and cooked a big meal together, Kate, Al Gore, Hannah Vanbib, Laura Hutton, Will, Matt, Elea, me. After lunch they gave us an AWESOME walking tour of Oxford, we just kind of went everywhere. Finally that evening we met up with Hunt (who had been studying hard all day) and all went out for dinner together! It was just an encouraging time and it was so good to see all those people and be all in the same place even just for a day.

So Tuesday and Wednesday were our big London days. Tuesday it was raining ALL day and kinda nasty, but we powered through and even were joined by some of the girls from Oxford who came out to London for the day! We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster, the National Gallery, and more! That night Elea, Matt and Will went to see Vampire Weekend in concert and Hannah, Laura, and Kate joined me at my flat for pizza and we watched when Harry Met Sally. Basically an all around great day!

Wednesday it was GORGEOUS outside! We walked the entire south bank. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was just a great last day in london! We saw the changing of the guard, big ben (this time in the sun!), London Bridge and the tower bridge, London Tower, St. Pauls etc etc. Amazing day.

And now we're back! Getting ready to celebrate Eleas 21st birthday (which is today!). Classes start back up - I can't remember if mine were canceled today or not, so I'm not sure what the plan is for me today. And yea, that's life. It was really good to be "home" in my own bed and having a few more options for clothes. And it was definitely good to be back in wifi range :)

So that's London; here are some pictures!

This is the "dialogue" I mentioned. Notice the devil's horns.

Fellowship!!

THE GROUP!

Sorry it's cropped funny. You can ask me about that personally if you want to ;)

I mean we're in London!

Big Ben is used to the rain; I am not.

From India to England! Represent!

Tower Bridge - awesome.

They are happy campers with their 4.5 hr delay don't ya think??