Live from France......

After several flights starting Thurs afternoon and ending Sat morning, including an awesome 40-gate RUN through the Memphis airport (okay- why we flew from Columbus to Memphis then BACK directly OVER Columbus is puzzling, but anyway, the BBQ sure smelled good as we ran by...) we arrived safely at our location in France and met up with Sandy who had arrived a day early. It is very crowded in our city - there is a winter festival here that is very beautiful and very popular all over the region. The weather has been everything from blinding sun to cold rain, grey skies and comfortably cool to freezing cold wind. Riding all of the transportation has been interesting - today we were on a bus, a tram, a subway - and a funicular, which is almost like a cable car/pulley system - on the way home it was so crowded" sardines" does not even come close to describing it. PSA: when the bell rings on the orange line, GET IN OR OUT or you will be squished in the door- note from an unnamed team member who was indeed squished when the door closed.

Oh, and it is true, we are REALLY loud- our host team member had to shush us all day - imagine that... Well, except for Kristen - I don't think we had to shush her! We are staying at a small hotel near the center - it is a great place but we feel pretty lucky that the only problem we have is no lights in the upstairs sleeping area - the other girls don't have a toilet seat - ha! Dan, we had some delicious chocolate croissants for breakfast - Maureen went to the bakery and picked them up, using her awesome french skills. Along with our lesson on public transportation, and successful shopping skills, we are quite sure (!) we could find our way back to the center if need be.

Today we went (and by "went" I mean hiked totally UP a mountain on cobblestone paths-Charon wins the mountain goat award for climbing up, up, UP with a bad knee) to several historical areas of our city - we saw ancient roman ruins-think coliseum-like- and the first church in the city - a huge church on the top of a mountain overlooking the city. It was so beautiful - even the floors were magnificient mosiacs. The church has a long history of persecution here and that attitude still prevails- it is a very hard area for the gospel. The workers here are great- very committed - it is a great blessing to see their work up close and understand the challenges and great joys. Lift them up - the darkness is all around.

Tonight is a "dance night" for the women of the center - it starts at 8, so since it is now 8:15 we can put the tea on and wait for our friends to come - that was a little regional joke, ha ha. We expect to be here until midnight (!) after a long day - this culture is very relational and parties go on late. This is how friendships are formed and walls are broken down - mint tea and jingle skirts. Sunday morning is an "early" trip to the market, a church service in 2 or 3 languages, a potluck with the local church, then an afternoon of stuffing literature for distribution later in the week. The days are long, the culture/s (there are several) are new and often opposite from our norm, few of us speak/read much of the language, though we all have mastered the important signs :Toilet means....toilet :) - but we are all well. Lisa is doing a great job trying to juggle 5 "active" ladies, keeping us out of trouble and on task with our work. I (Cindy) am FINALLY feeling better after a month-long cold and cough that would NOT go away - I hope walking around in cold rain doesn't bring it back! Overall, we are having a great time- our hearts seem to break a lot but we are happy to see the work progressing despite the darkness. Lift us up - there are still many days left, many hurdles, many things to learn and wrestle with - thanks for following our journey and we'll update as we can!