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| Saint-Nazaire |
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Last Saturday, I went to Saint-Nazaire with the groupe de jeunes (youth group) from the church where I've been going to the English Bible study. The group that went to the beach consisted of 6 French (Two of them were adorable little 2 year old twins), 3 Americans, 2 Ghanians, a Mexican, a Colombian, a Canadian, and the smartest dog I've ever seen in my life. We went by car (which is a luxury not to be taken lightly) and arrived at the beach around noon. It was an absolutely perfect day. It was too cold to really get in the water, but not too cold to just hang around on the beach. At one point, we were throwing around a nerf football. All of a sudden, a rugby ball was added to the mix. I had absolutely NO IDEA what to do with that thing. Rugby balls are enormous. I caught it and just started laughing because I looked so ridiculous just holding it. With a little instruction, I tossed it, but learned that rugby is not for me. haha. The rest of the time was spent listening to Rojo and Nikki play the guitar and sing worship songs. The amazing thing is that the French songs are the same melody and words (just translated). At one point, the same song was being sung in Spanish, French, and English. I also got a little bit of Spanish practice. Cecilia was talking to Catalina, the girl from Colombia, in Spanish, and I laughed...because it was funny,which caused Cecilia to turn to me and say, "Hablas Español?" To which I replied, "ummm, si?" Cecilia and I mainly talked in French, but she would throw Spanish in every once and a while when she didn't know the word in French.
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| La groupe de jeunes |
We also went to see this enormous concrete structure in Saint-Nazaire which housed German submarines during the second world war. The US and England did everything to do to destroy it, but it's basically a concrete block! The city actually wanted to take it down, but it would be too expensive, so they just left it.
We left the beach around 4 or so, and I fell asleep in the car almost immediately...consequently, I was made fun of for the rest of the evening. haha. We were treated to McDonalds by the youth group, which was my first McDonalds experience in France. I'm not particularly a fan of McDonalds in the states, but the quality over here is much better. I enjoyed my "McChicken"... made French by pronouncing it "Mc Cheek-een." Overall, it was a day full of good conversation and good company.
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| Two Americans and a Canadian! |
The Sunday after St. Nazaire, we went to Sunday morning church after which the church had it's monthly "agape." It was kind of like a potluck where everyone brought something to share. Living in a dorm with no oven really limits your abilities to cook, so we picked up some baguettes on the way to church that morning. There's a large group of Americans here for the semester from Pennsylvania, so I got to meet them for the first time. I also got to talk with several French people who each complimented me on my French...I was SO excited. haha. After church, the Pennsylvania group invited us to go "play frisbee." I was expecting to throw a frisbee around. Nope. They were playing ultimate frisbee. I "played" for about 30 minutes, but was not doing much other than running up and down the field, so I decided to go join one of the Pennsylvania girls named Angie where she was sitting under a tree. haha.
Fast forward to Wednesday....I finally finished my long stay visa process! When you stay in France for more than 3 months, you're required to get a visa. Most people heard about my experience trying to get my visa before I left. I went to Atlanta about 18 days before I left for France. You leave your passport with them, and they put the visa sticker in and sent it back. Simple enough, right? Let's put it this way...I left Tuesday morning on the plane...I received my passport in the mail on SATURDAY. I was so incredibly happy to hear that doorbell ring. The last step of the process is completed in France and is called "Titre de séjours." This gives me the right to work if I wanted to. In order to get this, you have to have have a check up at the doctor's office complete with chest x-rays. It was not the most enjoyable way to start my Wednesday, but it wasn't too terrible. I'm just glad it's over. *Sigh of relief*
Last Saturday, I went to Saint-Nazaire with the groupe de jeunes (youth group) from the church where I've been going to the English Bible study. The group that went to the beach consisted of 6 French (Two of them were adorable little 2 year old twins), 3 Americans, 2 Ghanians, a Mexican, a Colombian, a Canadian, and the smartest dog I've ever seen in my life. We went by car (which is a luxury not to be taken lightly) and arrived at the beach around noon. It was an absolutely perfect day. It was too cold to really get in the water, but not too cold to just hang around on the beach. At one point, we were throwing around a nerf football. All of a sudden, a rugby ball was added to the mix. I had absolutely NO IDEA what to do with that thing. Rugby balls are enormous. I caught it and just started laughing because I looked so ridiculous just holding it. With a little instruction, I tossed it, but learned that rugby is not for me. haha. The rest of the time was spent listening to Rojo and Nikki play the guitar and sing worship songs. The amazing thing is that the French songs are the same melody and words (just translated). At one point, the same song was being sung in Spanish, French, and English. I also got a little bit of Spanish practice. Cecilia was talking to Catalina, the girl from Colombia, in Spanish, and I laughed...because it was funny,which caused Cecilia to turn to me and say, "Hablas Español?" To which I replied, "ummm, si?" Cecilia and I mainly talked in French, but she would throw Spanish in every once and a while when she didn't know the word in French. 
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