The past week...

...I've been in Paris for about 2 weeks now. It started out slow, but now its picking up some pace. So, here are some updates.

This past week was full of lots of new things, surprises, disappointment, excitement, praise, and even a little shock. I finally got my dresser, but as I opened up the box I realized that it was in 153 parts!! Yes...we finally got it almost put together, with the help of my fabulous roommates. That was an accomplishment. Tuesday came with my first encounter with culture shock. It wasn't a bad episode and with lots of prayer it was gone by the second half of the day. Then came French class. I found a possible French class that I could join for a month for a cheap price and it was supposed to be beginners. But it turns out that its not "beginner" enough for me...so it looks like I'll be teaching myself through a book and then hopefully getting tutoring a bit later. But this disappointment did not come without a pleasant surprise. After the first day of class, I met a girl (Mical) from Israel, who speaks quite a bit of English and who expressed interest in hanging out some time. She just moved to Paris a few months ago. So, I have a new friend. Anothr new and exciting thing came this week...we had our first house church meeting at the Campbells. There are going to be about 16 of us attening...and maybe more. We had a wonderful spaghetti dinner prepared by Mentanna followed by worship (through song, prayer, and the word).

...Some fun things I got to do: I've been to the movies twice now. Yes...they were in English with subtitles. Good movies and not too expensive. I've been walking tons! And one day I really thought that my legs were just going to fall off and my feet were going to abandon me for the torture I was putting them through. It doesn't help that no one wears tennis shoes here either...not the good ones. But I feel very comfortable in the Metro now. One other really fun thing I got to do was go to the gardens in Versailles. I went with Heidi and Ashley (my roommates) and spent the morning walking around the beautiful grounds and looking at the fountains. We then had a picnic, which was memorable, and then saw something like a fantasy peasant village. Interesting. All in all, it was a fabulous trip.

Today has been a very exciting day as well. I just had lunch at the Cite (its a university campus and they have a cafeteria that you can eat in for just about $3). I went to eat and to meet some students. Me and Ashley met 4 girls. 1 is from Morocco and speaks very little English...so Ashley (who is fluent in French) became friends with her. Then I talked with the other 3 girls who were able to speak more English. 2 of them are from Paris (which is actually rare and hard to find). The 3 of them were interested in joining an English Conversational Club/Class that I will be starting, so that they can practice their English. And all 6 of us are going to get together tomorrow night (Saturday night) for an annual event called "Nuit Blanche" (which is the phrase they use for "pulling an all nighter"). Its a city-wide event that begins at 10pm or so and carries on through the entire night. There are art exhibits, dance and musical performances, and so much more that will be going on during the night. The city keeps some buses and metros open the entire time and its basically just an all-night party! Sounds great right??!! So, it should be fun.

And...some of the most exciting news...I will be watching the UGA vs. LSU football game on Sunday!!! So...no one tell me any scores or anything. I can't wait to actually see them play. Its a dream come true.

Until next time...salut.