Une pub de James Brown...

My life is finally beginning to settle in.

Be it though awkward and unnerving at times (while at home), I am creating my routine and falling into patterns. It is comforting to feel as though I have some kind of grasp on the ins-and-outs. And believe it or not: I have decided to remain with my family, and try harder on the weekends to get to know them, to witness to them through God’s presence in me.

Daily life in Grenoble is slow-paced, so when events happen, it gives me a new steam to keep myself going. For example, last week while spending time at Kristin’s, her neighbor Panda (a South Korean student who has spent a year here and is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Korean and Arabic) invited both she and I to a dinner party with his Korean friends. Our only commonality between the whole of us was that we all spoke French (some more than others), so we spent the whole night eating Korean food and Clementine’s, entertaining each other with our language barriers. Panda was a hoot, and a great host!

Sunday Kristin and I tried a French Protestant Evangelical Baptist Church. (Say that 5 times fast…) I liked it a lot; it wasn’t too stiff - or similar to what I was expecting. As soon as we walked in all the old French ladies surrounded us and kissed our cheeks (Bises), and the pastor came up and introduced himself. Then after the first hymn-set, the pastor had us (the “two Americans”) stay standing as he introduced us to the entire congregation. A bit embarrassing, but cute. The service was hard to understand, but the overall concept was on the right track. We are going to try a few other options, and then make our decision on a church.

A few tidbits you will find humorous: 1.) In transit to school by tram on Monday there was a recorded voice over the speaker that said Tuesday morning all trams would be closed (sauf one) in anticipation of a “manifestation”, or a demonstration. I’m not sure if it was political, or led by the students at the university, but sure enough – the trams were closed Tuesday morning! Also, 2.) right next to Kristin’s house there is a big stadium and theater. We noticed that there is a huge poster on the side of the theater of James Brown, advertising a concert in June. Anyone see something wrong with this picture?

In other news, two nights ago we had a blizzard and I woke up to 6+ inches outside of our flat. You should have seen me trying to navigate my way to the tram, in my Puma sneakers and no umbrella. (The winds still tend to be (or at least feel) over 100 miles an hour.) So unfortunately, I had to break down and buy fur-lined winter boots that come all the way up my calf, I don’t know if I would have survived the day without them! It supposed to drop to 6 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow…

That is all for now. I have one class on Thursdays at 4p, so if I believe that if I can brave the treacherous weather I might go out and study at a café today. Love you all (honestly), let me know how I can be praying for each of you!