En Découvrant la Vie Ici...(In Discovering Life Here....)

If only I could detail everything that transpired this week, all the good time spent with new people, all the specific ways the Lord was overwhelmingly faithful…. well, I’d exhaust myself, as well as you.  I believe it to be a good thing that only just now I have a chance to update my writings; it simply reminds me that there was never a dull moment this week!  So, with an effort toward conciseness (I think I failed miserably), here are some snapshots of life this week:

LUNDI:

Monday was the day I went from knowing no one in Grenoble to knowing 500, it seems!  I walked to school with five international students, and we kept up a lively French conversation the entire 15 minutes down the hill.  At lunch I met Eliot, Luke, Gareth, and Emma, all with endearing British accents. :) 

That night was perhaps the highlight of my week.  I was in the residence hall library--yet again for the Internet--and ran into two friends I had walked to school with that morning, Kathryn (Ohio) and Margot (from Nice…. yes! A french friend!).  Margot invited me to her room to watch a movie, and even though I had been planning for an earlier bedtime, I took her up on her offer.  The great thing about Margot is that she doesn’t speak much English so she forces me to communicate in French, which is what I want!  We had a lot of fun choosing from the myriad of movies we collectively owned, and in making our choice, we taught Margot the rhyme “eenie meenie mynie mo” (how do you spell that?! :) and in turn, she taught us the French equivalent!  It was SUCH a delight to share cultures like that.

Kathryn, Margot, and I

MARDI:

Tuesday was a good day.  The University hosted an international students welcome, where a man very eloquently relayed to us (in the beautiful language of French, of course) all the reasons he was delighted we, as international students, had chosen to study at Grenoble. 

I met Richie, John, and Elizabeth, who all go to Washington Jefferson University, and Elizabeth and I have so much in common: we are here for the same program for just one semester, we play the same sports, we went to Christian high schools, and we both live in RABOT!  That was the most exciting thing to find out, because it meant not having to walk alone back to my dorm after 8:30pm (that’s when the buses stop).  We have been doing life together ever since.  She is actually sitting next to me on the park bench in the Jardin du Ville, the city’s gardens, where one can find free wifi!

That night was another highlight of the week: it involved grabbing dinner but showing up late to a city tour… so, not knowing where they had gone, we sat down at an outdoor café called La Palais (the palace, literally) in the beautiful Place Victor Hugo (like the square in Kirksville, only there are about 20 just in Grenoble).  We ended up meeting up with the tour group, who walked right in front of the café, and to make a long story short, ended up back at the same café, encore. :)

Elizabeth, John, and I on a bridge downtown!

MECREDI:

I felt like Wednesday was the day I began learning ‘French life 101.’  We got a tour of the downtown with a group who connects the international students with the French university community; I am quickly becoming quite familiar with this city!  I also wandered around a huge gymnasium for a sports forum, where any student could get information on over 30 activities there are to join.

In the afternoon we ventured a bit further south on the tram and went to the supermarket.  DO NOT go to the French equivalent of ‘Walmart’ at 4pm.  The place was swamped with people, and the lines were ridiculous!  I waited in line 25 minutes just to pay for four items.  Oh la la. 

Wednesday night there was a special soiree at my residence, just for people who lived in Rabot.  It reminded me of a frat party in the states…only we also had a scavenger hunt, which was really fun!  Again, I met more people than I can name.  I find the French students very inviting, which is awesome!

I see this every DAY!

JEUDI:

At this point in the week, I began to feel like I had lived here forever.  There’s really not a better feeling!  In the morning we finished the process of obtaining French social security, so we all had a rendezvous (yep, that’s a French word; who would have known that’s what RDV stood for in the emails I was getting…?!).  This rendezvous, my friends, impressed me beyond measure.  All week long I had nothing but gripes about the French bureaucracy here; everything took five steps instead of one, ten days instead of two.  But Thursday morning, when I went to fork over an unmentionable sum of money just so that I could comply with social security policies, those French administrators were ready for us and I left with my student ID paper ten minutes later!  SHOCKED.  Delighted, for sure.  Having my student ID paper meant I could apply for at least three other things I needed….

Well, that’s a long time to talk about boring social security.  After that, we toured campus with an upper class Grenoble law student…. on bicycle!   Students can rent bikes through an organization on campus for a few days or for an entire year, and for that hour, they rented us 20 bikes for free!  It was quite a sight to see, us foreign students navigating the narrow university roads and sidewalks; I’m sure many people temporarily hated us.  But I had so much fun!  And I discovered the university’s arboretum, in a beautiful corner of campus.  To do: go back there for a walk.

That evening was the “closing event” for the orientation week, and we all enjoyed a concert by this marching jazz band called “Pink it Black.”  Yes, they wore black and pink, and yes, their name is a spin-off of something else.  And actually, they were exceptionally good!  They actually led us on a parade of sorts through campus, playing anything from popular French songs (I knew they were french because all the french people were singing) to “Hit the Road Jack” to the Jewish Bar Mitzvah song.  And I talked with two very sweet and hilarious Italian exchange students…. Ooh la la.  I know. :)

pink it BLACK! p.s. I found the snare drummer handsome ;)

VENDREDI:

You are part of Grenoble now, and Grenoble is a part of you!

That’s the feeling I got on the last day of a very full week (as you can tell if you are still reading!).  Partly, I felt this way because I finally finished all my paperwork and I was an official student.  Partly, I felt this way because I made my first purchase—two delicious pears—at a signature French open-air market in town.  Maybe it was my wandering in town alone that afternoon, weaving in and out of bookstores and card shops and through the narrow roads….

Certainly, I felt officially welcomed to Grenoble at the tour of La Maison de l’International---the International ‘Center’ of Grenoble—that afternoon.  The two women who made a short presentation for our group of 15 students showered us with flyers, brochures, and pamphlets about Grenoble as if it were the 25th of December.  They showed us an art exhibit in a building next door that featured artists from San Marino, a city with which Grenoble is connected.  They even had refreshments for us and let us wander around and peruse all their wonderful material on anything and everything about life in Grenoble.  I was excited because I found a booklet on international and local non-profit agencies!  To top it all at the end, they gave us FREE passes to Le Telepherique, which is the trademark gondola system up to the Bastille on the side of the mountain!  I felt overwhelmed by their hospitability.

new friends... in the Maison de l'International art exhibit

SAMEDI:

In the afternoon we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and Margot, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Lizzy (Edinburough), and Ed (England) ventured up to the Bastille via Le Telepherique!  It was quite exciting and we all managed to fit into one “Bulle.”  Rabot’s view of the city is wonderful, but from the Bastille, which is a bit higher, one can see Grenoble in full panoramic! 

Yesterday evening, a friend I had met earlier in the week invited me to dinner.  Xiu is from China, and she and some other Chinese friends cooked an authentic Chinese meal for about ten of us!  Three students from Mexico joined us.  I’m noticing that forging friendships as an international student is easier/quicker than in other cases.  I’m thankful. 

After eating, Xiu whipped out what I’ve decided is the universal game of the world—UNO. :)

UNO!

It is quite a humbling thing to be surrounded by so many different cultures, different ways of thinking, different social norms.  I’m quite enjoying my time here so far.  I give the Lord all the credit for the way He has orchestrated this week so as to surround me with good people in safe situations!

This morning I made it to an English speaking church, and then stayed for the French-speaking service as well…. But that, my friends, is something I’ll have to write on in it of itself.  Hate to leave you on a cliffhanger….  But I will describe what’s it’s like to go to church in a foreign country very soon!

To all who have prayed for me, especially this week: we serve a God who hears and RESPONDS.  He can be trusted with everything; there were times this week when I had legitimate concerns about life’s details, both small and big, but for each time I cried out to the Lord, He responded tangibly and with so much grace.  So through your prayers, thanks for opening up the floodgates; the Lord showered me with so many undeserved blessings.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”  Micah 6:10

I miss you all and I send my love!

from the Bastille-- a new favorite photo