Snapshots at the half-way mark

The end of January will mark the half-way point in our language school training time. I've decided that all the small little stories I have stored in my head need to be written. So here are snapshots of our January.

New students, old friends
Just after Christmas, we had great joy in welcoming new students, especially fellow physician families from Samaritan's Purse World Medical Mission Post-Residency Program that we are in. Bryant and Rachel Ward with their son J (2 weeks different than Sydney) are going to Togo. and Patrick and Anna LaRochelle with their kids L and M are going to east Congo. J started walking the week after they arrived in France! It was fun to see Sydney and him interacting. Many many of the kids of the newly arrived students were sick the first 1-2 weeks of school, including J and L, making for a difficult start to classes. The sickness is likely due to the different viral strains either caught while traveling or just after arrival. But now it seems that the wave has subsided, thankfully.

Classes
Classes started up again 3 weeks ago. Ryan and I both passed our exams, A2 and A1, respectively, in December, but Ryan had been having a frustrating experience in his class and was debating whether to change classes. In essence, his class consisted of a wide variation of abilities, including some who had learned African "bush" French without any formal training, some who had significant formal training, and Ryan who was pushing himself above the level he had reached in his college course. Thus, the speaking ability of much of the class surpassed that of Ryan, although he understood the grammar well. We prayed about it over the winter break, and he ultimately decided to stay in the class to push himself, and he has been glad that he is there. The last two weeks before the Christmas break were when he really felt he started engaging in the class discussions, and the class size diminished a bit to make it more manageable.
As for my class, we were the beginner class in Sept, and thus we all started at ground zero. We have had great chemistry with our teacher and each other from the beginning. Our teacher is single, lives in the house next to the family building, and frequently joins us for birthday parties, games nights, and dinner. We are sorely missing a few of our classmates who left (planned) to go to Chad already, and a few who changed to private tutoring or staying home with their kid(s), but we continue to have great fellowship. It is easy (and I'm sure the Enemy loves it) to feel like it is a competition to perform, but during our times of devotion and prayer each week as well as eating cake together, keep us focused on the goal: ALL of us succeeding in learning French to the glory of God.

Ryan's Injury 
Since a club soccer game on December 6, Ryan has been nursing several injuries to his right leg: a severe ankle sprain, and strain on his knee and hip. He was able to run this week and came to play volleyball also, so we are very thankful for this.

Volleyball
As a way to get out into the French community and be immersed, develop friendships, and stay active, the volleyball club has been excellent. I learn how to use slang words and phrases, hear instructions given (and generally can deduce some meaning with the actions), and there is a lot of conversation during the 2 hours of playing.
In general, talking about politics or religion is simply avoided in most settings here in France. Wearing a religious symbol at a government office is forbidden, and it definitely is not talked about in school. At a formal club (which is also government-run), I was unsure how this might play out. But a lot of my t-shirts have either sports teams or bible verses from mission trips, so if I needed to limit my wardrobe to t-shirts without symbols of religion, that would drastically reduce the amount of clothing I have to wear. The only other time we have mentioned our faith at the club has been when people ask what we are in France for and where we are going. We had to explain what a missionary was to a few of them... that is how foreign the concept is to the French at this time in history.
At any rate, yesterday I was hitting the ball back and forth with our closest friend at volleyball, the guy who comes every week to take us in his car to the volleyball club in Ugine, just 10 min away. I noticed that he was wearing a cross during one of our first weeks, and asked him about it. He mentioned that he was a practicing Catholic. So I have felt more free to talk with him about my faith. But yesterday I think I offended him. I asked if he had heard of a song that we had used in our French class to learn the conditional tense. He asked if it was in French or English. When I said, "French, for the children" He emphatically told me that it was impossible. (he is a musician as well as engineer). We had used YouTube and it was in French, so I told him that. He again replied that he had never heard of that song at school. Ding ding ding. "Oh, no it isn't for school, it is for church, for the children." And I said a few of the lyrics. It was like a wall came up, right between us. His face changed from his normal smile to a stern look and his eyes grew cold. I back-peddled, trying to figure out how I had offended him while still trying to finish my story (which had a very funny ending!). Until I got to the ending, which takes long as I'm trying to relay it in French, he remained very solemn. As soon as the funny ending came up and he related to the story, he snapped back and laughed about what I'd said. But it makes me wonder. Was his reaction to my story a) that I was speaking about something religious at the club b) that the divide between Catholics and Protestants is a huge deal, considering the history with the Huguenots in this area c) that the idea that we were singing a "religious" song as a way of teaching in our French class was repulsive d) that he was afraid of where my story was going to go... Anyway, it is interesting--the difference that religion makes in the US as opposed to France

Grocery stores
Again, I'm going to write about grocery shopping. It might be that a good chunk of time is spent there, but it may also just provide a source of endless entertainment as I tell of my mishaps. I was walking through the store and recounting the things that either are different or that took me a long time to figure out when we first arrived.

• The -85 does not mean you get money for putting it in the cart. It means that it costs 0 Euros, and 85 centimes. Very confusing.
• All of the fruits and vegetables are labeled with the country where they were grown, nearly as big as the name of the fruit. MAROC BANANE (bananas from Morocco)
• You CANNOT find bacon. Lots of types of meat that comes from a pig, but not normal bacon. I mean, everybody likes bacon. Where is the bacon??
• Steer clear of stinky cheese. I repeat, steer clear of the stinky cheese. There is a reason that some French people have a separate fridge for cheese. I'd need a separate house, thank you.
• Baking powder is not in bulk. It is in tiny tiny packets. 
• Croissants are so worth it. 
• Not all fruit juice is alike. Apparently, juice made from the oranges of Spain is bitter. 
• Black beans are more rare than escargot. In fact, I think only one store sells back beans in the whole town. 
• Good hot peppers are also difficult to find. I guess Mexican food is just hard to make here.

Doctoring

So during Christmas break I delivered a second baby in the apartment building (planned this time). I have had numerous house calls, performed a circumcision, and helped edit a research paper from a colleague in Congo. It helps me to remember what I love to do when I get bogged down in the conditional tense of French. If I were fluent, then I COULD stop studying... etc.