First week's work and how to take a shower in 28 steps

Every morning this week we have started fairly early. This is mostly because of a (annoying doesn’t begin to describe it) rooster who decides to start its cock-a-doodle-doo at 2:40am or 4am or whenever it wants. Then there are the church bells that give rhythm to the village, getting them up at 5:40am, a snooze reminder at 6am, and a warning at 6:15am, and then to work at 7am. Sydney has been waking up around 6:30am. By this time, it is very light outside. Being 4 degrees south of the equator, we have a 12 hour day year-round from approx 6 to 6. The internet has been working quite well during the early morning hours. So between that and getting breakfast ready and having personal time with the Lord, it is soon the hour when people come in a stream to the house. Some are looking for a job, others are selling pineapples, peanuts, eggs, passion fruit, bananas, freshly-caught fish, etc. It is the market right at our doorstep! If only they would come after breakfast instead of, usually, exactly when we are sitting down or starting to eat.

Sydney has been taking morning naps, and during this time, Ryan and I have been going up to our house to unpack and arrange the house. We had a carpenter come to replace a ceiling tile, an electrician to help Ryan work on electricity, etc. There have been definite ups and downs during this process. I would describe it like replacing the belt on a vacuum. Imagine you are taking it apart and putting it back together, only the instruction manual has been lost. So you fiddle and try, you ask around, and maybe you look up something on the internet. Once you’ve found the correct order to remove panels, the correct flat-head screwdriver with which to unclip the latch, and the plastic piece that fell on the floor, it seems like a relatively easy process. The next time you have to replace the belt, it only takes a short time. Now, imagine doing this kind of process for every aspect of life: how to get clean water, how to make the electricity work, how and who to hire for house-help, how to get internet, where to put garbage, how to get more phone minutes, how to get food, how to cook food, how to greet people on the path. Yes, we have to try and fail, ask other missionaries or Congolese, sometimes look up solutions on the internet if it works, text a friend in Kinshasa.

As the number of unknowns has decreased this week, so has the amount of stress related to lack of knowledge of expectation or lack of control. At times, it seems like nothing is working and we are so frustrated. For example, we are unable to locate some of our shipment, and our pack n play was a crucial part of this. The difficulty of helping Sydney to take a good nap spills out into the day, even though we, thankfully, have the help of Nancy and Megan to watch her while we work. Secondly, on the first day of work at our house, my Chacos broke. Yes, the sandals that have a lifetime warranty and are supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. Then one evening we spent 3 hours trying to upload one or two pictures to attach to an email. These are some of the down moments.

At other times, there are incredibly encouraging moments. For example, we found out the charger/inverter at our house will likely last for the interim until our 6-month delayed solar energy system hopefully arrives. We look around at our house and marvel at how much great wooden furniture is still relatively intact compared to the damage which could have been done over the last 15 years by termites. We enjoy the newly-tiled floor, take a swim in the refreshing water of the Kwilu River, find an infant life-vest that fits Sydney perfectly, just sitting in the bottom of a drawer, and I could go on. I think I will. This is the biggest house we have lived in since we got married almost 7 years ago. When I was feeling especially lonely for friends we just left in France, I got a text from one that is now living in Kinshasa that she’d be able to loan us a pack n play until we find a solution for sleep for Sydney. When I was feeling out of touch with the reason why we came and had some anxiety about starting back at the hospital after a year out of medicine, I met one of the interns while walking home and his enthusiasm and thankfulness that we had come to teach them was so very uplifting and encouraging, just when I needed it. There have been incredible answers to specific prayer requests.

Let me end this blog post by describing how one might take a shower here. Remember the vacuum analogy as you read this.

28 Steps to taking a Shower in Vanga

1. Decide you stink, or are hot, or both
2. Turn on the faucet in the bathtub to determine water pressure- it is dribbling
3. Decide to use the camp shower
4. Find camp shower in boxes that need to be unpacked
5. Fiddle with camp shower for a few minutes
6. Ask husband to come help you know how to fill it- he quickly shows you how to unhook and open the top
7. Start filling the 4 gallon bag
8. Wait because it takes awhile with the dribbling.
9. Spend a few minutes closing and rehooking the bag, not quite knowing the process because your husband unhooked it so quickly
10. Stand up with the quite heavy bag of water, heave it out of the bathtub with the intention to put it outside to heat up in the sun
11. Realize that the top just unhooked and you have just spilled 2 gallons of water on the floor
12. Husband is quickly back in the bathroom, bringing good towels
13. Ask husband to bring bad towels as the floor is dusty and now muddy
14. Rehook the camp shower, better this time, and place gingerly back in the bathtub in case of further spill
15. Help husband mop up the 2 gallons of water with bad towels and wring them into the tub
16. Finally, gingerly, take the camp shower with now 2/4 gallons of water outside and into the sun
17. Wait at least 2 hours for the sun to heat up the water
18. Realize it is too late in the day and the shower will have to wait
19. Overnight, the guard is terrified of the mystery black blob in the middle of the patio, and does extra surveillance (he told us today J )
20. Next day, after working up a sweat and allowing time for the sun to reheat the water, decide it is now time for a shower.
21. Gingerly take the camp shower inside
22. Realize the hook above the bathtub is too tall and call husband over
23. Husband realizes the shower nozzle wasn’t closed as it sprays him as he is hanging the camp shower. He shows you how to close it
24. Rinse the tub as it is muddy from husband’s shoes
25. Chase and kill a spider which had taken residence in the tub since yesterday
26. Get in and use the cold water to wash muddy feet
27. Open the shower nozzle and take a warm shower with water pressure!!
28. Praise the Lord for a warm shower, for a husband who insisted on making what seemed like a silly purchase at REI over a year ago, and for being clean and cooled off. J

And that is how it really happened. It was one of the best showers I have ever had. 

Vanga!

The plane ride to Vanga was on the caravan. Ryan was co-pilot, Sydney and I were just behind him and the pilot- Sydney in her carseat and wide-eyed at all the new things she was experiencing. Our trunks were stacked up in a line directly behind her and the Rices were in a row behind me.

We took off over Kinshasa and very quickly were flying over the Congo River, where just the day before we were in a boat and on a sandbar. It was much easier to see the great size of the river from above. We ascended to 9000 feet, above clouds so that we were unable to see the ground at that time. Most of the team took naps, but of course Sydney was wide awake and reading books, trying to kick the back of the pilot’s seat, asking for water, etc. In the co-pilot seat, Ryan was able to communicate with the pilot via headset, and among other things, Ryan talked about his past engineering projects.

After just over an hour, we started descending, quickly able to see the ground where there were palm trees, brown huts in clumps, and even a purple flowering tree. I recognized the hospital as soon as the Kwilu River came into view. I searched for our house, but I was unable to identify it through the cover of the trees. As we started to land, we saw the German pediatrician enthusiastically waving from his bicycle on the side of the runway, kids were running to gather at the fence line, and we could see that there was a large group assembled at the hanger. The wheels hit the grass softly, but firmly, and we coasted to a stop, turned around, and came back to the waiting crowd.

We came down the steps of the airplane in the rear of the aircraft, so Sydney and I were the last ones down. I no sooner let go of her hand to wave and shake hands then Sydney was going right back up the stairs and back onto the airplane. She loved playing like this, going back and forth, up and down, as our luggage was unloaded from the opposite side. Finally, as it was time for us to make room for the passengers going on the return flight to Kinshasa, I told Sydney to go run to the kids who were waiting to greet us. She took off, but not in the direction which I was meaning. No, she had seen the group of village kids on the opposite side of the runway as we had come in and had waved to them. Therefore, instead of going straight to the hanger and that group of kids, she went running across the runway, alone, towards the kids there. 

Sydney running across the runway to greet some children

Ryan and I chuckled and followed her. I’m sure those kids never get greeted first! She boldly went up to the fence line and poked the first child that she could, right in the belly, and then went down the line and looked at the others but didn’t really say anything. What could a 21 month old think of this??

We then bid au revoir to them and went back across the runway to the hanger. There, a large group of kids gathered around her. But instead of them touching her hair and pointing or being loud as I had assumed, they were quiet and waited for her to come to them. Indeed, I was quite surprised to find that she was “bothering” them more than the other way around by; for instance, she was poking her finger at a little boy’s belly because she was curious about the Mr. Potato Head on his shirt, or blabbing on and on after seeing a girl with pretty beads in her hair, then trying to pull them out one by one. Then there were some very young kids that were scared of her, so of course she tried to give them, not just a high five or handshake, but a big hug to squeeze them out of their fear…. Which didn’t help. J

As for the adult side of things, there were a lot of hospital staff and village leadership present to welcome us. It was great fun to see again a few of the doctors and nurses with whom I had worked in 2012. I missed most of the logistical part of the welcome, luggage handling, government stamping, etc as I was chasing a very small child, but just before we departed from the airport, we gathered in a large circle. The German pediatrician, Dr. Friedhelm, formally introduced us and then some of the prominent members came by and shook our hands in a more formal line. Then we regrouped and prayed together, that God would have His hand on our work here and that we would feel welcome.

We loaded up into the two awaiting landcruisers: the Rices and their luggage in one, and our family with our luggage in the other. We made our way down the sandy road (it is dry season now, so it is quite sandy and not packed at all). There is really no village center, other than the hospital and church, but these are situated right by the riverbank, so by nature, the village is formed a bit like St. Louis really, with the rest of the village spreading out from the focal point of the hospital. Along the road, there were chickens, goats, small stands of women and children selling bread or peanuts or bananas, and guys under umbrellas selling cell phone minutes. Every few minutes, we would go over what seemed like a large speed bump (which would make it impossible to navigate with any vehicle which sits low). These “speed bumps”are really just to stop water from washing straight down the road. It diverts the water to the side of the road where sometimes there are 4 foot open pits where the water can then settle.

We turned to the right at a soccer field, appropriately enough, and the Rice’s vehicle took them on towards their riverside home. We skirted the soccer field, went past several palm trees, the nice maintenance shop, the Brothers house, and finally to our gate! The dirt had been swept, the garden looked great, there were newly-laid cement steps in the back and sidewalk in the front, and the house exterior had a fresh coat of paint. With excitement, we walked through an open door. Mama Lutti was working on keeping the new tiled floor clean as we entered. For the next hour, we worked on very basic sorting into piles of bags and boxes. We then headed over to the Rice’s home for lunch that had been prepared for us there. Whew! A bit of chaos but it is great to finally be home!

After lunch, everyone fell asleep. And by everyone, yes everyone. I only slept a short time, as I was excited about being in Vanga finally and had many items on my to-do list that were running through my head. So when the Swiss maintenance man named Heiner came, I was awake and went with him to deliver another car load of our shipped items to the house. In addition, we stopped by the house of a missionary who is currently on home assignment, I tried out their 150+ year old rocking chair, and promptly absconded it to our house. J One thing about moving in to a house in Congo is that there were about 5 guys who helped get the trunks from the landcruiser and into our very full living room! 

I spent the next couple of hours alone, getting acquainted with the house, deciding on what rooms to use for what purpose, and starting the large task of organizing some of it. When I returned to the Rice’s house, Ryan had just woken up from his nap. We ended the day with dinner at the Brothers. With Sydney as active as she was during the day, she was ready to go to sleep immediately after she was done eating, and I volunteered to take her back to the Rices where we will be staying until electricity is in place. It was a peaceful walk in the dark, with the sentinel and his flashlight leading the way. The stars are brilliant, and as there are no traffic sounds, the crunch of leaves seems almost deafening. 

A View from Kinshasa. Part 2: Being Here

Pretty much, queen of the pile of bags :)

This week has been a whirlwind: of emotions, of meeting people, of shopping, of preparing. Each morning, breakfast is provided by the hostel at 7am. Sydney decided to stay on the France time zone after the initial morning, and was up promptly around 5:30am every morning except today (she slept until 6:45!!) Therefore, our mornings started out early and a bit groggily. No amount of pleading with her to please stay and read books by herself in her crib for, oh, an hour, or reasoning with her that the sun wasn't up yet, or keeping her out until late at night; none of that would persuade her to sleep in later. In addition, I caught a bit of a cold during our transition, so I wasn't feeling great or energetic for much of the week. 

Sydney checking Dr. Rice's heart rate after finding the stethoscope treasure in one of the trunks.

But indeed, having a team has been wonderful! We split up duties so that when some were shopping for household items, others volunteered to stay at the hostel while Sydney slept, for example. When Sydney decided she would eat only a small portion because there were so many places to explore, there were others who could get up early from the table to run around with her while Ryan and I got to finish eating.

My emotions/impressions of being in Kinshasa this time, as opposed to other short-term trips to Africa or even last time I was here, are surprisingly different. I have felt less inclined to walk around, explore, and get to know the people, and more driven to finish objectives, find items, and meet specific people. I suppose it is necessary to be more focused, but it is weird to me that I have been driven everywhere this time around and have had to be deliberate in my choices of who and what to invest time in. It is also a different experience to have Sydney with us. Keeping her welfare in mind (as in when she needs a nap) has caused changes in pace in general, but it is very different than when traveling without a child. Secondly, she is an instant connection with people, which has and will continue to be such a blessing as we move to the village.

Our language training in France seems to be paying great dividends! It is great to be able to understand and talk to most of the people on the street! Even those who know English become much more expressive when we can switch to French, and that has been probably the most fun for me to experience. I even ordered a pizza on the telephone and the order came through correct! I was a bit nervous at first because I was handed a bag of sodas before the rest of the order, not knowing that they came with the pizza. Whew! Ryan spent an entire day shopping for solar energy equipment with a French-speaking Congolese, seemingly without a hiccup. :) At any rate, we are very encouraged by our ability to understand and communicate!!

As mentioned in Part 1 of this blog, the city seems more modern than before, updated and hopeful. We have had more comfortable temperatures than I was expecting, less traffic jams, and better food. That being said, it is still an adjustment to realize that to make a left hand turn, one must just start going and get a bumper in front of another. Other drivers expect this, in fact, and are driving slowly enough to let you "cut them off."

A DRIVING STORY
A specific example of driving conditions, is that there is a huge washout in a main intersection of downtown. (Kinshasa is built on sand, and a water leak can wreak havoc!) We were in the back of a landcruiser, thankfully, as the drop-off into the giant pothole is significant. Then as we were trying to climb out of it at the end of the intersection, navigating with other motorcycles and buses and cars along the way, we were suddenly head-on with a bus in our lane and another bus to our left with the building on our right. Our driver KEPT DRIVING until he came nose to nose with this bus at the edge of the pothole which we were still in. To me this was extra intimidating as we were a foot below that road, and the bus looked extra intimidating. Somehow, I guess this is expected, and someone standing on the road intervened and asked the bus to back up a bit. The bus on our left made its way into the pothole, and we then slid around the bus in front of us as we climbed out of the pothole.

SHOPPING
Shopping was a very successful, albeit tiring, experience. We found that there were more options and variety here in Kinshasa than we had in France, with the caveat that the prices are 2-8x higher. A tiny portion of Jelly Belly's is around $5 for instance. And a second caveat is that Albertville was a relatively small rural town vs Kinshasa which has over 10 million inhabitants. We were mainly stocking up on appliances which need to be replaced at our house which hasn't been lived in for 15 yrs, like a stove and washing machine, and on consumables like shampoo and conditioner and crackers and cheese which aren't available in the village (in large quantities or varieties at least).

Some of the many choices at the fabric store- I got ideas for what is available for cushions, curtains, dresses, etc.

Lastly, we needed to buy solar energy equipment. It is a longer story, but we received the unfortunate news in the last couple of weeks that our solar power system which Ryan ordered in January, was not even out of the shipping warehouse in Maryland, much less in Kinshasa or en route. This is "necessary" for us to move into our house as there is only electricity from the hospital generator for 3 hours a day (6pm-9pm). Our minimal hope was to have enough battery power and solar energy to run a fan at night (no Kansas winds here in the humidity), keep the fridge cold, and keep computers and phones charged and computing.

Shopping for essentials. Ice cream is essential, right?

We have felt many answers to this prayer. First, we have had several people let us know that they wanted to give a little extra at this time for our ministry. Secondly, another missionary here in Congo is going to lend us a power inverter, and may even buy back some items for a local school after our shipment comes so that we don't have to double up on that expense. And thirdly, Ryan was able to go out with a Congolese expert in solar energy and found many of the stores that sell the equipment (a little here, a little there, a lotta time) that was good quality but 2-8x expensive. Ryan was quite satisfied with that day of shopping and pleased that he had researched and bought in the US due to prices here.

PEOPLE
It was also an important part of our time this week to make connections and establish relationships with people who have and will continue to be important to us during our time in Congo. We went and shook hands with the leadership of the Congolese Baptist Church, as Vanga Hospital is part of their organization. We met with several pastors that have been instrumental in connections between New City Fellowship in St. Louis and the Congolese churches here, and are a big reason why the Rices felt called to come here, and therefore why we are here as well. Due to my aforementioned fatigue and other individual invitations, we did not join the Rices as they visited a school supported in part by New City and shared a few meals with these amazing advocates for the poor and the orphan. During our team meeting tonight, we noted that these visits were highlights of their time in Kinshasa.

We had a welcome potluck at Mama Katherine's house with several other missionaries, which was a great time of fellowship. Katherine is the daughter of the late Dr. Dan Fountain who was instrumental in the development of the Vanga Hospital for many years.

Mama Katherine took Sydney out in her backyard before the potluck and showed her the Congo River and the beautiful hibiscus flowers in her garden

Just beside Katherine's home is the first permanent building built in Congo! It is a church and is still being used. 

Sydney and I went to visit the Linds in their new home in Kinshasa. We became very close to them during language school, and it was fun to be together again in a different setting. One thing I noticed was the reality of coming to a mostly unfurnished home, waiting on a shipment which is stuck in port, and making all the adjustments one might make moving to a new city or state in the US, only WITH the added stress of a new culture and language, occasional electricity, black flies, etc. This is the reality, but yet, as Lisa pointed out, this chaos is contained, it is her house finally (after years in transition!), and the kids can play outside! I am sooo looking forward to this as we head out to Vanga tomorrow!

Madame Entropy at her best. Within 5 minutes of her arrival, ALL of their toys were on the floor, just ready to be played with. This is very Sydney :) and we love her.

In the neighbor's yard just a gate away from the Linds, Sydney was able to play with a lot of kids. A little boy started crying when his dad told him to let Sydney have a turn on the swing. When she was done with her turn, she went to the still-sobbing boy, sat on his lap, and touched his cheek. Empathy is so precious! 

We were able to have a teamcongo dinner one last time (for now!!) and it was so very hard for us to say goodbye at the end of the evening.

Team Congo- Kinshasa contingent

We spent our last day here in Kinshasa with a group of missionaries including Mama Katherine and her family (mentioned earlier). It was a completely different look at Kinshasa, this time from the Congo River.

Fisherman's Island. The building in the middle is a church!

Mama Katherine, sleeping Sydney, and me in the boat

Pushing me down the sand embankment was one of her favorite activities

The Congo River is so wide at this point that it almost doesn't seem to be moving. The land in the background is yet another island and the Republic of Congo is beyond it. The silt/sand and the shallow water was a perfect spot to play at.

 And tomorrow, we will be flying over this location as we move to Vanga!

A View from Kinshasa. Part 1: Getting Here

Hello from Kinshasa! We are excited to finally be in Congo, although our last leg of the journey is still to come in a few days.

Our travel day was very long, but without any major hiccups. Although the huge task of checking in our baggage was done by the guys Monday night (whew!!) we still had to get up very early as our flight left at 7:15am. We were in the airport in Geneva in just enough time to drop off the rental car, lug our numerous carry-ons, 4 small kids, 2 teenagers, and 6 adults through security, plop down and eat a quick breakfast of croissants, run to get the internet code, and make a quick FaceTime call (as in 2 minutes!) with my parents before we started boarding. We saw our trunks and duffels being taken to the plane to be loaded, and of course Sydney shouted, "Choo-choo!!" We chuckled to think that 4 of the train cars were loaded with baggage from our group.

Our ~1 hour flight to Brussels, Belgium was short, and we had about an hour and a half there to run around. Sydney went on the moving walkways in front of the gate over and over again, then found out she could stay in one spot by walking the opposite direction, so that ended up being good exercise on a "giant treadmill."

Flights to Congo are infrequent (2x a week), with major airline "direct"flights only coming from Brussels and Paris. Our plane was quite full, and the Linds and we were seated together with kids and the Rice group near the back. It wasn't ideal for assistance with kids, but it worked, and several times we took Sydney back to see Nounou and the gang. Sydney also got to watch the TV for the first time, and loved seeing the zebras and crocodiles and water buffalo that were one two different documentaries. However, in her zest for animals, she often shouts their names and points, then takes our hand to point to them as well, so that made for a rather loud sort of entertainment for her. It was a long journey, and finding out that we were making a "quick"stop in Angola (the country south of Congo) was painful, although it explained why our flight time was 9 hours but we didn't get to Kinshasa for 11 hours.

Upon arrival at 8:45pm, we walked down a flight of stairs to get off of the plane. Instead of being met with hot, humid, smoke-scented air as I expected, it was instead a very comfortable temperature with a slight breeze. The scent of smoke remained, but that is something I expect from any country where a chief source of heat is still charcoal and wood. A bus took us to the new international terminal which was brightly lit with clearly marked signs for customs entry and passports. This was all a welcome change from my expectations!

We had our passports checked for visas, then went to a second set of people who made sure we had just gotten the stamps, then went to a third desk to have the yellow fever cards verified. Finally, we went to baggage claim, which again was new with 2 large functioning and modern turnstiles. Handling of bags was much better as a team, as we split up. Nounou played with tired kids, I guarded carry-ons, Lisa watched a sleeping child and identified bags, and the rest ran to get baggage carts and start getting bags and trunks loaded. The whole process took over an hour, but it went relatively smoothly.

Our MAF and Vanga teams now split as we had two different greeting teams. The Rice-Potter group pushed our numerous carts of luggage out to a waiting box truck and we passengers loaded up in a van. The drive into the city from the airport was another surprise, for the old pot-hole-ridden 4 lane road was replaced by a nice, smooth, 6 lane highway. Being that it was late at night on a Tuesday, we had much of the road to ourselves. We pulled into the guesthouse called MPH shortly before midnight. There was not a baby bed that first night, but I plunked Sydney down on a twin bed to rearrange and make sure everything got into the room, and she never moved.

The bed I plopped Sydney down onto the first night when we didn't have the pack n play set up. But she slept under the mosquito net and didn't try to get off until morning when she called for me.

I pulled her shoes off, changed her diaper, put pillows around her, and finally pulled the mosquito net over her. She didn't wake until almost 7am the next morning when the breakfast bell rang, and neither did we.

MPH Guesthouse

MPH guesthouse parking spaces marked with rocks

Front gate of MPH guesthouse from the inside of the courtyard

A Year in Review

June 2014 Shannon finished residency, took written OB/GYN board exam

July 2014 Ryan finished work at Wash U in the biomedical lab. Lots of travel to see family and friends, ending with a time of hiking in Colorado

August 2014 Samaritan’s Purse orientation, packing, and departure for France

September 2014 Start of French classes, lots of adjustments culturally, lots of frustration talking like an infant, all in present tense, Ryan skipped ahead a class to challenge himself. Shannon delivered a baby (surprise!) in the hallway of the apartment just below as the parents couldn’t make it to the hospital in time. Got language partners to practice French with. Shannon started playing volleyball and Ryan started practicing with the local soccer team.

The torch from the Albertville Olympics 1992

October 2014 Settled on a church home, learned French past tense in class. Shannon’s parents came to visit! Sydney turned 1 year old. All school field trip to a cheese factory and a watch factory. Two week school vacation was spent with team members Tim, Kathy, and Nancy Rice in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, all within a 9 hr drive. Ryan had lots of frustration trying to get proper forms signed to play in the soccer games.

November 2014 Felt a bit more at home, learned another form of the past tense and a future tense, tried to memorize the gender of French nouns. The leaves turned colors and fell. With cooler temps, biking to get groceries became more of a chore. Shannon started learning and playing mandolin with the worship team. Ryan played in his first soccer game and scored a goal from the defense!

December 2014 First set of French final exams, consisting of a week devoted to separate tests for written comprehension, oral comprehension, written expression, oral expression, grammar, biblical vocabulary, pronunciation, and ability to reproduce word for word, accent for accent, a passage read by the professor. Ryan got a significant injury playing soccer on Dec 6. Two week school vacation was spent in assistance with another home birth (planned one this time), Sydney was sick with RSV in the hospital for 3 days right after Christmas, and a trip to Paris was cancelled. Helped new students move in and start to adjust before the restart of classes.

January 2015 Restarted classes. Learned another form of the future tense, and subjunctive tense. Went skiing for the first time in an almost blizzard. Had to hitchhike to get back to the free bus stop. Tried again and had a better time.

February 2015 All-school field trip to go skiing with beautiful weather this time. Another two week school vacation was spent with a couple of dear friends from our St. Louis home church. Went to Paris for the first time since being in France, also travelled to Switzerland and learned that there is such a thing as the ability to sled down a mountain for 7 km without stopping! Learned the present perfect tense in French.

March 2015 Second set of French exams. Shannon’s brother Tyson and his wife Lisa came to visit! Went biking and skiing in the same weekend. Learned passive voice in French. Was able to enjoy a French movie and understand most of it! Got travel immunizations at the travel clinic.

Mont Blanc in the background. So beautiful!

April 2015 Had a significant cultural misunderstanding which caused lots of consternation. (thankfully this has been resolved). Learned a new depth of forgiveness. Ryan’s mom came to visit! Spent two week school vacation with her in Lyon and Albertville, France and a few days in Florence and Rome, Italy.  Learned the past perfect tense.

May 2015 The month of long weekends for the French. Ryan finished up his soccer season in style. Went to Cassis to see the Calanques with Shannon’s professor over a long weekend and managed to speak French only for 3 days, even to Sydney. Learned another form of past tense. Skipped a week of school to go to the US for a wedding of Ryan’s best friend from high school. Spent a wonderful week with Shannon’s immediate family in Tulsa and another wonderful week with Ryan’s immediate family in San Antonio. Solidified plans for malaria prophylaxis and bought meds for the next year.

A selfie with my professor in Marseille

Fearless Sydney enjoying the boat ride

Beautiful Calanques

June 2015 Weather turned warmer for some good hiking in the midst of busyness. Spent a lot of time studying French in preparation for our final set of final exams. Went to IKEA to get things for Congo. Went to farewell dinners. Met up with a LeTourneau University professor, Dr. Gonzalez, in Lyon while he was at a conference. Graduated and abruptly (it felt) said goodbye to a lot of great people. Packed and repacked and finally said goodbye to Albertville.

With Dr. Gonzalez in Lyon

Prayer and goodbyes from the families who lived in our building this year

July 2015 Spent the first week resting in the south of France, visited the medieval city of Carcassonne in honor of Shannon’s favorite board game. Drove to Switzerland for a week-long spiritual retreat with 3 other missionary families heading to Congo. Left for Congo July 14. Now we are spending about a week in the capital getting provisions and oriented to Congo before heading out to the “bush” countryside of Vanga on the 21^st. 

Carcassonne!!

Together in Switzerland!

What's Not to Love in Country Music?

One interesting thing we have learned is that the French seem to love American music… of all types. One can hear English music on nearly every radio station. While walking downtown at the Albertville music festival, I listened in on 6 or 7 separate mini-concerts and didn’t hear one word of French. (A few others said they heard French later in the night, though.) Two of the stages actually had American country songs along with line dancing, cowboy hats and boots, and American flags flying. Although the French like the sounds and beats, they aren’t always familiar with the meaning of the words being sung.

One of my classmates and his wife, Jeremy and Erin Venable, are country music singers/songwriters by profession. They were huge blessings to us at the school, leading worship multiple times. Class devotions seemed much deeper if Jeremy brought his guitar and we worshiped God together at the end. Outside of our French classes, though, they were invited to perform at a local café for their American week, and finally, at a local school at their year-end outdoor program/celebration. One of the most memorable experiences for Jeremy happened at this school performance.

As the Venables were getting set up, they realized that they needed an opening song to check the sound. On the spur of the moment, they decided to sing, “Nothin’ but the blood” as a family, mainly because it was well-known by their family and had beautiful harmony. It was just the sound check, but the crowd really got into it. As laïque (secular) as the schools are in France, it was an incredible moment of spontaneity.  They were really digging the song. In fact, front and center was a wonderful muslim mom in her hijab, videoing the performance with her Iphone held high and swaying back and forth as they sang, “Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow…. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” My classmate said it was such a powerful moment that it sent shivers up his spine; a little interjection of spirituality in such a secular space.