BED. BUGS.

So I don´t know why, but it seems like everytime I blog its in the middle of the night! Tonight tough, I have an excuse for being up so late...but let´s back track a little bit! Our schools are on vacation, so me and a friend decided to take advantage of the break and take a trip! So last tuesday, we arrived in Barcelona, and it´s been an awesome trip! Barcelona is definitely unlike anywhere I´ve ever been! It´s a beautiful city, and the weather was around 70 degrees everyday! There is a main tourist-y street called Las Ramblas, and you can see just about anything when you are walking up and down it! There are bums selling beer and weird whistle things, there are guys trying to sell light up toys...and about every 10 feet there is some type of human statue, or people pretending to be babies, or a guy covered in flowers...haha they are all just trying to get you to give them money to take a picture of them! (pictures to come...;) ) anyway, we basically walked ALL week. We also didn´t really sleep too well, because we were staying in hostels, so there was always lots of noise and such. Anyway the point is, it was an amazing week, but I am completely exausted. SO, tonight the hostel we booked is close to the airport, because our plane leaves at 8 so we thought it would be a good idea to be close...(the airport is about 30 mins from town) So we take a bus to the airport, then take a cab to the hostel where we are staying. Well, the cab driver didn´t know where the hostel was, and he couldn´t seem to locate the address on the GPS. He finally asks someone, and we make it to this place. It´s basically the creepiest place ever, in a super shady part of town. The reason it´s so strange though, is because it´s HUGE, and looks really nice, but there are literally no people here! We were just excited to get here though, because we were ready for a good nights sleep! So knowing we have to get up at 5 am, we go to bed at about 10...about 30 minutes later, I start feeling like something is crawling on me. At this point I´m like half asleep, so I just assume its my imagination and try to go back to sleep. I toss and turn for a few minutes, then I realize that it is NOT my imaginating, and something is biting me, like, a lot. I reached up and turned on the light by the bed...and there they were. The bugs. Not one. Not two. There were bugs everywhere. I jumped out of bed and ran and turned the overhead lights on and go back and look in my bed. I saw the last thing you ever want to see in a bed you were just laying in...it was disgusting. There were big ones, small ones....it was like a little bed bug community. So at this point I´m totally freaked out. I´m trying to shake out my clothes and hair (I´m convinced they are all over me...) After I calmed down a bit, we decided we were going to go down to the front desk, get our money back, and leave. Well...problem. The man at the front desk doesn´t speak a lick of english...and unfortunately, we don´t speak spanish. After much confusion, we finally get him to realize what is wrong, and he tells us there is nothing he can do about it, and the ladies that can help us will be back at 7 am. Awesome. So now we can´t go back to our room, we can´t leave...and we can´t believe this is happening! All we wanted was a good nights sleep! So now we are in the library, and Elizabeth is alseep on a desk. I tried to lay down and go to sleep but I couldn´t. And it wasn´t the cold hard desk, or the fact that its like 20 degrees, or the bright lights...no I´m pretty sure as tired as I am I could have slept in those conditions. What was keeping me awake was the fact that everytime I started to fall asleep, I keep feeling like I had bugs on me! So now it´s 4 am...I don´t foresee sleep anytime in my near future, and I have to get on a plane at 8 am...needless to say, I think it´s going to be a long day...

oh France...

There are strikes going on in France right now, its about the government and the fact that they are trying to change the retirement age from 60 to 62. Anyway, that's not out of the ordinary, in France, if you have an opinion about something, you strike. But today, I woke up to loud shouting and horns honking...and I thought, that's strange, what's going on? So I looked out my window, and it was high school kids, congregating in the streets and blocking the cars and shouting at them in unison! High school kids!
So anyway, jump to this afternoon ...I am in class and we are talking about some differences between France and America. One of the students told me that about once a year, high school kids will be striking about something, and they will LOCK the high school, not let anyone in and the teachers don't do anything about it! They are so worried about conflict that they just wait "until it passes" So school and everything stops for weeks because someone is trying to make a point. When I told them that if that happened in the states, the students who locked themselves in would most likely be arrested, they couldn't believe it. The other teacher said that if a student in France got arrested for something like that there would be a revolution! I'm all for freedom of speech, but I think letting students get away with stuff like that only on the basis of fear of conflict is a little much. But if we all did things the same way, it would be pretty boring huh?

So I survived the first day...whew :)

Day one: complete.

So today was my first official day at work. I was really nervous, because I had no idea what to expect. I had met some of the teachers and they were all very nice, but I was still pretty anxious. I know it sounds silly, but as I was walking toward the staff room today, I had to MAKE myself keep going. haha I was telling myself 'You have to go in there, you can't just turn around and walk away...one, that would be lame, and two, you don't have a choice!' LOL so there I went, into a room full of people I don't know, most of whom were speaking a language that is not my first. When you go into a room full of people you don't know, there is always that awkward pause-type-thing. They look at you, you look at them, neither of you know which one should speak first...Finally I just decided to be myself, and smile, and say hi to everyone, regardless of whether they were english teachers or not! Once I did that, everything was much better! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming...they all gave me their e-mail addresses and phone numbers, and  told me not to hesitate if I need them! Its amazing how much a small gesture like that can mean to you when you are far from home. So after I had tackled the obstacle of meeting all the teachers, a new challenge arose...the students.
I decided that I was going to do the same thing with them I had decided to do with the teachers! Sure I was nervous, but I realized there was no reason to be, and it was silly to worry. Besides, these are high school kids...they can smell fear. :-) So I went in, smiled and introduced myself, and it was fine!
After today, I'm really excited about the school year. It's definitely going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it! :-) It was also really interesting to learn more about how the French school system works, and how its different from the U.S...but I'll bore you with that later... ;-D

A Bientôt !

Oh also for those of you who are wondering, I will eventually be adding pictures with the blogs, I just haven't really had time to do that yet! Love y'all!

Worst. Day. Ever.

Biggest Vending Machine I've Ever Seen

So today…was AWFUL. Lol let me start at the beginning. We got up early and packed our things to leave for Caen (the city where I will be living) which is a two hour train ride from Paris. The kicker was that today there was a nationwide strike and we weren’t sure how the metros would be running, so we had to leave like 3 hours early to make sure we got to the train station on time to make our train. Easy enough right? Huh. The morning starts off with the Internet not working, so I can’t get the number of the person we are supposed to meet in Caen off my e-mail. So we head out with our bags…all 7 of them, and trek across Paris to our metro stop. We have three suitcases, each with a smaller bag resting on top, and my backpack and my purse. So…we get to the stop and of course new problems arise…the metros are not really conducive to luggage. Small corridors, lots of stairs, lots of people, you get the idea. So I’m constantly running into people (or rather they are running into me, then the top bags fall off the suitcases and get all twisted…I’m sure you can picture it…I’m sure I’ve seen it in a movie…haha.) All the while I’m praying that I have a change of attitude because I’m starting to get really irritated, and I know doesn’t help the situation at all. So I finally decide I’m going to have a good attitude and all is well. So we are on the metro (we have to make two stops before we get to our train station) and luckily its not as crowded as usual so I’m relieved and I think to myself, “Hmm this might not be so bad after all.”  We get to our stop to change metros…and as we go towards our next one, there they are….the Stairs. If any of you have ever played Mario on Nintendo 64, this was like the never-ending staircase if you tried to go up it before you had enough stars. Great. As I stand at the bottom of this mountain of stairs, I realized this is not going to be fun.  We look at them for a minute, take a deep breath, and start up them. What other choice do we have? We are finally on the metro and in the home stretch to the train station when I look up at my Dad, and he looks like he’s seen a ghost. He his patting his pockets frantically, and I ask him what’s the matter. He looks at me for a second then says, “My wallet’s gone…” I thought surely not, I figured he must have put it somewhere like in one of the bags or something and just forgot he put it there. Wrong. He said (with a few choice words I will leave out) “I know who took it…it was that girl who bumped into me at the last stop.” So there you have it. We are in route from Paris to Caen, no money, no idea where we are going, no way to find out where we are going, still annoyed by the luggage etc…So we get to the train station like two hours early, (the metros we not running as slow as we’d thought they’d be) and naturally there is no where to sit. We are starving because we haven’t eaten breakfast (we had planned on eating once we got to the train station…) But alas, no money. I had money in my bank account, but there where no ATMs anywhere, and none of the places took credit cards. So we stand there for two hours, still with loads of luggage that keeps wanting to tip over, and starving. We finally get on the train and get to Caen…there were some really nice people we met on the train from Florida who helped us carry our luggage up; you guessed it….more stairs. The escalator just happened to be out of order…Of course it was! Do you ever have those days when you are just like SERIOUSLY?? Is this happening right now? At the train station in Caen we just decide we will go to a hotel because I was still never able to get a hold of the person who was going to let me into the school. I go ask the guy at the help desk how to get to the hotel and he tells me to take the tram and I could buy tickets for the tram at the kiosk outside. There was also an ATM outside…things were looking up!! So I got get cash then go to buy our tram tickets. You’re thinking it can’t be that easy right? Surely something has to go wrong here…well it did. The kiosk does not take cash, and only accepts FRENCH credit cards! Hmm that’s a predicament, you see I don’t have a French credit card. At this point, on the verge of tears, still lugging around 500 pounds of luggage and about to die because my feet hurt so bad…I decide I don’t care how much it costs, we are going to take a taxi. We take a taxi to the hotel, and they are full. Of course they are. The lady said they had some convention in town this weekend  (of course there is) so most of the hotels were booked (of course they are). Remember that none of the people are speaking English, which raises the stress level, just a touch. J Anyway she calls another hotel and they say they have one room left and we can have it if we go right now. Awesome. So we actually do make it and get checked in. Just as we get to our room we realize that it has just started raining. I mean RAINING. We were in Paris for a week, not a cloud in the sky, 70 degrees…then the day we get here its like hurricane bertha or something. We decided to brave the elements because we are so hungry and walk a couple of blocks to a café.  We get there, cold, and soaked. Oh guess what? They don’t serve food until 7…its 5…SERIOUSLY??? So we walk back to the hotel in the cold rain to wait until 7 so we can eat. Oh and did I mention today is my Dad’s birthday?

Whew. What. A. Day. When we headed out again for dinner, the rain had stopped, and we actually had a really delicious meal. (Although we were so hungry anything would have been delicious!) Anyway, we made it. I guess I can’t complain…the day ended on a high note because I found this giant vending machine…finding a giant vending machine can really turn any day around.  Love you guys!

Finally made it :)

So...after all of the visa troubles, date changes, and plane delays, I am FINALLY in France! There were a few times this summer when I thought I'd never get here, but alas, here I am. :)

We landed in Paris about 1:30 this afternoon...we were supposed to be here sooner, but we were delayed for THREE HOURS at DFW because of a fuel leak. But I guess I really can't complain, that is a problem I'd rather the plane have parked at the terminal, than somewhere over the Atlantic! So anyway we got here safety and all is well. We were actually probably in more danger in the cab ride to where we are staying than we would have even been on the plane! Drivers here are CRAZY! Haha it actually reminds me of a video game, where the cars are constantly passing each other and almost crashing! Seriously, when you are riding you are thinking to yourself "Um, I'm not sure you are supposed to do that in real life..."

I love this city though! I imagine it's pretty comparable to New York, although I've never been to New York so I can't say for sure! But there are people EVERYWHERE! People in cafés, people crossing the streets (the adage we adhere to in the U.S. 'pedestrians have the right away'...be warned they do not hold the same beliefs in Paris, and if you walk out in front of a car, you will get run over... :) ) people walking their dogs, kids on scooters...It really is a neat place to be! The weather right now is amazing too. I'd say its about 70 degrees...we ate dinner outside at a café, and I needed jacket...which is AMAZING!

Anyway, I'll be in Paris for about a week, doing all of the tourist-y stuff with my Dad (he's never been here) Then I will head to Caen and move into where I will be living for the school year! The reality that I am really doing this is starting to become stronger, but I don't think its really going to hit me until my Dad leaves, and I'm by myself. In France. And realize I'm not going home anytime soon. But there are going to be new challenges and struggles I have to face that I'm sure will teach me a lot, and I'm excited and thankful for the opportunity.

I'm going to stop typing now, because if it gets any longer, I'm sure I wouldn't even read it! haha Love you guys!!

Until next time...

Can't sleep again...fancy that.

Sooo...here I am again...restless.  I'm leaving Friday, and I'm super excited about that...but I also have a lot to do between now and then! First of all, packing would probably be a plus, that should probably go on the top of the priority list, because the odds are I am going to need clothes when I get over there! 


Visa Update:
I GOT IT!! As in, its in my hands as we speak. Well, its in my passport, which is in my purse in the dining room, but you get the idea! I am so thankful that that all worked out, I knew it would, but it's nice to have it behind me!


As I have been getting ready to leave these past couple of weeks, I have been thinking a lot about God's grace, and His hand in our lives. Like the verse says, "Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." What an amazing comfort that is! That no matter where we go or what we do, we are never outside the reach of God. I've been really convicted lately though, about how much I am really trusting in that. I can read this verse, and think how great it is, then turn around and start worrying about how I'm going to pay for plane tickets or where I'm going to live or stressing and worrying about whether or not I will make new friends. All of these little things that I know God is big enough to handle, but I want to constantly worry and by doing so, I'm saying I don't think He is big enough...so I better go ahead and try to deal with it and manipulate things on my own. I know how silly this is, but I do it anyway. This week, as everything really started to come together and I realized everything was working out, and better than I could have hoped, I saw God's hand in all of those things, and really got kind of upset with myself for worrying so much. And I realized, that despite my lack of faith, and in the midst of my doubt, God remained faithful. So I worried for nothing (again) and God remained faithful (still).   So as I am getting ready to leave this week, I want to make a conscious effort to NOT worry. To trust completely in the promises of God and know that he can, and he will work out all things for the GOOD of those who love Him. And with that comes the peace of knowing there is nothing to worry about. I appreciate your prayers as I get ready to leave this week, and its my prayer for you as well that you would have peace in those truths as well. He doesn't promise it will always be easy, but he does promise He will always be there.


"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about the body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? And who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then saying "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear for clothing?" For the gentiles eagerly seek these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:25-34




I love you guys :)

Success :)

Well today was an interesting day to say the least! I had a visa appointment and the French Embassy in Houston at 9:30 AM this morning. My Dad and I went down to Houston last night after he picked me up from the airport. So we leave my cousin's house in Houston in PLENTY of time to get to the embassy in time for my appointment. It gets to be about nine...and my Dad's phone rings and its our cousin Ken on the phone. My Dad jokingly says..."What'd we forget...?" and then...silence. I look at my Dad and he has a very worried look on his face. Turns out....I FORGOT MY PASSPORT. My first thought was are you kidding me??? What else could possibly go wrong?  So we had to turn around and go all the way back to Ken's house to get my passport. I'm not going to lie...my attitude at this point was not a good one! I was ready to say, forget it...I'm not going to France...I give up. But my Dad, being the rock he is, calmly turned the car around and assured me that everything was going to be okay. I immediately began praying. I prayed for a change in my own attitude, and prayed that by some miracle there would be a delay at the embassy and I would still be allowed to go to my appointment!! (they are very strict about being on time). So after all of that we got to the embassy at about 9:45, and they hadn't even called my name yet, Praise God!! So I waited there for about 10 minutes and my name was finally called. The process could not have been more simple. The lady behind the desk took my paper work, took my picture, and told me I would have my visa in a week! So I started the morning "doomed" and ended it better than I could have hoped! God is so faithful, and I worry way too much! Thank you again for all of your prayers, I love yall so much! My plan now is to leave on the 15th....I'll keep you posted!!

Because I can't sleep...

It may be because of the coffee I drank at midnight, or the fact that I have way too much on my mind, but none the less I can't sleep. So as I was lying in bed looking at the ceiling I decided it would be a good idea to write a blog, and maybe that way I could sort some of my thoughts out. As most of you know, I will be leaving this month to live in France for the school year, and I couldn't be more excited! But at the same time, I am extremely nervous! I'm not nervous about something bad happening, and I'm not afraid to go, I just think that it is the anxiety of the unknown that can be a little unsettling. Also, the fact that it is coming up so quickly is a bit scary. I've known that I was going for awhile now, and all of a sudden its here! So my mind is racing now and I keep thinking about all the things I have to do before I leave. So instead of worrying, I'm going to pray, and write. :) Also this blog will be a good way to keep you posted about what's happening in France! I think its going to be a great experience and I look forward to sharing it with you!

So to bring you up to date, on Wednesday, I go back to Houston to apply for my visa...hopefully there are no more mix-ups this time...and if all goes as planned, I should receive it in two to three weeks, and I will hopefully be leaving by the 20th of September. My job officially starts on October 1st, and I'll be working at a high school in the city of Caen, which is the main city in lower Normandy. It appears that the school I will be teaching in has somewhere for me to stay, but I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone yet (Most of France is on vacation the whole month of August)! So there are still a few loose ends that need to be tied up, and I'm sure once all of that is taken care of, I will feel better...its just been a huge waiting game, and patience is not my strongest attribute! But I do have faith that everything will work out, and before I know it I will be there, and I will have so much to tell you! :) I'll keep you posted, and I appreciate your prayers...love you guys!!