A Belated Week 8 & 9

Well I apologize for letting the blog go the last month or so.

Do forgive me! 

I have been writing out the blogs on my computer but not posting them, 

so starting today I'm going to be releasing some backlog! 

So get ready! 

This was written on August 11th, 

the day I left Nice, France,

and I'm chronicling my last two weeks in Nice. 

The last few weeks have FLOWN BY! 

Let’s see what’s been happening. 

The last week of July we had our exchange conference. 

It was AWESOME! I wasn’t sure what to expect, 

and to be honest I wasn’t really looking forward to it. 

The interns were in charge of the children’s program.

 So we were looking at spending approximately 3 to 5 hours every night 

with an unknown amount of 3 to 8 year olds. 

But it went well and was so much fun! 

Our first night we only had one kid with us, 

but the numbers just grew each day. 

We were a little overwhelmed trying to figure out how to entertain so many kids, 

especially not knowing how many there would be or how old they were.

 But The Lord was ever faithful and guided us well! 

We had such a good time! 

The kids were great!  

There were several kids who had never stayed in the nursery without one of their parents, 

but were able to stay an entire night, 

several even stayed multiple nights! 

And by the end of the week, each one could say John 8:12 from memory! 

(Props to Antonio Orozco for the killer hand motions!) 

It was my favorite thing we did this summer! 

Since we had the conference during the evenings we got to have a bit calmer mornings and afternoons. 

So most of those were spent preparing for the conference or at the beach. 

My last week was nice! 

We didn’t have any planned ministry events so we were able to sort of make our own ministry plans, 

like having lunch with all the ladies on the team, 

helping organize the budget for kids club into a nice and orderly spreadsheet, 

or a lovely coffee date were all on the agenda. 

Wednesday was our day off, 

so Joanna and I went into Nice to go to the market and do a bit of shopping. 

Then she and I went to the Renoir museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer. 

Oh it was absolutely lovely! 

I highly recommend visiting if you’re ever in the area! 

It is the home where Renoir spent the latter part of his life.

 It’s just a stunning atmosphere.

 You’re surrounded by these beautiful gardens and olive groves. 

You can’t hear the noise of the roads nearby or the airplanes overhead.

 It’s like being in a different time. 

Joanna and I from Renoir's balcony!

The view from Renoir's balcony overlooking the Mediterranean!

Saturday, August 9th, was quite the day. 

Since my birthday was on a busy and inconvenient day, 

we weren’t able to celebrate much. 

So Saturday was my birthday…continued. 

Saturday morning I opened an envelope with 3 options for the day,

 Option 1.) a visit the the Renoir museum, a cookout and fireworks, 

Option 2.) a trip to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, with a visit to the Rothschild Villa, a Venetian festival, and fireworks, Option 3.) a trip to a sandy beach with my own plush chair, a delicious beachside meal and of course, fireworks. 

After much deliberation I decided on Option 2, 

and boy was that a good decision! 

The villa was absolutely stunning…for a winter home. 

JK it was AMAZING…and completely ridiculous.

 Everything was absolutely immaculate…including a room completely decorated in monkeys, 

numerous pieces of furniture once owned by Marie Antoinette,

 and a multiple rugs that once belonged to the king of France. 

The gardens were even more amazing! 

They were designed to look like the deck of a cruise ship…and they really do! 

 

We had a lovely dinner in Cap Ferrat, 

followed by the strangest festival I've ever been to. 

It was a Venetian festival complete with a parade and fireworks. 

The parade was. . .interesting to say the least. 

But the fireworks were INCREDIBLE! 

The perfect end to my birthday. 

The port at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. 

 These were some of the members of the Venetian parade...it also included a band that marched (NOT a marching band), flag throwers, traditional Venetian costumes, and whatever the heck these people were! 

Week 5, 6 and 7.

Oh man it has been a whirlwind the last three weeks! 

Things have been crazy around here, 

but in the best way! 

Let's see....where do I even begin?!

So the second week of July, 

was basically all prep for our kids camp the following week. 

We spent most of our time up at church transforming the building into the most epic fire house ever! 

It was awesome there was a giant firetruck, 

and a cat stuck in a tree and a helicopter! 

But the best was the science room that we decorated with molecules and the periodic table on the ceiling tiles! 

It's not the best picture, but you get the idea! 

I was pretty proud of those bad boys! 

This was my crowning glory...can anyone guess what it is??

That week we did still have Wednesdays off so Jill and I went with some Irishmen on the team to Saint Honorat, an island off the coast of Cannes. 

The island was beautiful and so calm and peaceful! 

St. Honorat has been home to a monastery for over 1600 years! 

St. Patrick even studied there! 

                                                                 

Regrettably my birthday happened to fall on a fairly inconvenient day...

it was on a Sunday which is always a busy day for us; 

it was the day before kids camp started, 

and it was the world cup finals.

So not the most convenient, 

but still a really fun day! 

I was greeted in the morning to decorations and balloons everywhere! 

One of the ladies from church remembered me mentioning that I like Angel Food cake, 

so she made me a cake! 

It was delicious! 

And we went out to lunch for some celebratory birthday crepes! 

They were delicious! 

It really was a fun day!

Thank you to everyone who made it special from near or afar! 

The next week was our kids camp.

It was an exhausting and exciting week! 

I worked at the story translator, 

so I mostly would tell kids to stop moving and pay attention, 

and translate into English is there were kids who needed it. 

It was really cool because at one point I had to translate the story from French to English, 

so that it could be translated from English into Serbian! 

Now if that's not the gift of tongues, I don't know what is! 

I really enjoyed working with the story because it allowed me to get to know all the kids, 

and it gave me flexibility to work or visit different groups or activities! 

Overall it was a great and exhausting week! 

This past week was outreach week! 

So we had basketball camp in the mornings with a team from News Release. 

Basketball camp was interesting...it became more enjoyable as the week progressed! 

It was quite an adjustment moving from kids camp, which was highly structured and scheduled, 

to basketball camp which was much more free flowing. 

Also, the first day I was called upon as lead translator....

and that was.....painful. 

It's one thing to translate the instructions to a game into French, 

but it's another thing entirely to translate someone's testimony. 

So that put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, 

but I think most of that came from my own perfectionist attitudes,

and not the actual translation. 

But after basketball camp we had several different outreach activities. 

We passed out tracts, or did the soularium project (which is a survey that uses pictures...it's pretty cool), several people passed out sandwiches or played music on the street. 

There was a lot going on and it was neat to find the avenue that worked best for you! 

So it's been a busy few weeks! 

But the summer isn't over yet! 

Tonight starts our Exchange Conference at the St. Paul church. 

The interns have been in charge of the children's program, 

so all that BSF training is coming in handy! 

I'm excited for the weeks ahead!

It's crazy to think that I've only got two more weeks in Nice! 

Pray that I would stay focused on my purpose here, 

and not get distracted by things to come later. 

Pray that we would all be filled with energy and endurance to keep going this week!

Pray that the Lord would be known in Nice! 

Week 3 and 4

I apologize for the delayed post, 

things have started to get busy around here, 

and it's only going to get worse! 

But it's the good kind of busy! 

I'm excited for what we have planned the rest of July! 

This week is a lot of prep for our VBS next week! 

Mostly lots of tissue paper and hot glue going on around here!

The week after that we have a basketball camp and lots of different outreach opportunities! 

The last week of July is our Exchange Conference, 

it's going to be really exciting! 

The interns are in charge of designing the children's program, 

prayers are appreciated! :)  

So let me recap what's been going on over the last two weeks...

if I can remember! 

Mondays have been a day mostly of meetings and planning, 

so nothing too exciting there. 

Tuesdays have been days of preparations and odd jobs. 

Tuesday evenings we have a beach party in Nice which is always lots of fun, 

and a great way to meet new people. 

Tuesday, July 1st, we received our final intern, Amy!! 

Wednesdays have been our days off! 

Wednesday, June 25th, we went to La Turbie, 

which is a village up in the mountains above Monaco! 

We had a delicious lunch with a rather nice view of the sea! 

The view from our table!

After lunch we walked around the ancient village, 

and then went to see a super ancient Roman trophy, 

The Trophy of Augustus. 

It's a  a Roman monument built by the emperor Augustus

 to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes which lived in the mountains of the area and attacked the merchants plying the Roman trade routes. 

It was quite a sight to see...and we just saw the ruins! 

The best part was we got to go up on the trophy and look out...

and if we thought the view at lunch was good...

this one was OUT OF CONTROL. 

So yeah...that was a fun day! 

This past Wednesday, July 2nd, wasn't quite as exciting. 

Mackenzie and I ran some errands in Nice and then hit the beach for a while. 

So not as epic, but still very pleasant! 

Thursdays have typically been another day for random tasks or preparing for other events. 

Thursday evenings there is a Bible Study at the Nice church which is always very enjoyable. 

Oh and Thursday, June 26th, we received another intern, Joanna! 

Our house is nice and full now...

which we like!

Fridays we have team meetings in the morning and usually other prep later in the afternoon. 

This past Friday was a busy day! 

Not only was it the 4th of July, 

it was also the day before the church's Day of Prayer for the Nations,

that the interns were in charge of! 

So Friday was A LOT of prep for that event! 

Joanna might have been taking her work a little too seriously.

Which I think went rather well!

We also had a team fellowship to celebrate Independence Day!

Now that is one patriotic pie!

Saturday...I honestly don't remember what happened on Saturday, June 28th...

obviously it wasn't that impactful so I don't feel bad about not sharing it. 

This past Saturday, July 5th, was our Day of Prayer. 

It was a lot of fun to organize, and everyone has said they really enjoyed it! 

We had them break up into four groups and travel to four different stations, 

at each station they were praying for a different style of church, 

the house church, 

the persecuted/secret church, 

the tribal church 

and the cultural church. 

Each station was also set up to resemble that style of church, 

so the secret church met in the garage and it was pitch black except for a single candle, 

or the tribal church met outside under a large tree....

you get the idea. 

We aged the scripture pages used in the persecuted church to give it a tattered and well-worn look.

Saturday was a busy day...

after the Day of Prayer, 

we had to film some music videos for VBS...

that was interesting...

 to say the least....

I also had the extreme privilege of going into Nice to have dinner with some friends from high school! 

They are both studying in Lyon, France for the summer and came to Nice for the weekend! 

It was extremely nice to get to see and spend time with them! 

It really was a blessing! 

Sundays are pretty cut and dry around here, 

church, nap, church...

and maybe a little FaceTime. 

 

I mean just look at those cuties!! 

It's been a great few weeks...

or month rather..

woah. 

But in the next few days/weeks things are really going to start picking up! 

So pray for endurance, rest, patience and grace, 

and pray for them to be PLENTIFUL! 

God is so good. 

Week 2

Greetings from Southern France! 

It's been another slow, but great week in Cagnes-sur-Mer! 

This week, like last week, has been a lot of planning, 

most of which I am not needed for, 

so I've had another fairly easy going week. 

It's been nice to relax for a while and take it easy, 

because I know once July comes around that won't be the case! 

Let's see what's been going on...

last week Mackenzie, my roommate and fellow intern, 

were able to go into Nice to spend the day with one of the girls from the Nice church. 

It was a nice afternoon to walk around Vieux Nice and hang out, 

we also go to sample the world famous Fenocchio's gelato, 

I can totally see why it's world famous. 

I was also able to attend the church's Bible studies on Tuesday and Thursday nights. 

It's always fun to be able to sit and discuss the Word with fellow believers, 

no matter what their cultural background. 

Wednesday is typically our day off and this past week we were treated to a surprise!

Jill wouldn't tell us where we were going, 

until we arrived in The Principality of Monaco! 

It was a really fun afternoon! 

We rode the tourist train, a personal favorite of mine,

we got to walk up to the palace and then over to the famous Monte Carlo Casino.

We had an incredibly overpriced beverage...

let's say it was a 3€ drink and a 6€ view. 

I think we might have seen the Prince...

well we technically almost got run over by his police escort, 

but that's neither here nor there. 

On the left is the port with all of its billions of dollars worth of yachts and sailboats. On the right is me with Madison and Mackenzie, the other two interns. 

Friday was a really fun day, 

it was Madison and Mackezie's birthdays! 

It was a really fun day to celebrate with them! 

We started with a delicious breakfast of pancakes,

then a lunch of crêpes,

and then an afternoon on the beach! 

That night we had team fellowship where we all get together to just hang out and share a meal! 

I had the chance to make gumbo for everyone!

It was a little difficult trying to make gumbo without any Tony's but I survived,

and everyone seemed to like it! 

Saturday was a slower day, 

but it ended with a bang! 

Thanks to the incredible people at Apple, 

I was able to be at the wedding of Andrew and Lindsay Mattingly, 

courtesy of FaceTime and Callie Whisenhunt! 

That was really special for me, 

technology really is quite cool! 

Praise God for iPhones! 

Sunday was another busy day of church services and perhaps a nap or two.

Yesterday afternoon Mackenzie and I had a few hours free so we decided to go visit the local castle in Cagnes-sur-Mer. 

We had heard really good things about the castle itself and the art they had on display there. 

We were both excited to get to go and see it, 

especially since the bus to get there was free,

and you get in free if you're under 26! 

However, it was not what we were expecting. 

Apparently there must be a new exhibit on pain or torture or something because this place was WEIRD! 

I felt like I was walking through a horror film. 

It really was incredibly creepy, 

and I am certainly glad we got in for free! 

However we could go to the top of the main tower and were blessed with fresh air, sunshine and stunning panoramic views from the Mediterranean to the "pre-Alps."

After that frightening experience Mackenzie and I had to walk around some to get some cheer back in us. The old area of the city was beautiful and charming! 

Even though it was one of the creepiest experiences of my life,

it was still a good afternoon together! 

Week 1

Well I have been in my internship for exactly one week! 

I really can't believe it...

part of me feels like I got here yesterday, 

but another part feels like I've been here for weeks.

It's been a wonderful week so far!

The transition has been smooth and easy. 

I'm living in a town called Cagnes-sur-Mer which is about 30 minutes outside of Nice. 

It's a charming little town on the sea (which I haven't been to yet),

and it's got its very own castle (I haven't been there yet either). 

I'm working with a team from Serve International, 

the missions arm of Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas. 

We work with an International Baptist Church with services in St. Paul (about 45 minutes outside of Nice) and in downtown Nice.

I'm living with two of the single women on the team here, Jill and Amy,

 and one other female intern, Mackenzie, 

and a rather large cat named Helen. 

We have a charming little house with lots of fruit trees and a ping pong table. 

The past week has been rather uneventful as far as the ministry goes. 

I really haven't been doing a whole lot, 

simply because the bulk of the summer programs go on in July,

 and June is mostly used for planning and preparing. 

So it's been nice to be able to sleep in and take things easy and get adjusted. 

I had been worried that all the down time would get to me and make me restless, 

and then result in homesickness. 

But the Lord has been so faithful and I've not been restless, bored or homesick once! 

God is so good! 

We have gotten to do some fun outings! 

Wednesday we went to Gourdon, an ancient village perched on top of a mountain. 

It boasted INCREDIBLE views and a spectacular breeze!

As far as the ministry goes I've gotten to visit several Bible studies, meet lots of team and church members, visit a nursing home, attend a piano recital, pass out tracts and fliers at a market, and attend church services at both the Nice and St. Paul venues. 

It's been a great week! 

I'm looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me this week! 

Marseille, Avignon and Nice Recap

Well today is the day...

my time with Mom and Polly has come to a close, 

and now my internship officially starts! 

It's been a wonderful trip! 

I was so blessed to be able to go on this adventure with them. 

Thank You to everyone who made this possible!

Since, I haven't had my internship orientation yet, 

and I don't have any answers to the questions I am sure you are asking. 

So, I'm just going to highlight our trip a bit. 

And I'll get to the serious stuff tomorrow. 

Sound good?

The start to the trip was a bit rocky due to a flat airplane tire and no spare to be found anywhere in Louisiana. 

So that cause some major flight reworking and lots of mental cursing...

but the Lord was gracious and we got it all worked out without too much change in our original itinerary. 

Hallelujah! 

So now on to the good stuff! 

We started in Marseille, France, and we stayed there for about four days. 

Marseille was really fun! 

While we were there we got to do a lot of neat things! 

We visited Chateau d'If, 

the famous prison where The Count of Monte Cristo is set.  

We also visited the Island of Frioule and got to go to the beach for a bit! 

One of my favorite things we did was the Calanques National Park!

It was INCREDIBLE! 

I definitely recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Southern France!

This is the view from our apartment! Right off Vieux Port in the center of the city!

After Marseille, we ventured to Avignon! 

We were in Avignon for two nights! 

It was a really fun city...maybe my favorite! 

It is much smaller than Marseille or Nice, so getting around was much easier! 

We got to visit the Papal Palace where six popes lived during the 14th century, 

and the famous Pont d'Avignon. 

We also went to a museum that boasted having pieces by Picasso, Degas, Van Gogh and Cézanne, 

and they did have at least one piece by each of these famous painters. 

But just to give you a frame of reference, 

the "Picasso" was a sketch he had done on a sheet of notebook paper. 

It was a touch disappointing, 

but some gelato more than compensated for it. 

After Avignon we journeyed to Nice and were there for a total of five nights. 

While staying in Nice we got to do some really cool stuff! 

We visited Èze and toured a perfumery and got to wander around the medieval village with stunning views of the Mediterranean!

We were also able to take a trip to Lourmarin and visit an herb farm! 

We learned all about the Herbes de Provence (Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender and Savory), 

and got to have a tasting meal where we sampled fresh farm grown foods cooked with local herbs! 

This is a picture of Paule, our host, teaching us about Rosemary. 

While in Nice we also got to visit museums dedicated to Matisse and Chagall, 

and a modern art museum that was just a touch beyond our understanding. 

We visited Castle Hill, Vieux Nice and of course the beach! 

It's been an absolutely wonderful trip and I'm sad to see it end! 

But I am excited about what the summer will bring!