It's been a while since I've posted because we have been soooo busy! Church services are up and running, my parents are here!!! we finally bought a bed (yay! no more airmattress!) and we took our placement test for school today. I have to confess I was feeling a bit cocky about my amazing knowledge of French because of my spanish. Ummm, I could have been reading Russian, for all I knew. I bombed really bad. It was so bad Teal and I didn't even understand how START the test. We have a lot to learn.
School continues to go well for Lexi and Olivia. Lexi now has 2 favorite parts of the day-nap and lunch. She loves taking her lunch to school-it's really cute. Olivia is actually learning French. It's a bit freaky. We were told she has a perfect accent, too.
Our lives are very busy here, much moreso than in the States. I am slowly adjusting to new roles, and will add the student role next week. We get our schedules on Monday, and are expecting to be in class 12 to 15 hours each week. Then I will work about 15-20 hours a week I think, teach English one time each week, and do all my normal stuff too. My bon bon eating time is being seriously compromised here!
It's actually pretty exciting to be directly involved in ministry here-to be meeting French people everywhere we go and beginning relationships with them. Teal is so social that it's pretty easy to engage them, and contrary to popular belief, they do not hate Americans! We are learning so much about the culture here, and the rules of engagement, so to speak. It seems to boil down to common sense, really-treat people with respect, and you will be treated the same way!!!! It really works.
We are enjoying our apartment so much-it will be wonderful fo get the visas issues resolved (although we still have had no word on them) and get our own things here. It is amazing how our ideas of comfort and neccessity have changed since being here. I guess I never imagined we could live in a 2 bedroom apartment, but we are, and it's wonderful! God has provided for our needs so abundantly in this area, and has also taken away desires for other things. I continue to pray constantly for our visas to be approved and for only one of us to have to go to the States to retrieve them. We have no $$ right now for tickets after paying 5 months rent up front and school tuition for all 4 of us.
Well, I am off to run errands and head home to clean before I pick the girls up at 4:15. More in a few days!