Day 5, The day of prayer and being lost

Top fears for this trip:

• Getting lost while alone
• Getting trapped on an escalator by a shoelace and having a limb torn off/mangled
• Running out of money and starving/being homeless/getting trapped
• Not making it in time to my flights
• Being rejected/not having or making friends
• Sounding dumb and/or not being understood

 Well, at least I wasn't alone the first time plans went awry today and we got lost.  Actually--surprisingly enough--I was the calm one.

Basically, if it weren't for prayer and sticking together and sticking to original rendezvous plans, today would've turned out much differently.  Although I'm glad we didn't go with the backup plan created after resolving a couple metro issues, we probably should've been more specific in our planning.  Let's just say that in the morning I went north toward Pontoise rather than south to Versailles, which cost us an hour, and then later I and my friends waited for each other for 2.5 hours, not realizing that the other party was just 30 feet away, except I was inside the gate and they were outside.  Had they gone with the backup plan, I would've been left alone (they had checked inside the gates and were about to give up until they found me on the 3rd check!), but had I listened to that feeling I had more than a couple of times to look outside the gate, I would've found them.  But now I know the metro system better, and they had time to talk to a man from Senegal, which is where they go next week for a study abroad.  Both times we finally met up, we were grateful and acknowledged that it was an answer to prayer, and we were muy reconaissantes in our prayers today!

While we were still blissfully unaware of taking the wrong metro, I did catch a pic of the Tour Eiffel with the Seine!

I did make a vid while I waited, but I need to figure out how to make it compatible with this, so that is TBA.

In my walking around, I saw a church, and I loved what it said on the front: "DIEU est esprit/Il faut que ceux qui l’adorent/L’adorent en esprit et en vérité."  (God is spirit.  It is necessary that those who worship him do so in spirit and in truth.[underlining added])

Oh, and while I was waiting, I realized how monotone (monochromatic) the French are in their dress, especially in comparison with the new Disney stuff and real-life Hindu saris.  Oh, and the British are very proud of their identity ;)

In other news, I Skyped with my best friend from home who is in Chile!  And I Google-called my older sister.  And I chatted with my Pappy.  And said hi to my oldest brudder.  Which means I have now made contact with all my immediate family members since my arrival on Tuesday!  And now it is almost 3am.  Bonne nuit!

PS  Alma 16:17 helped remind me of my ultimate goal for being here and of what should be a motivation for me to learn languages.

Day 4, The anniversaire de mi hermano

Bon anniversaire, mi hermano!  Je t'aime beaucoup!

Well, so today was largely spent out in the city, yet again, but this time I sat around waiting.  You see, the friends I'm with are only here for this week, whereas I am staying for...much longer.  They bought a 2-day pass to a variety of museos around here, but I'm guessing my language program here will take me to them as part of a workshop.  If not, I probably can still come later in July when I'm here showing my sister and her husband around Paris.  Either way, I didn't want to fork out even more money that I have already to pay for something I'll pay for/see again later.  If it were cheaper, I wouldn't mind seeing it more than once, but the Louvre and Versaille aren't exactly cheap.  So, instead, at the Louvre I went to a restaurant area inside to do work on my thesis project, meanwhile realizing that my friends and I hadn't created a backup plan for if the French police detained me for hanging out on the premises!  Once my friends came back two and a half hours later, we tried to find a restroom.  The one we used yesterday was madness with all the masses, s we found another, nicer one, soon to find out why it was nicer: It costs!  And something I took for granted in the US is that bathrooms and water fountains simply go together.  Oh, not so, my dear friend, not so.

Anyway, we decided to just head on over to the Museo d'Orsay, where this time I waited outside under an overcast sky.  I didn't really feel like reading or working on my thesis project, so I people watched, amusing myself by eavesdropping on others to figure out what language they were speaking.  I'm one of those obvious stare-at-you people watchers/eavesdroppers, but apparently a little old Brazilian lady didn't mind.  As soon as she realized I was listening and could understand her, she scooted right on over to me on the bench started speaking to me, explaining their plans on the city map.  I spoke to her in Spanish and she to me in Portuguese--SO COOOOOL!  That reminded me just how much I love language and why I'm here. 

Sadly, the encounter with the Brazilian woman was probably some of the most excitement I had for a while, so I decided to explore a bit and finally get away from all the smokers!  (Seriously, the French eat them or something.  The trash system here is brilliant, with metal round rings to hold trash bags in on many street corners that people use quite often, but then they go and toss their dumb cigarette butts on the ground--it's their #1 litter, I swear!)  It didn't take long to realize, though, that it'd be hard for my friends to find me if I were wandering around, and my feet hurt anyway, so I went back.  Before sitting back down on the bench in front of the museum, a school kid scared off one of the many pigeons, which wasn't anything crazy.  What was crazy, though was that it almost flew into me!  Thankfully, I survived, at least long enough for my friends to finally come out and we could go to the Chatelet to buy some authentic Greek gyros from Indian-looking men in France.  Mmmmm, delicious!

Feeling quite full, we then went to the Sainte Chapelle, which I actually did enter.  Why not?  My age got me a reduced fee!  And let me tell you, we weren't there long, but it was tellement belle!   En serio, the stained glass walls all around were amazing and have been astoundingly well kept.

 

And to go with such splendor, of course the only white space was on the floor as negative space, balancing out other designs.

And don't worry, I've been keeping in contact with my fam and friends, thanks to GoogleChat, GoogleVid, GoogleVoice, Skype, and Facebook.

Paris a la francesa

J'aime beaucoup ce jardin!  C'est le Jardin du Luxembourg.

Okay, so my parents for some reason want to keep in touch with me and want to know what I am up to.

Monday, April 25: I flew to Chicago on a plane with a bunch of greenie missionaries going to France, some Madrid study abroad students, a BYU-I professeur, and a Jewish family.  Basically, it was the best flight I've done solo!  I then went on to good ol' Charles de Galle airport and arrived in the morning.  It was the weirdest thing to have dinner and watch Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, fall asleep for a short time, and wake up to see light and eat breakfast only a few hours after dinner!

Tuesday, April 26: I arrived at the Paris airport, tried for half an hour to no avail to connect to the internet to call home via the Google Voice my oldest bro was so kind to help me set up, and ended up hurrying to the terminal where I hoped to meet up with a former student of mine with her friends.  On my way, I saw missionaries who were there to pick up their new greenies! Just when I was thinking, "Heavenly Father, I need a miracle to find a clock and an arrival schedule to find the girls, I found the terminal, with all the info I needed, and because the missionaries and their mission president were waiting for greenies coming from the Provo MTC who'd be on a flight from SLC, I figured I wasn't too late.  Et voila!  Mes copines!

We eventually made it to Paris to our hotel (after a Parisienne was so kind as to take time and lead us there), and I finally got a connection to the internet, just as I was praying for it to work and for Heavenly Father to help my parents know I was safe, and they were apparently praying for the same reassurance!  He hears and answers prayers!

After crashing for a bit, we headed out and discovered the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints's new visitor's center in the heart of Paris, along with the church building where I'll attend sacrament and institute!  Oh, and we found the Hotel de Ville (historic city hall or something).

Wednesday, April 27: We went all over the Latin Quarter and then some!  We took pictures in front of the Notre Dame, saw the Palais de Justice, crossed the Seine (on bridges), entered the Chapelle de Saint Germain, went to Saint Sulpice (I think...?), ate lunch (a genuine French quiche pour moi) at the Jardin du Louxembourg, found the Pantheon and a nearby cathedral that was cool, wandered back and over to the Louvre (not to see any exhibits yet, but to find a toilette and find out the deal on the museums here), and finally returned to the hotel after grabbing crepes and churros (guess who was the one to buy churros...!).

I miss Spanish and how much I can do with it.  I shouldn't complain, I know, but...I just keep thinking about how I'm going to be here for so long and in Spain so little.  But I got this note from my mama via my daddy just when I needed it: 

• This is like going on a mission, where the missionary barely speaks the language and has to be immersed in it.  Hang in there; you have the capability and the gift of language.  It takes time to feel comfortable.  Have the attitude of adventure.  You are having the opportunity that none of us have ever had.

I finally found out where my homestay is!  Thankfully, I have the other girls' help to find my way on the metro to figure out the routes I'll be taking.

To be continued, avec des fotos.  :)

Fireproof

FABULOUS movie! When I finally do get serious with someone, he needs to watch this with me and read a couple of talks from LDS general authorities, particularly Pres. Monson's Priesthood session talk and Elder Scott's CES fireside from Fall 2010.

As much as I hear about divorce in the world, it's nice to know that, as President Kimball said, any two people can make a marriage work. I believe that, rather than only believe in a soul-mate, we should look for and find someone who makes us happy, and then he/she will become the one for us.

Also, marriage is serious and sacred and should be treated as such, as a covenant rather than a contract.  Elder Bruce C. Hafen wrote a book, and one chapter explains the differences between contractual and covenant-type  marriage attitudes.  In discussing the advantage of a covenant-focused marriage, he says, "The husband and wife work [troubles] through. They marry to give and to grow, bound by covenants to each other, to the community, and to God. Contract companions each give 50 percent. But covenant companions each give 100 percent. Enough and to spare. Each gives enough to cover any shortfall by the other. Double coverage. Because their covenant is unqualified, they simply plan on solving their problems together—whatever trouble comes, no matter what it is, how long it takes, or what it costs...The spirit of a covenant marriage [is] not a 'pay me back' contract, and nobody keeps score. Both the blessings and the commitments are unmeasured."

Marriage and family are ordained of God (take a look at "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"), and there is hope and promise for happiness! Ironically enough, though, we find it through seeking the other's happiness first. :)

All in all, this gives me hope for my future.

Psicología inversa en su estado más puro/Reverse Psychology in its Purest Form

¿Les he mencionado el amor que tengo para los niños? :)

Have I mentioned how much I love children?