Rainey Days

Today I had a new cultural experience: I went to the doctor in French. Back in my language school days, a friend in my class said that we should have merit badges for difficult things we accomplish in our second language. For instance, I should have have gotten one when I had to call a mechanic for the first time I had car trouble (at an airport in Switzerland!). He wanted one for buying tires for his car, when he forgot the word “tire” in French. He said he felt pretty stupid saying “those four round things under the car” but they eventually understood and he got his tires! Unfortunately, he didn’t get a merit badge for it. I was completely supportive of his idea, because there are always tricky, almost impossible things (buying a car, finding an apartment) that constitute a whole new level in language acquisition, and we ought to get something out of it! So, today was my day for a new challenge. My workout club recently decided to require medical forms with approval from our d...

One of missionary families I know told me that their children liked to say "Mercy Buckets" as a joking mistake of " Merci Beaucoup " (thank you very much). I just wanted to tell you all how much I appreciated the cards and packages I received for my birthday! You guys really made my day wonderful. I kept all the cards and I'm reading through the magazines slowly (treasuring every one!). I really loved the card from Pasadena AG (my home church) that was signed by about a million people. I've never gotten a card with that many signatures on it! In other news . . . Voila our stand at the event in Paris. It wasn't a tradeshow, as I had originally thought. There was a Christian convention and we were in an exposition hall, as part of the conference. All sorts of ministries were on display, including ours for Muslim evangelism. I enjoyed being there and talking to many, many Christian leaders/pastors about our ministry and what their churches can do for Musli...

As much as I am tempted just to let the comments accumulate on my last post, I don't want you to think that I am a lazy blogger. I will be away for a few days in Paris for a tradeshow, so I will not be posting for a few days more. If you miss my bi-weekly musings, you can "discuss amongst yourselves." Here, I'll give you a topic: Christmas shopping. Who is the hardest person you have to buy/shop for? Or, if you want, you can continue to post comments on my last subject (sports films) because apparently that was a real barn-burner!

One of the cable channels is doing a special on American Sports Comedies during the month of November. Every Tuesday night there is a different film: Space Jam, Bull Durham, etc. I've never even heard of two of them, and from the looks of the commericials, they were WAY before my time. I haven't watched any of these movies, because I don't like the choices. So since its Tuesday night, I will put the question out to you: what is your all-time favorite sports film? (doesn't have to be a comedy) Should I tell you mine now? or wait to see if someone else mentions it? Hmmmmm, how about if we break double digits on the comments, I'll tell you.

Coffee is an important part of French culture. First thing every morning as we each arrive at work, the call goes out “Who wants coffee?” and after a quick count of hands, someone starts up our fancy-schmancy coffee machine. Our new building isn't even furnished yet, but the coffee/espresso machine was one of the first purchases for our break room. The day we bought it, my colleague Weléli read all the directions in depth, walking us all through the process of making espresso. As the machine hummed and frothed, we all held our breath in anticipation of the first taste of liquid happiness. Of course, that is just the morning cup of coffee. There is also the after-meal cup of coffee, which is the final course of any civilized lunch or dinner. It is appropriate to offer coffee to every visitor who stops by our office as well, so our machine gets a good workout every day. Now that weather is getting colder, my colleagues want to make coffee more and more and I’ve had to limit myself, ...

We are having beautiful weather here in Bordeaux. For the past week, we've had blue, cloudless skies and 70 degree days. I've enjoyed it so much, because I know that the usual Bordeaux rainy winter is coming anyday. Every day I try to get outside and walk to the local park or the outdoor market when its open. This morning the sun was up before I was, and I could see it would be another lovely fall day. The trees in the lots behind my building are all changing color and there is one beautiful red one that I admire every morning. Even though it was 40 degrees, I went out on my back balcony this morning, looking out over the trees and soaking in le soleil (the sunshine). And suddenly I was singing "Sunshine on my Shoulders" by John Denver. I might as well confess it: my name is Ariel and I am a John Denver fan. Blame it on my parents old 8 tracks, but there are certain songs that I just love. Who can resist singing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" during the ...

Money can be a complicated thing, especially if you are a foreigner in a country with a different currency. I have multiple bank accounts in the States, for my own finances, as well as for the missions budget that pays my ministry needs. To get that money in France requires some effort, because writing a check in dollars takes weeks to clear and there is always a commission for the trouble. So I usually just pull out as many euros as I can with my American bank cards and then deposit them straight into my French bank account. That simplifies the process and takes about five minutes. However, I went to the bank the other morning, intending to do my thing, and the bank machine ate my card. Actually, it “confiscated” it (which incidentally is the same word in French!) so I stood in line for a teller to explain what had happened. She asked me to have a seat in the waiting area, which is over by the offices of the branch manager and the loan officers. I went to wait, clutching my r...

This weekend we had our second seminar of a four part series. I was very keyed up, and the proof of that was my 6:00 am wakeup! I worked over my presentations one last time and then got ready, drinking a Diet Coke on the way out the door at 8:45 am. My plan was to run on caffeine all day, as if that would help the French flow forth from my tongue! I didn't need it as it turned out. It went fine. I presented the Coran and Prayer as Spiritual Warfare from the first seminar, just in shortened "reminder" format, and then in the afternoon, I did a longer, more detailed presentation of how the prophets of the Coran can lead to Jesus in witnessing to Muslims. All the presentations went fine, and although I made a few grammatical mistakes, everyone seemed to think my personality made up for them, since I kept them laughing and more engaged than some of our other presenters. Nothing like humor to break the ice (or the cultural barrier!) I was disappointed at first to see that none...

We are now in the month of November, heading quickly toward my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. People are always surprised that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but I have so many reasons! First of all, I love my extended family, the Pettibones, and we always spend Thanksgiving with them. When I was younger, it was one of the only times a year that we got to see them, so I developed the habit of looking forward to their visit. Then, Thanksgiving has the advantage of not being a "hassle" because there are no outdoor lights for Thanksgiving, no lugging boxes of decorations from the basement or attic and then lugging them back in a few weeks time. Other than cleaning the house and setting the table, most of the decoration for Thanksgiving is very minimal. There's no shopping, other than perhaps one trip to the grocery store and let's face it, you're there once a week anyway. You don't have to fight the mall parking lot like you do at Christmas time. No...