Bonjour mes amies! I have successfully crossed the ocean and arrived in France. Its been nearly a week and I am really enjoying my time here. The children are adorable, very intelligent and so sweet. My first night here the two oldest, Cesca and Alastair, brought me a pot of flowers and I can see that soon my walls will be decorated with bright abstracts by the talented Cesca.

Speaking of my apartment; I love it. It is a studio with a loft. There is a large sky light with a remote control shutter and a large window. I love the shutters. Every night I open the window and pull in the shutters, then close the sky light. Aparrently, the French sleep in complete darkness, they don't waste their time with measly curtains that will allow sunlight to creep in. The French decide when the day starts, not the sun. I think my favorite part of my apartment is the loft. We will be moving my bed up there today, then I will climb a ladder to get to my "bedroom." I'm sure you are all picturing a quaint old fashioned cottage, but actually the apartment and the main house are quiet new, bright, clean and modern.

I've also had my first French lessons. We are not allowed to speak any other language at all in the class; there are many languages present, including Spanish and Russian. So it is trés difficule because I can't understand the explanations of the language as it is all in French! But its good, I can see I will be picking the language up quickly. Already random new French words come popping into my head and pouring out of my mouth. I can't even escape it at night; in my sleep I dream about the language. I love how the French pronounce their "r's". Imagine a cat coughing up a hair ball. When I took French in college we were taught to pronounce our "r's" that way, but most of us didn't and those who did were viewed as pretentious suck ups. Now I have 4 year old Cesca pronouncing my name that way. But its so cute, I love it.

Finally, there is the congregation. Everyone is very friendly, I was mobbed after the meeting with bonsoirs. I didn't understand anything except sister, brother and truth. I did sing the songs in French and it was so much fun! I met a lovely couple who were a part of the recently split up English group. They are both pioneers and are very encouraging.

Ok, thats all for now. There is so much more to share, but this whole time I have been typing on an European keyboard and this post has gone on long enough.