Happy October, friends! The fall season has arrived and once again so much faster than I anticipated. How is it that the year flies by so quickly? I won’t complain though. Bring on the pumpkin, changing leaves, scarves, boots and crisp fall air! Paris is actually really beautiful right now. The leaves are a bright yellow and falling as you walk down the streets. Florida doesn’t have a very obvious change of seasons so this is pretty fun to experience. I will say though that I am a little nervous about the winter here. Apparently it can get pretty cold. Luckily I have my heavy down coat!
I haven’t been able to blog as often as I’d like because my computer hard drive actually crashed 😦 We took it to a hard drive recovery place and they said it would cost…get ready… 2,800 EURO to fix it. HA. that’s a joke. Actually, Apple is responsible because they sold us a corrupted Snow Leopard Operating system disc. We loaded it onto my laptop and it just caused everything to crash. SO, Scott is planning on fighting to the death to get this thing resolved. Ridiculous! So, even though we have Scotts computer here, I hate to load all of my stuff onto his laptop and have to eventually transfer it over. But, I don’t want too much time to pass so I decided to just blog anyway.
The past couple of weeks have been good. The weather has been really nice which is really a huge blessing. Rain can really put a damper on getting out and about so when the weather is nice we try to be outside as much as we can. We are at the parks, taking walks, and going to markets.
So far my favorite areas that I’ve been in are Bastille and the Marais. Such great little boulangeries, cheese shops, clothing stores! Very Parisian neighborhoods and lots to see and do. France is such an interesting culture. There are things about it that are really great and I think we could even adapt and learn from, and then things that are so frustrating at times. For example, the French really value relationships. When they enter a room, they greet each person individually by kissing them on each cheek and saying a quick hello. They also really value children and family. Often, we see Dad’s taking their kids to the park or biking with them. They value their culture too which is neat. Things that are frustrating are lack of efficiency. It can take hours to do one task. Something that would take me an hour in the states to do takes me at least 3 here if not more. I may even have to save half the task for the next day. Another odd thing is customer service. For instance, in a grocery store, the cashier sits in a chair and you bag your own groceries. They literally scan your items and take your money and that’s it. Publix would be appalled! Also, manners are kind of non existent when walking down the streets, or in stores or on the metro. In the states we say excuse me a lot if we need to get by or have a question, here they just shove their way through. Many times I’ve been cut in line or pushed because I think everybody is in line, and really lines don’t really exist here. The French don’t seem to have a problem with any of this though haha.
So, there are definitely things I miss about the states. Sure there are great things about being here and I’m sure I’ll adapt to many of the cultural norms, but at this point I can’t say I would trade my culture 😉
We actually still do not have an apartment. We are actively looking and going on appointments but just keep hearing a lot of No’s. It’s pretty discouraging! We’d really really love to be in our own space but at the same time don’t want to manipulate the system or jump in front of what the Lord has for us. It’s a challenging balance to practice. How do you stay active and be responsible pursuing apartments while still trusting the Lord has the perfect place for us in his timing? It’s a tricky place to be in. The process is very much a roller coaster with my emotions. I have had my hopes up several times only to have them let down by hearing a No. Right now we have given our dossiers to two really great apartments (one is super great and I’d absolutely love it) and are waiting to hear back, but I just keep fearing hearing more No’s and being back at square one again. I want to trust the Lord but I also want to ask him and believe that he can come through for anything!
Would you continue to pray for our housing search? Even specifically for this really great one? I’d really love to be in this one based on location and space and amenities so I’m definitely asking the Lord for it and I’d love other people to pray alongside of us!
Here are some photos of the past couple of weeks!
Thank you for reading and praying for us. We definitely know that having people behind us in prayer is so huge and vital and definitely don’t take it for granted.
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