Sit-com casting
I go to a small group Bible study/prayer meeting on Thursday nights; it was one of the first things I got connected with here in Bordeaux, and from day one, I have loved the group. They welcomed me with open arms, and they have been a major support for me. But I have to admit, they are an odd group. I always think they would make a great cast for a sit-com.
The couple that hosts it are Katherine and Jean-Claude. Katherine is a French teacher in a junior high school, so she is very conscientious of explaining any odd words we come across in our Bible study and she is very encouraging to me about my French aptitude. Her husband, Jean-Claude, is very nice, and always lights up when he sees me at church. He loves to make jokes and punctuates every sentence with a chuckle. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak very clearly, so I hardly ever understand what he said. I laugh along anyway, to be polite, but I feel like an idiot. Once his wife caught me at it: she said, "Jean-Claude, when you slur your words together, no one can understand you, and I bet Ariel has no idea what you just said." Everyone looked at me, and I had to admit that I really didn't. After that it became harder just to laugh along with him; I feel like he knows now that I'm clueless.
Katherine's elderly mother lives in her own house on the property. She is in her 80's, and I don't know her name. I've never heard it, so I just call her "Madame" when I greet her. She sits right by the door every week, because she has many ailments and drops into the chair as soon as she enters. Due to my extensive experience with an elderly relative of my own (who shall remain nameless) I have a certain patience with "Madame" that I call upon on Thursday nights. She is very grouchy and opinionated. She yells at me often because I didn't shut the door properly when I entered, or because my hair got in her face when I kissed her cheek, etc. She yelled at a man last week because he hadn't had a haircut in a while. The poor man is handicapped, and defended himself by saying that he has such a hard time getting out to a barber. That didn't matter to her. "There are places you can call and they send someone to you! And believe me, you need it!" He just nodded his head, obviously using his own reserve of patience. Each week, she tells us how ready she is to meet the Lord. She just wants to go already, and sometimes, for a brief moment, I see a flicker in Katherine's eyes as if she is thinking yea and Amen.
The lady that invited me to the small group in the first place was Francine. She is a nurse in a hospital in the geriatric ward when she is not raising her teenage son as a single mom. Francine has one very noticeable trait: she talks without stopping. Having Bible study with her is rather difficult, because if she starts to talk, you have to sort of steamroll right over her, because she won't stop on her own. Our conversations often go like this:
Ariel: I would like to thank the Lord for protecting me in my car accident this wee--"
Francine (interupting): You had a car accident! Oh my goodness, if I had a euro for every car accident I've been in, you have no idea, its the way these people drive around here, I've never seen people drive like they do in Bordeaux, these people are maniacs, and I was telling my sister yesterday that one of these days I will likely be killed by a maniac driver, on the way to work, and then who will change all the IVs on my floor at the hospital, because you know it won't be those new young nurses that don't know a thing, I have to do my job and theirs when I'm at work, and heaven knows how anything else gets done when I am not on duty at that place, I was telling one of the doctors the other day that I am indispensable and he said to me--"
Someone else: "SO ARIEL YOU HAD A CAR ACCIDENT?" (loudly while Francine continues).
Unfortunately, she does this in just about every pause in the conversation, including while the leader is presenting the Bible study. I am still shy about just talking over her, but the others are so used to it, they just ignore her. Often they help me out, because I'm sure it's obvious on my face that I don't know quite how to interrupt her or ignore her, without being rude. Often everyone in the group shares a common eye-roll when she gets going, jumping from one topic to the next, somehow all centered around her.
Serge and Adolyne are a married couple from Africa originally. They are both doctors and often arrive late and very tired. They are both extremely dedicated to the Lord and are very involved in leadership in our church. I appreciate their input in our studies because they are both grounded in their faith and offer serious, well-reasoned comments. Adolyne loves to laugh, though, and often she has to put her head down and laugh silently when Francine gets on a talking spree or when "Madame" is yelling at one of us.
Carmen is a baby Christian in her 50's. Her husband and family do not serve the Lord, and she is really struggling in her faith. She comes with a lot of questions and struggles, and she serves as the rallying point for our odd group. With Carmen, we are united with the same goal: to help her in her walk with the Lord. "Madame" doesn't yell at her (quite as much), Francine lets her talk (for the most part), and Adolyne never laughs at her. We all get serious when it comes to Carmen's relationship with the Lord.
Wanda is a nurse in a nursing home. She and her husband are from Burkina Faso, and she doesn't speak French very well. She is always animated, and loves to tell stories of life in Burkina. But when she gets particularly excited, she really stops forming grammatical sentences, so we all end up staring at her with our mouths open, as we mentally fill in all the words she's left out. This reminds me of my language school professor, Bernard, who used to say, "Use verbs" when one of my classmates would "talk" just using a string of random words. In her head, I am sure that Wanda has a great story or a good point, but its not always easy to figure out. Wanda doesn't pray in French during the prayer time; she prefers to pray in her Burkinan language (and I totally sympathize!).
That leaves me. I also don't speak French perfectly. I actually tend not to talk very much because it takes just about all my concentration to follow them, as they talk at the same time, over one another and Adolyne's laughter. Occasionally, if I nod my head, they will put me on the spot, asking why I agree. I think they do this on purpose to force me to talk, but I don't mind. It is good for me and I feel completely myself with them. They also enjoy making me say the closing prayer or asking me to give an imprompu report on Islam/the perscuted Church in China/anything related to missions that they think will be a fitting opportunity to make me speak. It is good for me, but sometimes I feel like I am in school again, where the teacher calls on the person who hasn't said anything in a while, just to check that they've truly done their homework.
That's my group on Thursday nights and I love them! I've never been part of a group quite like these people.
In other news: the insurance company was great about my car situation. I took the car to get checked by their expert, who made a long list of necessary repairs. I have to be in Paris next week anyway, so I am leaving the car with them conveniently to be repaired while I am gone.
Below is a cartoon that Chris Foster sent me, and I thought you might enjoy a little "funny" for today:
The couple that hosts it are Katherine and Jean-Claude. Katherine is a French teacher in a junior high school, so she is very conscientious of explaining any odd words we come across in our Bible study and she is very encouraging to me about my French aptitude. Her husband, Jean-Claude, is very nice, and always lights up when he sees me at church. He loves to make jokes and punctuates every sentence with a chuckle. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak very clearly, so I hardly ever understand what he said. I laugh along anyway, to be polite, but I feel like an idiot. Once his wife caught me at it: she said, "Jean-Claude, when you slur your words together, no one can understand you, and I bet Ariel has no idea what you just said." Everyone looked at me, and I had to admit that I really didn't. After that it became harder just to laugh along with him; I feel like he knows now that I'm clueless.
Katherine's elderly mother lives in her own house on the property. She is in her 80's, and I don't know her name. I've never heard it, so I just call her "Madame" when I greet her. She sits right by the door every week, because she has many ailments and drops into the chair as soon as she enters. Due to my extensive experience with an elderly relative of my own (who shall remain nameless) I have a certain patience with "Madame" that I call upon on Thursday nights. She is very grouchy and opinionated. She yells at me often because I didn't shut the door properly when I entered, or because my hair got in her face when I kissed her cheek, etc. She yelled at a man last week because he hadn't had a haircut in a while. The poor man is handicapped, and defended himself by saying that he has such a hard time getting out to a barber. That didn't matter to her. "There are places you can call and they send someone to you! And believe me, you need it!" He just nodded his head, obviously using his own reserve of patience. Each week, she tells us how ready she is to meet the Lord. She just wants to go already, and sometimes, for a brief moment, I see a flicker in Katherine's eyes as if she is thinking yea and Amen.
The lady that invited me to the small group in the first place was Francine. She is a nurse in a hospital in the geriatric ward when she is not raising her teenage son as a single mom. Francine has one very noticeable trait: she talks without stopping. Having Bible study with her is rather difficult, because if she starts to talk, you have to sort of steamroll right over her, because she won't stop on her own. Our conversations often go like this:
Ariel: I would like to thank the Lord for protecting me in my car accident this wee--"
Francine (interupting): You had a car accident! Oh my goodness, if I had a euro for every car accident I've been in, you have no idea, its the way these people drive around here, I've never seen people drive like they do in Bordeaux, these people are maniacs, and I was telling my sister yesterday that one of these days I will likely be killed by a maniac driver, on the way to work, and then who will change all the IVs on my floor at the hospital, because you know it won't be those new young nurses that don't know a thing, I have to do my job and theirs when I'm at work, and heaven knows how anything else gets done when I am not on duty at that place, I was telling one of the doctors the other day that I am indispensable and he said to me--"
Someone else: "SO ARIEL YOU HAD A CAR ACCIDENT?" (loudly while Francine continues).
Unfortunately, she does this in just about every pause in the conversation, including while the leader is presenting the Bible study. I am still shy about just talking over her, but the others are so used to it, they just ignore her. Often they help me out, because I'm sure it's obvious on my face that I don't know quite how to interrupt her or ignore her, without being rude. Often everyone in the group shares a common eye-roll when she gets going, jumping from one topic to the next, somehow all centered around her.
Serge and Adolyne are a married couple from Africa originally. They are both doctors and often arrive late and very tired. They are both extremely dedicated to the Lord and are very involved in leadership in our church. I appreciate their input in our studies because they are both grounded in their faith and offer serious, well-reasoned comments. Adolyne loves to laugh, though, and often she has to put her head down and laugh silently when Francine gets on a talking spree or when "Madame" is yelling at one of us.
Carmen is a baby Christian in her 50's. Her husband and family do not serve the Lord, and she is really struggling in her faith. She comes with a lot of questions and struggles, and she serves as the rallying point for our odd group. With Carmen, we are united with the same goal: to help her in her walk with the Lord. "Madame" doesn't yell at her (quite as much), Francine lets her talk (for the most part), and Adolyne never laughs at her. We all get serious when it comes to Carmen's relationship with the Lord.
Wanda is a nurse in a nursing home. She and her husband are from Burkina Faso, and she doesn't speak French very well. She is always animated, and loves to tell stories of life in Burkina. But when she gets particularly excited, she really stops forming grammatical sentences, so we all end up staring at her with our mouths open, as we mentally fill in all the words she's left out. This reminds me of my language school professor, Bernard, who used to say, "Use verbs" when one of my classmates would "talk" just using a string of random words. In her head, I am sure that Wanda has a great story or a good point, but its not always easy to figure out. Wanda doesn't pray in French during the prayer time; she prefers to pray in her Burkinan language (and I totally sympathize!).
That leaves me. I also don't speak French perfectly. I actually tend not to talk very much because it takes just about all my concentration to follow them, as they talk at the same time, over one another and Adolyne's laughter. Occasionally, if I nod my head, they will put me on the spot, asking why I agree. I think they do this on purpose to force me to talk, but I don't mind. It is good for me and I feel completely myself with them. They also enjoy making me say the closing prayer or asking me to give an imprompu report on Islam/the perscuted Church in China/anything related to missions that they think will be a fitting opportunity to make me speak. It is good for me, but sometimes I feel like I am in school again, where the teacher calls on the person who hasn't said anything in a while, just to check that they've truly done their homework.
That's my group on Thursday nights and I love them! I've never been part of a group quite like these people.
In other news: the insurance company was great about my car situation. I took the car to get checked by their expert, who made a long list of necessary repairs. I have to be in Paris next week anyway, so I am leaving the car with them conveniently to be repaired while I am gone.
Below is a cartoon that Chris Foster sent me, and I thought you might enjoy a little "funny" for today:
