Thankful for the roof over my head. Or, A post to assure you that I'm alive and well and not homeless.

A blog update is long overdue, seeing as I feel like I’ve been in France for ages and so much has already happened! I was waiting to get the internet working at my apartment before I updated my blog (more on my current living situation to follow), but seeing as I was told that en principe the internet would be up and running by next Wednesday, I figured I should go ahead and update now.

The expression en principe is so perfectly French. You’ll have the internet en principe by Wednesday means that it should be working by Wednesday, but don’t be at all surprised if it takes a month and a half. En principe the meeting starts at noon actually means that the meeting is just as likely to start at 1:30. If you’re apartment hunting and are told that en principe you’ll be approved to rent an apartment, well, you very well could be couch surfing for a few more months. Just last week we had a discussion at Aix Forum (a weekly dinner/discussion group that ICCP hosts as an outreach to university students) about how language is shaped by culture, and I think the phrase en principe is a perfect illustration of life in France. (The same goes for the word normalement).

I couldn’t be happier to be back in Aix en Provence, and it’s been quite easy to settle in and readjust to life here. So easy, in fact, that it almost feels as if I never left! I was blessed to stay for a with my wonderful friends Andi (who was my roommate last time I lived in Aix) and Andrea (a dear friend from Westmont). As fun as that was, I’m happy to now be temporarily renting a room from the Pettyjohn’s, a young couple who has been on the ICCP team for about 6 months. It’s great to have my own space and be able to spread out a little bit, and I love getting to know Pat and Lindsey as teammates and friends. They have been wonderfully hospitable and so helpful as I've been settling in. Lindsey even made an Ikea run with me so that I could get a bed. We discovered on this trip that Ikea bedframes don't fit in the church van. But we also discovered that we're capable and independent and don't need men to tie bedframes to the van roof. I’ll stay chez Pettyjohn until Andrea, Hilary (another Westmont friend) and I find an apartment for the three of us. We’ll be like Westmont Alumni: the Southern France chapter.

Lots more to share, but this will have to do for now. Coming soon: posts (including pictures, hopefully) about our awesome youth group and the fun things we get to do with them like Chicken Bowling and iPod Idol, Melanie’s baptism and getting a glimpse into the awesome ways God is working in Aix, a few triumphant French moments, and lots more cool stuff that God is teaching me.