Chocolate Sundae

Professeur: "Next exercise."
Etudiant: "Il ne le lui a demandé pas."
Professeur: "No, no, no. Un journal has an indefinite article."
Etudiant: "Il ne lui en a demandé pas un."
Professeur: "No, no, no. Where do you place the pas?"
Etudiant: "Il ne lui en a pas demandé un."
Professeur: "There is no un at the end. The sentence is negative."
Toni, a former dance major, leans over to Eleanor and whispers, "Gosh, this is harder than ballet."


Yesterday. Amazing. John, my friend from Singapore, asked me if I wanted to meet up with him at a certain church he heard of. So, I get out my little map and find myself Sunday morning at a tiny church in a neighborhood fairly far from the center of town. The church, at least from the outside, looks like it belongs in Africa. Stucco walls, one room. I get there before John. Immediately, the worship leader asks if I play an instrument or sing. A woman approaches me and starts talking to me about a woman, Noëlla, who goes to the church and is actively involved with the students in Aix. Noëlla is the woman who Jessica heard of in Virginia. She oversees the group Agape France which is very similar to Campus Crusade. This in itself blows me away, but it's just the beginning.

After the service John, Wey, and I go to lunch. Wey hails from China. On the way to the service that morning John and Wey missed the bus and decided to walk. They were stopped by two Jehovah's Witnesses and Wey picked up some pamphlets. So, over lunch, John, Wey, and I start to discuss the difference between what it means to believe in Christ and what it means to be a Jehovah's Witness. Through this John and I are able to explain in very basic terms just what it means to believe in Christ. That it's not just a religion to us. That God gives us "un cadeau," a gift. That it's not about doing so many good deeds or being a good, moral person.

Wey only speaks Chinese and French. I only speak French and English. John speaks English, French, and Chinese.

So, what seems, at first, like a series of "random" events actually leads to one of the most unforgettable days of my life.