Part 2

I had to do something else with my time. The effort to sleep proved futile, the in flight entertainment system has crashed twice, and I haven’t had the energy to attempt any reading. Not that reading takes much energy, but certain books definitely feel like a work out for the brain. I’m not even sure I have the energy to continue where I left off in France... I just needed to write. The flight is full and contains many children under the age of 8, and many of them seem to have lost patience with this flight. Most of them happen to be seated in my general vicinity as well. Thank God for iPods.

So back in France, I was arriving at Bethanie. Now Bethanie mind you, is the name of the farm where the Bless Network is located, not the town. The nearest town is Livarot, and the nearest city where we also did most of our outreach, is Lisieux. Driving through the countryside to Bethanie was very picturesque. The sun was setting, casting a glow on everything, and there were old stucco and brick farm houses scattered amidst the fields and vineyards. About every 10 minutes of driving, we would past through a little village with crooked roads and buildings right up to the road. Amazing.
So the first day or two I was really in my shell... I amaze myself at how shy and reserved I can be in new surroundings. The first few days, however, were solely focused on building us up as a team and just getting us to let our walls down... which ended up being quite effective. It’s really just a hard thing to put into words what that time was like. I guess when you go through something like this, it’s like this little but impactful blip on the radar that can best be described as internal fault lines shifting. That might not make sense... but it does in my head, and that’s what matters.

So moving on. After the first week at Bethanie, I had almost no desire to continue on traveling. Then main reason being that it suddenly felt empty to me. I was going to be a tourist and take pictures and see the sights... but the main goal was to simply say that I’ve ‘been’ there. Relationship had become more a priority, causing the desire to ‘tour’ fade in the distance.
I can say that I actually got to experience France, not just tour it, and by experience I mean to see the ins and outs of lives, and live along with the people. That was the substance that I needed... and I didn’t want to leave.

Hmm... on that note, I am finishing this at O’hare airport, and my flight boards in 20 minutes, so I better pay my bill and get moving. Ooo... only two hours until I see Franke :) Continued next time...