LDS-Fest 2009

I have so much to catch up on and not enough time so I’ll just type like a madwoman and hope to hit the main points. A few weeks ago our ward hosted an activity called LDS-Fest for all the young adults in the North. I sang a few songs with one of the bands called “Talking to Annalisa” and had a great time! The band is partly members partly nonmembers but on the whole, everyone really enjoyed the activity! While there, I had volunteered to man one of the food stands and the craziest thing happened! I was handing out fruit salads as fast as I could and when I looked up at one of the people and our eyes met we both gasped and started talking at the same time! It turned out that Dennis, a friend I met at BYU a couple years ago has since moved to Belgium, had a day off work and randomly decided to come down to Lille for the music night. (See picture) When he was doing his exchange semester in Provo we hiked the Y and he had dinner with my family and I learned a lot about him. His dad is a diplomat in the Congo and it was too dangerous for him to live there so after joining the church he and his sisters moved to France. He is having a lot of success in his job and occasionally gets to speak English. Next is the picture with me and the three young brothers: They joined the church in January and have made a lot of life changes since. The two on either side of me are handicapped and all three are very sweet. Before the festivities started we took a big group picture of everyone who helped pull this night off: a lot of work went into the decorations. This weekend was also the same time that Kami finished her internship and left to travel around Europe with her mom. She thought I needed a souvenir picture of me working in my office, haha (I think I looked really tired that day). It sure seems weird without her here; the only time I speak English is if I get to talk to my family or Gavin. Work is getting busier but still going very well! I’ll close this post for now xo

Working alongside Aliocha Wald Lasowski!

Un grand bonjour. It has been an eventful week this week-Wednesday I went to Paris since I had been given tickets to Euro Disney. I had a blast but I wouldn’t really consider that worthy of my blog so I’ll move on. Earlier this week, a professor here in Lille that I’ve gotten to know, approached me. His name is Aliocha Wald Lasowski and is a very well respected author and philosopher, among other things. (See photo, however he looks older in reality) He had recently had an interview with Julie Butler, a professor from Berkeley, and to be kind had told her to answer his questions in the language she felt most comfortable in; thus, she chose to respond to the majority in English. Aliocha has read her books and wishes to include her thoughts in his own upcoming publication however he had a hard time understanding her so we set to work dissecting the interview. I must admit, this woman is obviously an intellectual and speaks with a vocabulary to be praised. To make matters worse there was a lot of background noise in the recording. Aliocha and I must have spent at least eight hours this week listening, rewinding, listening, notating, and listening again to what Ms Butler said, and today we finally came up with a final product that he will now attempt to reduce and incorporate into his work. Aliocha is such a well respected intellectual and philosophical professor in France that I consider it an honor to assist him in his work. I learned a lot by simply listening to him. As a gesture of thanks today, he brought me a copy of his most recently published book Commente l’enfance d’un chef de Jean-Paul Sartre with a kind note written inside.

Not a typical Monday...

Today was so much better than the typical Monday! There was a lot to do at work; primarily, the vice-dean, Céline Blondeau, is speaking at a conference tomorrow in Berlin and since she doesn’t speak German, she will be giving her PowerPoint in English. She is one of the few people in the department who speaks well yet she doesn’t feel confident. I went through her PowerPoint and corrected her grammar and helped her clarify things and I think she will present herself quite well. She is an incredibly accomplished woman with so much to offer, it’s a shame she’s never had the chance to get married. Later today, Stephanie Lecocq, a colleague offered Kami and me two tickets to Disneyland-Paris saying she wouldn’t be able to use them! They expire on Wednesday so we got online, got train tickets, and we leave in 48 hours! Haha… This evening I met Marie Van Peteghem at her office and we picked up her kids and went to Cédric and Véronique Lepoutre’s home. They had asked me if I would give a small English lesson to their two oldest children, Mannon and Charles, both 14 (see photo-no one was quite ready when it was taken). We spoke for two hours or so and I enjoyed it but I am absolutely exhausted! It’s unbelievable the amount of brain power it takes to translate every sentence you say twice. I would say, “First I would like you to present yourselves.” “D’abord, je veux que vous vous presentiez.” (Repeat the sentence in both languages) … “Describe your dream vacation to me: where, when, with whom?” “Décrivez les vacances de vos rêves: où, quand, et avec qui?” (Repeat again) I frantically copied down the words that were unfamiliar to them and their translations. It became easier to tell when they didn’t understand me: they would look at each other and start whispering in French and I would have them try and ask at least the part of the question they could. Charles spoke quickly but without enunciation and intonation so he will need to work on reading aloud to become more understandable, however, he did quite well for only a third year student. Manon understood well but needs to learn to put aside her perfectionist personality, dare make mistakes and learn more vocabulary, but she too did quite well for her level. They were very polite though I could tell when they were tired of trying. Luckily, we soon after sat down for dinner and it was delicious! Véronique had prepared a salad with apples and a type of bean that I didn’t recognize but tasted similar to a kidney bean. For the main course she made a ratatouille tart and a quiche tart. I am still in awe at how approachable the dean, Didier, is. He has a great presence and is so knowledgeable yet so genuine. Now that I know him I no longer feel intimidated by him and the same goes for Cédric. These two influential men and their wives kindly take as much interest in me as if I was an old family friend. It is flattering and I thoroughly enjoy their company! I’m absolutely exhausted…Bonne nuit xo

Mines of the North

Today was an excellent Sunday! This morning it rained the whole way to church, but luckily it let up by the time we finished. The meetings were so inspired today; a man with Parkinson’s disease spoke for a few minutes and though he was hard to understand, his testimony was strong. Following that, I had a humbling experience. I was jotting down some notes during a talk and the boy next to me, who is slightly mentally handicapped and was just baptized a couple of months ago, asked what I was doing. I told him I understand better if I write down the points that are being given. A few minutes later I noticed him whack his brother to get him to pay attention and my mind started wandering. He looked at me and said, “Hey, why aren’t you writing anymore? He’s saying something important!” I hurriedly got my mind back in gear: what a reminder by someone who is fascinated by every word of the gospel that’s spoken--the way it should be. After church, Bénédicte and Hubert, a colleague from work and her husband, picked Kami and I up and took us to their home for lunch. From the outside, the home looked ancient and ordinary; but when we went inside it was stunning! They bought the house from someone who restored it in 1930, but they have restored it themselves little by little and with a mix of “Art Deco” style and some modern touches. Their windows are done in stained glass and the back wall opens up entirely to the backyard. Her favorite color is blue and it seems to be the theme throughout her home. Her dishes are an azure blue print that reminds me of an old colonial print my mom loves. The French take pride in the fact that each piece of furniture or decoration has a story behind it. For example, in an obscure corner there was a little nightstand and the funny thing was that the books on the shelf are actually an illusion. It’s really just a painted board that opens up to a compartment where the bedpan was stored back in olden times before there were toilets in homes. After gawking at her home and sitting down for the aperitif, we began lunch. The first course was a green salad with grapefruit and little pieces of crab. The second course was rice and spinach cooked together. The third course was some sort of fish I had never had but was absolutely delicious! Bénédicte was so excited to have us taste cheeses we had never tried so she had gone out that morning and bought some of the lesser known types. They included a black pepper creamy cheese, one type with so many chunks of green mold I had to close my eyes to eat it--oddly enough, it tasted great--, a hard cheese with a bite, and then camembert to give us something familiar. Desert was crushed up meringue and raspberries with ice-cream. Everything was delicious! It was fun to once again see both husband and wife do the meal together, from start to finish. It’s a good thing that the French eat small portions or we wouldn’t have been able to try everything. After lunch we hit the road and after about 60 kilometers arrived at one of the oldest mines in the North. For many years the majority of the wealth was based on the carbon mines of northern France. The last one closed down in 2004, however there is still one that is open to visit on Sundays. It is located in a town called Lewarde and the tours are given by an old man who mined his entire life. He was a true “Chti” – which is what they call the northerners that have the strongest accents. They’re usually among the older generation and from the small country towns. Their pronunciation is incredibly difficult to understand and almost comical to listen to. Touring the mine through his stories was absolutely fascinating. We began where the miners came to check in each day and change their clothes. To conserve space, they hung their clothes from pulleys on the ceiling and showered underneath them. The next room was where lamps were distributed-we saw how the lamps evolved from a simple candle to oil lamps to the modern head lamps. Each morning when a miner took his lamp he would also take a token with a number. At the end of the day, if the women collecting them noticed that there were numbers missing it meant that there were still men stuck underground. Next we went to the room where the carbon was deposited and sorted through. This task was always done by the children, beginning at age 13. They sorted the pure carbon by hand from what they called “sterile” rocks. I found this interesting because next to the freeway, I have often seen enormous mounds of earth that I learned are deposits of unusable carbon from the mines. These heaps are called “terriles”, so I asked the guide if that was because they were filled with the “sterile” carbon and he said yes! and no one had ever made that observation before. The next part was the neatest as we descended underground to the mine in one of the cages. Once we got down there I learned that before electricity, horses were kept underground to pull the wagons. The shocking part though, is that they would leave the horses down there for 10-12 years or until they died; inhumane in my mind. They discovered that when they brought the horses back above ground they immediately lost their eyesight so, in the 1900’s, they began to wrap bands around the horses’ eyes and once above ground, they would take off one layer at a time to let them adjust. The old Chti miner explained a lot of the processes and how they evolved. He showed us some of the machinery and turned it on for a minute to show how loud it was. One woman asked if the miners eventually lost their hearing. He laughed and said, “Yes, when we went home and our wives asked us to clear up the dinner dishes.” Haha. Many of the warning signs were written in Arabic and when asked why, the miner replied that after the first generation of workers died of suffocation from “black lung,” they decided that they would hire more immigrant workers and several Arabs came to enlist. In 1906 there was a disastrous explosion that caused over 1000 deaths, most of which were unidentifiable. In the beginning, entire families were forced to work in the mines yet it was only the father who was paid. 62 percent of their income went to food for survival. However, there was beautiful art touching poetry that evolved from this time period as well. I learned so much from this fascinating visit and am thrilled I had the chance to visit somewhere so typically northern. Bonne nuit…

Saturday Sunshine in Lille

“A beautiful day in the neighborhood” as Mr. Rogers would say. I soaked in the sunshine all day long! Kami and I profited from finally having a weekend at home and walked to several of the places we hadn’t yet seen. On our way down the stairwell we realized that we’ve become quite endeared to the graffiti we pass, hence, the picture. We then walked to the City Hall in hopes to climb the belfry but discovered you must have a group reservation. We kept on our way and decided not to take any metros since the weather was so nice. Good thing-because we walked right into a strike! To the French, strikes are everyday annoyances, but to me they’re still exciting! Hundreds of workers were protesting having to work on Saturdays, to which I respond that I understand and support their fight against injustice ;). haha. Sooo kidding. The French complain about their 35 hour work weeks and measly 6 weeks of paid vacation each year and I have no sympathy. While continuing up what I’ve decided is my favorite street in Old Lille, “Rue Esquermoise,” the strangest thing happened. All of a sudden Kami and I were surrounded by a dozen young men with cameras while one, dressed ridiculously, asked if he could take our picture. I was shell-shocked for a minute and trying not to giggle seeing as he was wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants along with a hardhat and clown shoes. I’m sure I looked confused because he finally gave an explanation saying it was his “enterrement de la vie de jeune garçon aujourd’hui.” Literally, his “burial of his young-boy life,” more commonly known to Americans as his bachelor party. Once I understood that this was tradition for the groom-to-be to dress up and perform preset dares that his friends chose, it made a lot more sense. Apparently these parties often take place on Saturdays downtown and sure enough, we saw two more groups later this afternoon. I also passed a bride in a pink wedding dress looking like a melting pink cupcake and tired from the heat. Next, Kami and I crossed the city and headed into the Citadel, an enormous park that used to hold 28 fortressed towns and now is home to a zoo, a stadium, and lots of open forest area. I had to laugh when I saw a sign in the canal that lined the edges of the park: it said “Peche Interdite” “Fishing Forbidden.” I thought that seeing and smelling this water would be warning enough, but apparently the park authorities don’t think so. We walked around until our feet hurt and then headed for home.

June 12, 2009

A day of days! This morning grades went out to all the students and were posted and I saw everything from tears to skipping down the halls. The majority of the students did well but there was a handful of strugglers. I had a fourth interview with a student named Célestine who has her real interviews with her choice schools today. I hope she does well and can’t wait to hear how it went next week. I took a picture of her while she was preparing her summary and analysis for me. The second picture I posted is of a building I pass every day. Each time I walk past I say I’m going to take a picture and this time I finally stopped and did: I love everything about this house: the doors, the iron patterns, the color, the Flemish style, everything. After work I went to help paint decorations for our big ward activity next weekend. It will be called LDS-Fest and there will be bands playing and a picnic dinner. Before coming home and crashing in bed, Kami and I walked to Bankwok, a current favorite of mine. The food is all raw and you put everything you want in one bowl and then the chef cooks it in a wok with noodles and a really good sauce right in front of you. I asked the chef if he minded if I took his picture and he was thrilled, though the picture turned out a little more blue than the restaurant actually is. Kami and I ate in the park and then went home and crashed. (Next day) This morning I went for a little run around the streets near my neighborhood. It is a beautiful day so I’m headed out to explore more of the city…Bisous xo

Magnificent weekend with Angelique Derome

I spent a fabulous weekend with Angelique Derome and her family at their home in Old Lille! We walked home from work together and went to pick up her two kids from school. They are both bright little redheads and adorable. The oldest is named Léa and the younger, Sacha, 11 and 5 respectively. They both had fun personalities though Sacha warmed up more quickly to me. He told me detailed stories of his favorite parts of Harry Potter and it was so adorable, I couldn’t resist snatching a little video of it. Unfortunately I can’t rotate the clip but I thought I’d include it anyway. The first evening Angelique made a fancy meal starting with a tuna puff aperitif. Her husband was slightly disappointed when she said I didn’t drink, seeing as he had already splurged on nice champagne. The meal was delicious and it was delightful to hear about how they live and also about their interests. The cheese course contained four new types that I’d never tasted and three of which I loved. Maroilles is the typical cheese of Lille, very strong, and those who like it are true northerners. It grew on me after a few days however the cheese with the grey line down the middle had a strange and bitter taste. That evening we watched “Il était une fois…” – Enchanted – translated into French; even the songs! This was a treat for the children because they are rarely allowed to watch tv in the evenings. I slept on the very top floor of their beautiful two hundred year old home. In the morning I explored the house more and was fascinated by the many unique objects and antiques. Every painting in their home is an original; my favorite is one of a little cherub. They also own a wooden statue of a similar angel posed on a rod and stone. Both Angelique and her husband Cédric enjoy going to “braderies” and hunting for the treasures amidst the piles of junk being sold. They have some priceless objects which they never intend to sell such as a silver lamp that at one point was an ancient brass relic in a cathedral. When Cédric bought it, a silversmith offered to dip it in silver for him. He did so and then attached wires to turn it into a lamp and now it stands stunningly in their living room. Another of my favorite objects was a golden table with beautiful figures carved into the edges. Since they met twenty years ago, Angelique and Cédric have bought eleven apartments and houses, one at a time, and fixed them up to sell them for a profit. They finally saved enough to buy this home in a charming neighborhood on the Rue Royale in Old Lille, a dream for many Lillois. Saturday afternoon, they spoiled me and took me up to Bruges, Belgium. Though I’d been once before it was raining cats and dogs so this time it was splendid to be able to actually see the city! Upon entering we saw a flock of swans and several babies sitting near their mother. We made our way up and down the tiny streets, of course stopping for the world famous Belgian chocolate and hot chocolate (worthy of its title). The city of Bruges was in fact destroyed during the Second World War but while being rebuilt, it was decided to reconstruct it in its historic style. Thus, we still see the Flemish colors and architecture and stair-stepped roofs. (However, those, I learned, were actually brought with the Spanish influence when they came to conquer the North.) There are several artists who paint in the streets in hopes to sell their work. Finally, I admit that undoubtedly my favorite part of Bruges was our visit to Notre Dame de Bruges. The Cathedral holds Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child statue, a marvel to behold. Speaking is not allowed in this area and the sacredness of the theme of Mary and baby Jesus was moving. The statue was made of marble in 1504 and I was interested to learn that Michelangelo’s depiction of this scene differs significantly from earlier representations of the same subject, which, as I read, “tended to feature a pious Virgin smiling down on an infant held in her arms.” Here, instead, Jesus stands upright, almost unsupported, “only loosely restrained by Mary's left hand, and appears to be about to step away from his mother and into the world. Meanwhile, Mary does not cling to her son or even look at him, but gazes down and away, as if she knows already what is to be her son's fate.” An interesting commentary I thought.
At the end of a fabulous day we drove back to Lille and ate a delicious meal featuring escargots. I don’t know if I will ever crave these slimy snails drowning in garlic, however I managed to stomach three of them and have the shells and a picture to prove it. Sunday was Mother’s Day in France and the primary sang an adorable medley. After church we walked around Old Lille and through the Hospice Comtesse, an old hospital that was stopped in 1721 and turned into a museum. My favorite piece was a striking old globe painted with both geographical and artistic images. I would put it in my house in a heartbeat. All in all it was an exciting weekend full of discoveries! A bientot…

4/6/09 or 6/4/09 depending on the country :)

Bonjour. I’m getting more and more behind on my blog as the days go on. I wish I could keep track of every experience but it just isn’t possible. I’ve been asked what my internship is exactly and where I am so I’ll give a brief overview. I am at the Université Catholique de Lille, a private Catholic university in the North of France in a city called Lille. It is said that Lille is the fifth biggest city in France but that is only if they include the dozens of suburb towns. Lille itself is a student town and the population increases exponentially when the semesters begin. More specifically, I am interning in the FLSEG which literally translates as the “school of liberal economic sciences and management.” In this department I have two responsibilities; first and foremost: to prepare the graduating students for their English interviews that they will have to enter graduate schools and masters programs. I love doing this because it gives me a chance to meet students from everywhere and help them build their confidence as we have several practice interviews and they progress. For example, one of my students, Elyse, just came for her fourth interview and she is starting to understand the texts we discuss so much better, as well as me when I ask her questions. We’ve been working on the “th” sound so she can say “this and these” instead of “zis and zeese” and she’s coming right along. Some have a better level than others and I interview them accordingly. My second mission is to help as an administrative assistant to Dean Van Peteghem and his two vice deans. This is also fun but in a much more challenging way; I am overloaded with new information every day and sometimes feel like I will never understand how this business school works. However, I am getting to the point now where I can answer some of the phone calls and help about half of the students who come in with questions. Besides this I’ve been asked to start helping translate the university’s website into English. The programs here range from three year degrees in economic-finance, management, or accounting and auditing to masters degrees in all three, as well as what is called “prepa-commerce”- basically an accelerated bachelor’s degree that prepares the student for graduate studies simultaneously. All students are required to do a 1-2 month internship in the summer so it’s been fun for me to see where the students are going when they come to get the dean’s approval. I feel privileged to have this internship seeing as this is one of the top business schools in France and one of the best private universities on the whole.
Yesterday, there was a “Colloque Juridique” conference where donors to the university were invited and I was asked to help guide the guests. The woman in charge said it was a good idea to have me speaking with the donors to show the diversity of their program. She was right; they asked where my accent came from and what I was doing here and were interested. Funnily though, I was speaking with one of the men who donates a lot each year and she purposefully came up and said, “Oh I see you’re practicing your English?” and he responded, “Oh no, your intern speaks wonderfully. We were just talking about what a neat exchange this is for her to work here.” Haha, I hope I didn’t look confused as she set him up for that compliment. I am so thrilled that I’ve finally got a handle on things now. Too tired to finish my thoughts, I'll wrap up tomorrow. Bonne nuit.. xo

Hardelot Cape

What a weekend! This weekend I went with Dean Didier Van Peteghem, his wife Marie, and their family to Hardelot, a beach town at the tip of France. I had such a great time it was hard to come back! We left Saturday afternoon and the drive took about two hours but the scenery was so gorgeous I didn’t get any reading in. When we arrived we instantly put on our hiking shoes and went up the coast of what is called “Cap gris-nez” literally the grey-nosed cape. The cliffs dropped so far that no one with vertigo should walk here. We passed a lighthouse as well as several ruins of German war barracks buried deep in the hills so they could catch anyone trying to escape from the coast. On a clear day you can see the coast of England, but that also means bad whether is coming. I also learned that we say “Okay.” because during the war the American soldiers would wire back and give the number of fatalities – 0 Killed – thus O.K. I included a little video to show the windy coast of “la manche” – the body of water between England and France. Didier and Marie in the video were telling me that this passage is the highest trafficked waterway in the world and there are very distinct lanes and times that boats can cross perpendicular to the steam liners sailing through. Marie also told me that there are people who train to swim from Calais, France (near here) to Dover, England and several actually succeed.
After a couple hours we came back to the villa and set things up. When the Germans occupied France during the Second World War they cleared everything out of their way so they could see the coast so this home was razed. Since it was reconstructed a few generations ago it looks a little more modern than the others but there was so much room for all of us. The next morning I woke up early to go with Marie to town to get baguettes and had a fun time talking with her. A little while later she took me to what the French call a “braderie” and the closest thing I can think to compare it to would be a city-wide yard sale, only a little more glamorous. All sorts of antiques are sold and the street is crowded. I bought a used French best-hits CD and a tiny bottle of trésor perfume since I could smell it when I passed and it instantly reminded me of when my mom wore it when I was little. Marie bought a card game called Indice for us to play that night. While walking, I saw a pair of identical twin ladies linking arms and they were a hoot! They wore matching skirt-suits and matching white shoes, same hairdo and lipstick. I tried to be discreet while I took a picture. When we came back, we did something I never dreamed I’d ever do: we went fishing for shrimp! Marie put her wetsuit on and drug the shore and she’d bring the net back every few minutes so we could “trilller” – which means to sort the good shrimp from the crabs etc… The shrimp jumped around in my hand and it tickled so I helped for a few minutes and then started taking pictures. At one point I picked up a little bubble looking thing and asked what it was; Didier told me it was a jellyfish egg! Sure enough, when I looked closely I could see the tiny form inside. When we went back they showed me how to cook the shrimp after rinsing them. We put them immediately into boiling water and when they pass out and die they turn pink and float to the top of the pan so I skimmed them off the top and into a bowl. Then when we sat down to eat, it was certainly a new and unusual experience for me to take off the heads, tails, and outer hard skin but once I accomplished several they were delicious! Unforgettable. I enjoyed seeing Didier in a different setting other than the dean's office; he's much more relaxed when he's away from work. He, like most French men, likes to cook and spent nearly as much time in the kitchen as Marie. Later that day we went to the sand dunes and played some games including Pétanque: the most popular outdoor game in France. I think in the US we call it :botchi ball” but the point is to hit a little ball and whoever lands closest with their metal pétanque ball wins. Needless to say I have no concept of distance and my team lost :) however we had a good laugh! On Monday we went to visit a baroque style castle which are much rarer then the castles from the middle ages. By the 17th century people stopped building the traditionally fortress-structured chateaus. They just finished restoration and cleaning so the walls were white and the roof was in good condition- I really liked the silhouette of the roof spires and it was too bad we couldn’t visit the inside since they close fairly early. The funniest thing happened-when we pulled into the parking lot of the castle, apparently we crossed one of the earth's longitudinal lines because the time changed to England's time zone! Sure enough, when we drove out again, it switched right back. Funny little moment.. I did spend some more time on the beach; the first picture is of me and a girl named Ester. She was born in Equatorial Guinea but has lived in Valencia, Spain most of her life. When she arrived in Lille on "Irasmus" (a type of year-long exchange program) her housing had fallen through so Didier's mother welcomed her into her home. It has turned out to be a nice experience for both of them now, seeing that Madame Van Peteghem is no longer lonely and Ester speaks French quite well! Ester and I had a fun time talking on the beach; she had never heard of Mormons and had heard Marie talking to me and wondered what they were. I told her I was Mormon and gave her a few quick points of what we believe. I have learned that I have to approach discussing religion very carefully otherwise some people become uncomfortable. Luckily this time though Ester was so curious; she apologized for asking so many questions about what we believe(little does she know we love to share the answers!) I asked if she wanted to read our 13 main points and she was interested in the Articles of Faith and asked tons of questions. The phrase “laying on of hands” didn’t make sense to her so I tried to explain the confirmation and then she said the 2nd Article of Faith was totally opposite from Catholicism and she thought our version was right; how could we be punished for Adam and Eve’s choices? The next day she must still have been thinking about it because she said, “Haleigh I just remembered something – I once learned that a child develops all his or her habits, mindsets, and lifestyle patterns between birth and age 7 so it makes so much sense that your church baptizes at age 8!” haha, I agreed that it made a lot of sense :). I asked her if she would like me to get her her own copy of the Book of Mormon to satisfy her curiosity and she thought for a minute and said “Why not?” So Sunday I’m going to get one and mark it up for her, I’m really excited! I hardly ever get to share this much without it turning awkward…I hope she continues to be interested. She is a neat girl with a lot of potential. Well, I haven’t covered everything but these were the highlights of the trip and I’m so thrilled I could spend the weekend in Hardelot. Until later…