Quick Update: Day 14...

Where I talk about how I came to Lyon, France, and how I met Sam, and that this cat really loves me, and such and such...

You know, I thought that today I would sit down and write all about how my life got twisted upside and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there...

Whao. sorry about that. Anywho, I thought I'd finally have the chance to write all that has happened, but I realized that I can't really give it the deserved mental energy. I've been thinking in both French and English and found that my English has suffered un peu (a little, en francais) because of it.

So I'll give you bullet points:

On Saturday, day 11.

- Teddie and I left Interlaken after some early morning shopping.
- Arrived in Geneva, figured out the trains and got to the airport hotel we were staying at.
- Met up with mon amie (my friend) Sarah and her two friends from Tufts, about an hour and a half after we had intended. We owe her an apology for the delay, but hey it worked out :-)
- Toured around Geneva with us five (Teddie, me, Sarah, Glenn, and Julie), seeing some beautiful sights. Eventually, we got some coffee, then asked around until we found out about Carouge.
- Went to Carouge for dinner and then some drinks at what apparently turned out to be the best bar in Geneva (not sure what qualifies it as such, but someone said that so... must be true :-) )
- After this, all five of us squeezed into the Double hotel room that we had, and we even got some good complimentary breakfast in the morning for all of us. Hurray for cheating the system!

Sunday, Day 12 of trip (for Teddie, day 17):
- Went to Church Service at the St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva. It's an awesome place, the service itself was interesting, protestant. I'll have some reflections on it later after the trip. But I could almost understand it, especially towards the end, as my comprehension of French got better and better. That and I started to understand the gist of the sermon, so I think I was able to put words into context clues etc.
- Met up with Glenn and Teddie after Sarah Julie and I got out of the service, and Teddie and I headed out for the hotel.
- Said goodbye to Teddie after using the internet for a bit. This is where I realized that I had very little money left, and that there was no easy destination for me to go to.
- Met Sarah and her friends at the park of the mont-blanc bridge about 45 minutes later than I said I would. They were planning on leaving too... phew!
- Said goodbye to them anyway :-) I'll be hiking with at least Sarah on Friday.

Things get interesting
- With nowhere to go, nobody to go with, no plans, and
very little money, I walked around for a bit and eventually laid down in the park. I pulled out the tin whistle that I had bought in Ireland and started playing as I thought through what I could do next. Nothing was going to be cheap. I actually thought about getting my flight changed to that evening or the next day and spending the time at home. Lord knows that I could use the extra week and few days in Reading or Newmarket working, networking, fundraising, and taking care of the future.
- At the end of my wits, and after I decided that sitting still was no longer for me, I wanted to pray. And I wanted to do it outloud. So I did the one thing that I knew would allow me to pray outloud in a public place without seeming crazy. I went to play the piano. Check out jouezjesuisavous.com
- Playing the piano turned out to be a great idea. Helene, a local woman in her late twenties who works at an advertising firm, was taking photos of the pianos around the city. We started chatting afterward, and she invited me with her to the jetee (jetty) where people swim etc. (really cool place and idea), and bought me a drink.
- From there, she invited me to come check out this moroccan slash columbian-african culture night in the city, where there would be dancing, story telling, and afro-columbian music. It was awesome, the food was awesome, and Helene was very nice.
- Before that she had helped me find a youth hostel, for some money but it was better than nothing.
- At the culture night (which was in some yurts off the side) I met this guy Sam. He was one of the musicians, but he is my age, and he is part-American. He told me that he lives in Lyon and he offered me his couch to stay on for free. (!!!)

The rest of the day and Monday were simple. I spent the majority of monday hanging out at the Brunch, which was a continuation of that cultural festival, with Helene and Sam and a few of the people who I had met the night before. Then, I went to the train station, bought myself a ticket, was late,and so hung out in the park nearby. There was this little kid... I'll copy a facebook message I sent my friend Nicole (who was interested in the kids in Europe)...



"But on a more serious note, there are so many cute/adorable European kids it is incredible. I was talking to this little black french kid as he played ...with a fountain... I thought he was going to just fill up his cup that he had, but instead he filled it up,emptied it out, balanced it on the fountain, put it on one part then the other, saw how big a distance he could get from the spout to the cup,etc.etc. I still had to fill up my water haha...
AFter I did, he still played around in it. And the whole time, he was sort've doing the "i need to pee" dance... haha" 




So I made it to Lyon, made it Sam's before him, met his flatmate, and am there now... God is good, loving life,and prayers DO get answered. Amen!


Thinking a lot about everyone at home,everyone who is in trouble, and every penny that I've spent here that I'm not sure if I'll ever donate as much to a good cause. That's something I'll be thinking about and praying about a lot.


With love,
~ Sean