River Walk

I like to walk along the river in the evening. As I am a little under the weather this week, I have to settle for just looking at my pictures. This first picture is on the way to Jeumont, the town to the east. The woodsy path feels secluded. Ducks live in the river and so do river rats (I've seen one swimming toward shore, but I haven't been able to take a picture of one yet).This next picture is looking west toward the town of Boussois. It's about a 35-minute walk away (at a medium pace). There are spots along the riverbank where locals have cut away the vegetation in order to have a place to sit while fishing.

With lots of rain and warmer weather, the wildflowers are in bloom.
I like to stop and admire this tree because it's so different from what I'm used to.I think the coloring on the snail's shell is unique.

Un Petit Jardin

After my walk this evening, I took a picture of the apartment. Our next door neighbor likes to park in front of our door. You can see my bedroom window at the top.


Kevin & Debbi wanted to have a vegetable garden, so Kevin (with help from Peter Kapitaniuk) did the planting. The corn is the only item planted from seed (Thanks, Mark!).

not part of the vegetable garden, but it's my contribution to the yard

Ministry in Lille

I travelled to Lille with the last team here (from Manhatten Beach -- Journey of Faith church). We met up with France Pour Christ missionaries in Lille who work with university students. Every Sunday afternoon, they go over to the university fields where it's open soccer games. They join in to get to know the people. I took advantage of the time to practice taking action shots with my camera. Let's just say I need more practice!

a fairly decent action shot!

more of the game

I like this shot because you can see Jeremiah (green shirt), Bill (long-sleeved blue shirt), and Amanda (only girl in picture! Kim, from JOF, is in the one above) from Journey of Faith, and Nehemiah, Pascal, and Eddie (middle upper right) from France Pour Christ.

"American Night" meal: homemade pizza and salad

Some of the team eating dinner

Dave (from university ministry) and Kareem (soccer player guest) eating pizza

backyard volleyball

BLF Europe -- Printshop

My daily commute to the printshop comprises of walking down the front steps of the apartment, crossing the street, and walking through the BLF parking lot to get to the front door.

The vehicle on the far right is referred to as the Combo. When available, I can use it as means of transportation.

Notice the bright blue sky. The weather is always changing. While there were several days of warm weather right after I arrived, most of the days have been cool. It rains often, which is a big change from the southern California weather I've known all my life.

# 18

Here is a brief tour of the apartment where I am living. I have yet to take a picture of the front!

front door and entry of living room

living room (looking from the doorway)

dining and hallway leading to kitchen and bathroom

kitchen

the rest of the kitchen

bathroom and laundry room

stairs (second set) leading to bedroom

my bedroom

dresser, chair, radiator (heating), and fan (cooling)

closet and desk

(the closet is narrower than the clothes hangers, so it's a good thing I didn't bring many clothes!)

back of apartment

backyard

The apartment where I am living is located in Marpent, France, a small town east of Maubeuge, just a few minutes drive from the Belgian border.

My room is on the second floor (or third depending on where you are from), below the roof. The window faces south. Here is the morning view. Just before the freeway on the right, there is a small friterie. (A friterie is a place to buy frites -- fries. Frites actually come from Belgium, not France, but they are very popular in this area. Typically, mayonnaise is the sauce of choice to accompany frites, but there are many other options including ketchup.) I have yet to try the local spot.