What the FRICATIVE am i saying????

so all this week we've been doing language learning sessions which is learning techniques and tips to learning languages, phonetics, fricatives, nasals, consonants, vowels, and today we learned some Farsi. (sp?) (the language they speak in iran and some other places.) So, bascially this week i've been saying things like gagagaga and thathatha fafafafa nœnœnœnœ and allllll sorts of other unatural sounds. ohhhh so entertaining...and also makes you feel so ridiculous! but it has also been very draining. along with the extended class room time (9-4 now) it seems like there are a ton of deadlines and projects and presentations that need to be worked on. so right now, im a little overwhelmed and feel like a walking zombie. i actually need to stop writing this and go practice for a service we're leading at our korean church. finish in a few...so yes. 45 mins later...anyway, this week has been much more intense and draining, but also very good. it's hard to believe that this month is almost over! it's flown by! and i would have NEVER thought that i would say that "this month has flown by"...i mean it has and it hasn't. if that makes sense. but i need to finish this up to work on some stuff..if you remember, i would greatly appreciate your prayer! please pray for focus and understanding in the sessions and language learning, and focus and diligent-ness and not to be overwhelmed with all the projects and stuff i have to work on. and also that i can enjoy this last week and have fun times with the people i've built relationships with here. thank you SO much!! i can't wait to get home and see everyone! i miss ya'll very much! ok. later!

"Paris holds the key to my heart...."

....but not really. it was awesome though. the song is from anastasia and me and hannah were singing it the WHOLE time we were there! (and im pretty sure we drove jenni and abby crazy) but you don't say "paris" with the "s". you say it the french way which sounds like "pear-ee" it sounds a little better.. :) hahaha so. anyway. Paris. 24 hours in Paris. What can you do in 24 hours and Paris and barley keep your sanity? Well. Let me tell you. We left right after the worship service on Sunday and took the tram and metro to the bus station, checked in, and got on the bus. Let me just say that was one interesting bus ride, for sure. The ride that was supposed to take about 3 1/2 hours ended up taking about 5? hours. While trying to get out of Brussels, our bus driver honked the horn like 15 times. and im not exaggerating but one time he held it down for at least 10 seconds straight. and i never knew what the problem was. hmmm. anyway, after a rough trip we arrived in paris and went straight to see the eiffel tower!! it was beautiful!!!! every hour on the hour at night it lights up and flashes and blinks! it was breath taking!!! we took some pictures and walked around it and under it but didn't go up. Then we headed back to the metro and figured out (jenni figured out) how to get to our hotel. Just going to pause and say that Jenni was a MASTER MIND with the transportation! she got us everywhere we needed to go! thanks so much Jenni!!! anyway, we had dinner at like 10 at a cute cafe across the street from our hotel. the best part? FREE. WATER. Yes, my friends, free water is very hard to get in restaurants. And if you ask for water they always ask you "do you want the kind with gas?" or "the bubbly kind?" because here they offer just carbonated water (which i think is rather gross. but to each his own i guess) hahaha anyway, i got a croque which is basically a huge piece of toast with things on top. so mine had ham, tomatoes, melted cheese, and a fried egg on it and it came with lettuce and home made fries and REAL ketchup. and by real i mean ketchup that im used to. alot of ketchup here is either just sweeter than normal or has curry in it. doesn't quite taste the same. SO. then we went to our hotel and slept. cuz everyone needs sleep. even in paris. We got up and left about 8:30 the next morning, grabbed a pastry for breakfast, and headed to the eiffel tower again. :) This time we actually went up it! Yes, I walked the steps and didn't take the elevator! AHHH! it was soooo awesome!!!!! but the ABSOLUTE best part of it all....when we started up it was sunshiney and blue skies, when we got to the first level it was still kinda clear but we could some dark clouds coming. By the time we started climbing up to the 2nd level it was slighty snowing, and halfway up it was practically a blizzard!!!!!! we're talking a TON of snow!!! so then we got up to the second level and it was still snowing but not AS hard. so we took pictures, walked all around, and spent about 15 mins? up there..basically by the time we went down , it had started clearing up again. it. was. amazing. MOST DEFINITELY the highlight of my paris trip, and very up there on the highlight list of my whole belgium trip!!! :) so after that, we went to the arc of triumph, took some pictures and then went to Notre Dame. it was beautiful! there was this nice old man who had bread and gave us some to hold so all these cute little birds at it out of our hands! it was really cool! then we went on the inside which was magnificent. SO much detail and stuff!!! i can't imagine going to worship on a sunday in a place like that....so after that we went and got some lunch at a cute cafe then went to the Louvre and toured that for about 2 hours. I saw the Mona Lisa. :) and the aphrodite sculpture. 2 very famous arts. By the time we finished there, we were EXHAUSTED and it was time to catch the bus ride home, which was a much better ride than the way up. so. 24 hours in Paris. That's what it looked like for me. I had a FABULOUS time and was SO glad i decided to go!!!!!! :) God was so good and amazing with letting us figure out where to go, getting there, seeing all that we saw, keeping us safe, and giving us such AMAZING weather!! i mean seriously? a snow blizzard on the eiffel tower and awesome blue skies the same day??? THAT'S. AMAZING! ok. i shall stop blabbering now. hope this was somewhat legible... :)

oh yeah. and check out facebook for pictures of all this. more pictures than you probably want to see but pictures nonetheless.