Our Spur of the Moment Trip to Brussels

November 5th. It was just our average Sunday. We woke up at 7:30 am to get ready for our 8 o'clock ride to church (so grateful for the family that gives us rides each week- they keep us active haha). It's been hard for me to stay motivated to go to church here...the early morning wake up and Rusty's 8pm Saturday night games are not a good combination, and I miss being able to understand what people are saying, especially since we arrive 15 minutes early and everyone is chatting. And then there's the bisous. Every single person in the ward has to give everyone else kisses on the cheek. I used to think if I snuck into Relief Society (which we have the first hour), I could avoid some of the kisses, but they will find anyone and everyone they haven't kissed, even if it's the last hour of church. It's actually kind of funny. 

I don't mind the kisses...well they're not even actual kisses, [usually] it's just touching cheeks and making kissing sounds. They do it to say hello and goodbye, so we adjusted pretty quickly...When I first met Rusty's teammates they would go in for the cheek kisses as I would stick my hand out for a handshake lol. It made me feel so formal. They did the kisses in Greece too, I had just forgotten about it. But even with the early Sunday mornings, the language barriers, and all the kisses, I am so grateful for our ward out here, and every member is so kind! We definitely owe our translator, Irene, who translates all three hours for us!

So anyways, we made it through the first hour of church. During the second hour, I saw that Charles- our friend from BYU who is playing basketball in a nearby city, had his girlfriend, Ester, in town from Utah. I was so happy to have a girlfriend to speak English with. They invited us to go up to Brussels after church. Woohoo! Going to church paid off ;) We went home, changed, they picked us up, and off we went. 

We got our waffles, frites, and chocolate (as you can see in the pics, we were usually eating haha), strolled the streets, and ate dinner at a Thai place. It was such a fun, last minute trip to Brussels! Thanks for letting us crash your trip Ester and Charles!

  

Thanksgiving in France

I have come to really cherish American traditions. Here in Cambrai, the people, well, they aren't very open-minded. It's as if they are in a little French bubble; any influence from a foreign culture might just pop that bubble, and then how would they survive?! They often tell Rusty and I to speak French because we are in France, and do they care to hear about any American traditions? Absolutely not! This French-focused attitude made it hard to get really excited for Thanksgiving. But, the show must go on and Rusty and I are not the type to let a Thanksgiving pass without feasting on the usual foods, so we invited teammates, friends, and the American missionaries from our ward over for a Thanksgiving lunch.

Unfortunately, after searching high and low for a whole turkey, we came up empty handed. So we ate turkey breast, and stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and crepes- an addition from Rusty's teammate and his fiance who are also our neighbors! The pumpkin cake was compliments of Kirsten again this year, since she is nice enough to fulfill our canned pumpkin and chocolate chip requests whenever she comes to visit!

Of course the narrow-minded French description is a generalization. We have met some really great people here who have gone out of their way to help us. They have become great friends of ours and we feel lucky to have them in our lives.

The holidays just always make me miss home. Although it would be nice to be with our family, I am grateful to have these experiences. Getting to explain Thanksgiving multiple times (whether people really care to hear it or not lol) is like a constant reminder of how grateful I am for my family, Rusty, our traditions, America...and everything else I have been blessed with. And, I am so happy we have been able provide so many people with their first Thanksgiving! 

Canal de l'Escaut

Rusty and I spent our first day here in Cambrai walking the pathway along the canal. I am so happy we live close to it. Sure, it's no beach, but when you want somewhere a little more peaceful, it definitely beats the streets of the city. Plus the passerby's are a little more friendly...my smile is returned about 60 percent of the time instead of the normal 30. I even got a yelled "Bonjour!" from an elderly man passing by on his bike. 

September 15th (Our first day here)

Pictures I took on my jog a few weeks later...

Fall Time! (November 21st)

Musee de Cambrai

We have been trying to take advantage of Rusty's free time by exploring our little city. There is so much to do here, it's great! Thirty historical monuments, 3 massive cathedrals, a river walk (along the canal), gardens, forests, a museum...the list goes on. Have I convinced anyone to come visit? ;)

We recently spent a rainy Friday night at the Musee de Cambrai. The museum was much bigger than expected. We perused the four levels up until closing time. We had only come in about an hour and a half before it closed, so we asked if we could come back in the morning and to my surprise (I always brace myself for the "It's not possible" response that is said way too often out here), they said yes! There were no signs in English, so they gave us a book to borrow. We spent so much time flipping through the hundred pages to find whatever we were looking at, that our visit took longer than expected. We went back the next morning, got our book again, and set out to read all we could- things definitely aren't as interesting when you have no idea where they are from.