Second week with the crazy Fau family :)

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I think I am beginning to feel the stress of being in a house with 4 young kids - even as I write this one of them is balling their eyes out - it's the most annoying noise ever!! And there aren't many doors in this house that actually close properly so it can be hard to escape the noise sometimes. But God is good and although there have been some difficult moments this week I am beginning to see why He brought me here.

On Monday I gave my first English lesson to the juniors - a class of 9 boys and 1 girl (Anaice - the daughter from my family). They are a nice class and the teacher, Benedicte is lovely. I was quite nervous at the start when a sea of expectant faces looked up at me and it finally sank in that I was going to have to teach these kids something without any teaching experience and a limited amount of French - if only my old French teacher could see me now! He'd get such a shock!

Once I'd gotten over my nerves and figured out how to write on the blackboard without the chalk breaking in my hand I think the lesson went fairly well. I taught them how to say their name and age and some basic adjectives such as happy, sad, brave, big etc. I actually began to enjoy it once I'd gotten into my authoritative mode and put my 'Maitrise' hat on.

After the 45 minute lesson I spoke with Patrick the headmaster and he told me that the La Maternelle (the 4-5yr olds) would really appreciate my help every Monday and Friday afteroon - I'm happy that there will be more for me to do now.

In the afternoon I walked to the local supermarket, LeClerc and bought some much needed essentials. On the whole the weather has been great which means I can escape from the house for solitary walks when I want to. (It also means my feet have gone very tanned because I practically live in my flip flops). It's not much fun having no one to talk to and I've had some really diffcult moments when I've realized just how alone I am. But thankfully I am a person who doesn't mind their own company. I think I would have found things much more difficult here if I wasn't. It's very hard not being able to have a conversation with someone in your own language and all the things I want say usually just stay inside my head - I think that could be part of the reason why I always feel so tired - I have to think so much more.

On Tuesday I didn't feel well so stayed in bed and rested for most of the day. I cried a lot but I think that was just because of tiredness and I had no one to give me a hug or talk to me - things which I welcome especially when I'm sick.

Wednesday was a difficult day because I didn't do much. The family had planned on taking me to a medieval chateau which I'd really been looking forward to but then Cedric decided to go and see his brother so we had to change our plans. I felt really bored and fed-up. I kept wondering what I'm doing here and whether I'm just wasting my time here. It was very frustrating and the only answer I got from God was to wait and trust Him. That's a very difficult thing to do especially with the prospect of spending a whole year of my life in a foreign country where I hardly know anyone. But like I said, God is good.

After a frustrating and boring time in the house Laetitia decided we should all go to the park - this may sound like a simple and fun thing to do but with four kids it's more like a trekk into the Amazon rainforest.

At 17:30 I had to meet Benedicte, the teacher whose class I'm teaching English too. She wanted to give me some resources and lesson ideas. She'd been to the library and got some english teaching books - I think they'll be really useful but it might be a bit of a misson trying to translate all the teacher's notes into English.

Thursday was another uneventful day - I went for a walk to the shop LeClerc again to buy some pens for to help me with my lesson preparation. On the way I'm convinced I witnessed a drug deal - a man was walking in front of me and as he passed this other man just randomly waiting on the side of the road, they shook hands and I'm pretty sure I saw a white package being exchanged. I got a bit worried that they might know I saw so I crossed to the other side of the road to avoid being shot. When I told Laetita she didn't seem very surprised. She told me that Cedric had seen some stolen cars in the one of the garages next to which we live - both of which are ran by Muslims. On my way back from the shop I noticed a police car cruising round the back of the garages.

Friday afternoon was my first time helping in the La Maternelle. My first task was to supervise three of the kids whilst they slept! When the teacher told me that I couldn't believe it - kids in Wales aren't allowed to sleep! They had little camp beds and blankets and cushions and I had to read them a little story. When that didn't work I had to turn on some soothing music. It took ages for them to settle down - I was tempted to lie down on one of the beds myself to show them how to go to sleep. When the teacher came in an hour later all three of the kids were sleeping - she couldn't believe it and praised my skills - I didn't tell her that I'd prayed for the Holy Spirit to make them sleep.

When I was let off my supervising siesta duties I got to look after the kids whilst they played - one of the little girls, Sofia treated me like I was her long lost best friend and didn't stop chatting to me and giving me occasional hugs. After playtime the kids got to eat (I'd do anything to go back in time and go to this school) and then it was sport time. When I told the teacher that I didn't have much to do at home she said that there might be more for me to do in the class - I'm beginning to see how there is a room for me to serve here but perhaps God didn't want to give me loads to do straightaway. Patrick has also suggested me helping the english teacher with the older students but to be honest I think I would rather work with the little kids - their French is just as bad as mine and they'll talk to me even if I don't understand a word of what they're saying.

Saturday was a sluggish day - Laetita and Cedric clearly had no energy to do anything so after a dull morning I suggested taking the kids to the park to let them and the baby sleep. They liked the sound of this. On the whole the children behaved well for me although Raphael has a serious inability to listen properly. By the time we got back I was exhausted and any future desires of becoming a parent had been seriously weakened.

That evening we went to a small prayer meeting at a lady's house. We were meant to have gotten there for the food part only but there was still parying to do - praying with kids in the room is impossible and entertaining for a spectator which happened to be me because I didn't understand what they were praying about. The food part was great though and made up for everything else. But by the end of the evening I was tired, fed-up and a but lonely. I hate not being able to be involved in conversations and addressed as an outsider - as the anglaise (which I'm not because I'm Welsh but French people don't seem to realize that Wales and England are two separate countries).

Despite the highs and lows of the week I'm beginning to understand why God wants me to here - that he wants to reveal himself to me as my father is clear - I've learnt a lot from seeing how the kids interact with their dad. Last night in the prayer meeting one of the women kept addressing God as Papa and then it hit me that's what I can call him too! I've tried Dad and Daddy but it doesn't work so from now on it's going to be Papa God 😊

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