la suisse

oh yes it has been about two weeks BUT here are the AWESOME amazing pictures from our trip to the ALPS!!!! whoo hoo

we went skiing! and it was allison, tabitha, marisa, andi and jennifers first time to ski! THEY DID GREAT THOUGH....once they got down the mountain....hehehe but they did do really great....ended up with some bruises....tabitha had a HUGE purple and green one on her thigh!!! but in the end WE SKIIED IN THE ALPS! HELLO

one of the funniest things of the day was allison and me were going down the mountain (i was trying my hardest to teach her the little i know) and she would just ZOOM down the mountain! and then i would see this PUFF of snow from allie smashing into the snow.....she was such a good sport! and would just laugh it off (but it did hurt)....the best fall though was when i saw the puff and came up over the hill and there was tabby just sitting on the side of the run laughing at allison....allie lifted up her head and was like "tabby!? is that you?" hahaha it was classically amazing! tabby had been sitting there for a few minutes because she'd been going down the mountain BY HERSELF!!!! her first run down!

it was funny funny funny

and the mountains were BEAUTIFUL so great! there is no way to describe them!

here are a few pictures to document this awesome experience!




here's allie, anna and tabby--oh looking good girls!!!


here's some people on a ski lift......i thought they were sally, tabby and allison.....but i was wrong




this is where allison was most of the day....in the snow....hahahaha



sitting just BASKING in the mountains!.....oh allie what is that face?!? she is so silly.



the SUISSE flag!!!


THERE ARE MORE PICS COMING!!!! the internet is spazing out!

love for the moment!

the swiss kiss the cheek THREE TIMES! haha

soo switerzland was AWESOME we left last thursday and just got back tonight---MONDAY!!!! wow it was crazy and random and frustrating and awesome! not all at the same time (wow what a moment that would have been!)

but it was amazing

and do not fear more information/poems/stories/laughs will follow
AND don't forget pictures!

for the moment i MUST take a shower....trains are not the cleanest places! especially the paris metro....ewww hahaha

you are all LOVED and i LOVE your comments! they seriously make my day! (remember EVERYONE even if you don't have a blog can leave comments!!!!)

love and kisses (three of them!)

--carol <><

LYON.....wow going straight definatly has a different meaning in france

(inside the basillica in lyon, france)

hello all of my loves, hope you are all doing well: here's an update from across the big BLUE!

SOOOO we took a trip to Lyon this weekend which was AWESOME and a real experince haha

we took the train from Reims to Paris THEN had to go through the Paris metro to the other train station to catch the train to Lyon......we did this with our packs....so there was like a huge line of 14 kids running through the metro with these AWESOMELY HUGE PACKBACKS ON! i bet we looked pretty sweet! hahaha

so to tell you about the weekend i am going to use simple and amazing phrases from this weekend....a bit of a poem really.....here goes:

trains, fast, homework....yeah right, tabby got sick....not fun, french infomericials are the best, the paris metro is crazy nasty yet sorta fun, small showers, and small hotel rooms, biology at night--blah, french coffee yes please, lyon has alot of hills, the bascillica in lyon is AWESOME....alas no pictures inside....well ones with flashes anyways, jumping pictures are FUN...but can hurt your back OUCH!, hearing madame sing opera in a old roman ampatheahre=awesome, having your friends sing and dance so much that other people take a video of it=priceless, singing "eldewiess" from the sound of music (again in the ampatheathre) with asaian tourist snapping photos....again amazing.

ferras wheels....fun...but high, scary workers hitting on you in french...so you pretend to speak spainish.....hahaha, sandwiches, paying to use the bathroom...or cheating the systerm---anners, being tired and grumpy, asking for directions--way more than once, finding the opera house FINALLY then staying only a second to do what--watch break dancers and talk to french teenagers, starbucks! yes please....long lines....ummm no.

french church members awesome, staying in a french home with sally, anners and marissa UMMM NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE, dinner amazing...and large...unexpected, speaking only in french....wow i feel dumb, chocolate is a MUST when we go to switerzland, french comercials are really weird, trying to go to sleep ahahaha yeah right, watching marissa climb up on a bunk bed--amazing, A TWO AND HALF HOUR LONG SERMON/LESSON ALL IN FRENCH---exhausting, lunch with the church members so humbling, they are wonderful, train=sleep and frustration stupid packs are so big, paris metro WOW THAT WAS FAST, train to reims, HOME amen

sally+carol+little sleep=the best conversations EVER!

hahaha hopefully you got some of that....atleast you got the feeling of how crazy and fun packed our weekend was! hahahaha now for a few choice pictures to mirror the weekend.





waiting to get on our FIRST TRAIN...with our good ole packs!!!



on the train from reims to PARIS....with a man ready with his ticket lurking behind us hahaha



the good ole group in front of st. john's cathedral in lyon
LOVE the big red doors!



we stopped to look at the view on our way up the hill!!!! we are SO CUTE hahaha



still walking up the HUGE HILL to see lyon from an AWESOME point in the city.....and me and allie are "pulling" tabby up the hill hahaha sorta



this is lyon from the top of the HUGE hill by the basillica....really smoggy....third largest city in FRANCE



good ole jumping pic at the basillica!!! whoo hoo go me, anns and sally!



the roman ampatheathre where we sang!!!! and madame sung opera for us!



about to get on the ferras wheel....this is about when those worker guys started talking to us....hahaha



the ferras wheel!!! whoo hoo fun times fun times




freaking OUT on the ferras wheel...notice my strong grip....and marissa and allison are doing JUST FINE! hahaha



yeah i DID IT I DID IT!!! I RODE THE FERRAS WHEEL!!!!



the "six of us" just a hanging out in lyon...this is a bridge over the rhone river....pretty sure



laughing at everything at our host families house!!!!! we are so crazy!



our "family" in lyon......issac and his wife mirland!!! they were AMAZING....and he preached the sermon that morning! (i'm sure it was awesome....only got about 1/3 of what he said!) hahaha



walking in the metro somewhere (aren't we SO CUTE)....ready to be home....our home away from home atleast!!!!

hope you enjoyed!!!

love, kisses and prayers

caroline <><

the days we will know as Reims

soooo living in a foreign country is cool
hahaha it isn't as different as i thought it would be...but then it is TOTALLY different from my life in searcy/arkansas.
you aren't as ready to get up and go--go eat go play go to the movies because everything is in a different language...not that i do not understand but i am not confident in my ability to respond hahaha SO i am hesitant to actually go into places...esp. restaurants.

meals are interesting...we cook our own meals WHICH is awesome but we more just kinda snack and then during dinner have like pasta hahaha
perhaps we've discovered a new diet plan---study abroad.....or we will get better at cooking and eating more healithy....hahaha

classes are interessant....we ride the bus to this international students facility like 5-8 minutes bus ride (not long at all) and we have classes in this little room. three of my classes are in a row...so i sit in the same seat for three hours in a row...hahaha but hey you push on!

the hardest class is biology...which i don't even have a real teacher for!!! we do it on a cd, that has slides and vocal explanations....THE LESSONS ARE LIKE AN HOUR PLUS LONG!!!! then you have to take an online quiz! it is just crazy.
and we have these extra supplimental materials that we have to read....but when.....we have NO IDEA....hopefully it will change and we will be told when to read them

hahaha anywhoo i think it's high time for some PICTURES SO we went and explored some of reims today after church (which was at 2 o'clock because long story short john, our only boy, had trouble breathing last night and went to the emergency room so we moved church back...he's fine now!!! just a fun experience in a french hospital)

AND originally we were going to go all together after our group church to MASS AT THE CATHDRAL....so that was out....BUT they were like you can go only if you want to....so me and 5 other girls went! IT WAS AMAZING!!!! so cool ok...

here are a few pictures of that exploration ENJOY




we bought crepes YES you have to THIS IS FRANCE...mine had nutella....a french staple!!! hahaah it was WONDERFUL...messy but awesome



there is this amazing two story carousel in the middle of town and we walked over to take some pictures (crazy americans always taking pictures) and this nice french man asked if we'd like him to take it....(SEE FRENCH PEOPLE ARE NICE!!! hahaha)
so me, tabitha, allison, sally and anna were like OUI OUI....MERCI



classic shoes, a must have picture....yeah we're definatly not from america
haaha

love and hugs and kisses to everyone!