Des Bises

I am officially French; I now greet people with two kisses (bises) on the cheek. I hope I don't lose this once I get back to the States... I know already that this will be one of the things I miss most about la France.

(Oh! We won again today...Rugby that is. and of course I'm cheering for la France. I learned La Marseilles--their national song, a very gruesome war song actually--just so I can sing it at the start of the game. But the next match does not look so good... we're going against the All Blacks... best team ever).

I cannot believe that tomorrow, I will have arrived here for a month!! Incredible! Time really flies. It's a weird thing because normally, I think it would have taken much longer for me to adjust but because of the time constraint (knowing that I will be leaving in Dec), there's a pressure for me to adapt quickly, make new friends quickly, find a church to call home quickly, and do everything else well... while enjoying the parisien life.

Classes have been going very well, especially the public health ones. All super interesting and everything that I wanted to learn about health care systems. Our professor discussed "Sicko" with us at a cafe---which was quite cool. Tomorrow, we are going to Rennes, west of Paris, for three days to the Ecole Nationale de Sante Publique (School of Public Health) to attend lectures and visit the hospitals there. I am super excited!

In these classes, we've been comparing the different systems of different countries by analyzing their history, culture, and government to try to find the basis for their systems. I'm not going to give you all the details... but one of the things that we discussed were 'value systems'. The gist is that the French generally value 'security' over freedom or equality. The British and the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway) value 'equality' most. And of course, U.S.A. loves 'freedom'. So partly because of these values, the health care systems have evolved into what they are now.

In the U.S., health care costs are rising like crazy, and there are still 45 million who are not insured. Private insurance companies are reaping in the moolah and they are writing checks to buy members of congress so they can keep doing what they are doing... (and none of this is hidden from the public) So I cannot see how our system could ever really change because most of the middle class is content with what they have. It's really the poor who are suffering and conveniently, they also tend to not vote. It's so frustrating... and also knowing that our generation doesn't vote is worse... (and myself included) imagine, if we all actually voted how things would CHANGE!. If anything I learned from the French, I will go back to the States and vote.

So while I'm learning so much about the 'values' of these countries---seeing some of these 'American' values manifest in me---I began to wonder what were some of the other things I that I value. I had never really put much thought into that. It's sort of like these 'American' values.... without going outside of America and detaching myself from it, it never occurred to me to question them.

This weekend, I got to hang out a lot with people from Trinity International Church---very cool. I think I'm going to be running the power points for worship every Sunday and maybe setting up the sound system too... a bible study is going to start soon... and I can finally say, I feel at home there. I know it's a place where I can grow. It's very strange because all of this happened this past weekend. So thank you so much for your prayers. I really don't know where'd I'd be without prayers here.

I'm going to pack.. sleep... and be off to Rennes.

*bise* bise*