Beggings of a Grand Adventure

2009-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

After a total of eight hours on planes, six and a half hours on buses, and five hours of just waiting in airports, we made it to our destination: Ambialet, France. The journey was (for the most part) smooth. Our group of 12 (which should have been 13) was a little worried when our last member, Colin, was not on our plane as we left the U.S. Again we were worried in Paris when another member of our group had some problems with the airport security (he even missed our next plane because of it). But it all worked out and both caught the next flight to Toulouse and made it safely to Ambialet.

After our flight to Toulouse, we were greeted by Tim, the director of the Ambialet program, and two of our professors, Dan and Gerry. From there we took an hour and a half bus ride to our home for most of the next four months. Now think back to the childhood song "She'll be coming 'round the moutain." Now instead of riding six white horses, your riding a tour bus on a narrow road carving through the hills and mountains. . . yeah, just a little frightening. But, the view sure was worth it. At one point on this journey 'round the mountain Tim tells the bus drive to pull over and for us to look out the window. We see a valley with a few sparce houses and building and a riving winding its way through the village. Next to the houses is a huge cliff that leads to the top of the giant hill closest to us, and on that hill sits one building: the monastery, the place that we will have the privilege to live in for the next four months. If you think the view of the the monastery sounds amazing, just imagine the view from the top of it, which overlooks the village, the winding river and nearby hills, one of which has the ruins of an old castle. Yeah, I could get used to this, living four months in Paradise.

Four Months in Paradise

Beggings of a Grand Adventure