We had a lovely surprise in church this morning: some friends from Eglwys Efengylaidd Caerfyrddyn turned up. They are on holidays in a village nearby. They cam around in the afternoon, and we had nice time walking and talking in a civilized language (Welsh).
Category: Daily life
The car is in the garage
The car is in the garage today. I took it to a garage to have the front wheels changed on Monday, and the mechanic spotted a problem with the front left suspension triangle. I decided to take it to the Fiat concession and they are changing the piece today. It hadn’t been to the garage since last July. We hope we can drive many more happy miles before we have to change it.
Well, it’s the tonsils playing up again.
I’ve had a painful throat since thursday. It’s kept me awake at nights and I am now feeling rather tired. But I waited until this morning to go to see the doctor. It is tonsilitis again. Third time this year. I haven’t had anything that required me to go to the doctor for many years. But now, for the third time in three month, I have to go and be put on medication. That’s life I suppose. If it comes back regularly, we may have to consider removing the Tonsils, but the Doctor warned me it is very painful for an adult.
School council
Back in September, I was elected substitute to sit on the church council in the place of any full member of the parent representatives parent who could not attend a meeting. A lady asked me a couple of weeks ago if I could replace her for the next meeting. The meeting was last night. It was great to be present and observe the  proceedings.
The whole protocole is interesting. While in the UK, people who arrive would come in and sit down after giving a general greeting to those already present, in france, those arriving at the meeting go around the room shaking hands to every single person already present. If they know each other well enough, they would do “la bise”, but men always shake hands.
Most of the teachers were there, as well as the mayor and  other representatives of the town council. I think the total number was about 18. Various subjects concerning the running of the school were talked about. It was interesting to know better what’s going on in the school and to meet knew people as well. The meeting was about 2 hours long.
The week ahead 05th March 2012
It was a good weekend. We had the youth group on Saturday. It was great. we played a game called Pit. It’s fun and noisy, ideal for young people. We studied Deborah and Baraq in the book of Judges.
We had a visiting preacher from Southern Brittany and the service was followed by a fellowship lunch. The church was quite full and about 25 people stayed for lunch. In the afternoon, we had a good meeting to prepare for the AGM in a fortnight’s time.
I am preaching in Bordeaux next Sunday, in French in the morning, in English in the evening. I need to prepare for these services. It will be good to catch up with our friends there although it will be a very quick visit. I also need to write our next prayer letter, finish an article I started writing last week. I’ll also prepare one or two Bible studies in Judges for the Youth Group.
There’s the usual meetings: Bible study on Tuesday afternoon, and Prayer meeting on Thursday, but my colleague is leading these. There’s also a school council meeting. I am not on the council, but I am on the list of people who can replace anyone who can’t attend. A lady contacted me last week to know if I could go take her place this time. I am looking forward to this. Then, on Friday we will be on the market in Guingamp.
A jazz concert in the Library.
I took the children to the Library on Saturday and as we were about to leave, Jean-Baptiste noticed there was going to be some music in the exhibition room. We stayed on, not knowing what to expect. Posters on the walls gave me a clue. It was a band from Toulouse called  “Trio Zira”. It also said they played “oriental Jazz”. Not knowing what to expect, I was a bit anxious.
Classical jazz is fine with me, but experimental Jazz is not my thing. I find it strange to my hears and difficult to understand. But I was quite pleased when they started playing. It was pleasant music. We stayed about an hour and we left before the end as the children were getting bored.
I wouldn’t have chosen to come to a concert on a Saturday afternoon, especially if it is advertised as “oriental Jazz”. I’d be afraid to be surrounded by middle-class french intellectuals trying to sound clever by discussing the intricate details of the music and its influences. But I didn’t have to speak with anyone, to my relief. You can check that band’s website and listen to some music:Â http://triozira.free.fr/