Les Aventures de Madame Beaubien -- Second Day

(I am going by my code name, Madame Beaubien, because it sounds more French than my name. Besides, I like being called Madame!)

Here are the sisters that I am staying with this week in LePuy. Left to right is Sr. Line (pronounced Lynn) from Maine, Sr. Patty from St. Louis, Sr. Anita from way south in Brazil and Sr. Eluiza from Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

We had a delicious main meal at 1 p.m. today that included meat balls, pasta with tomatoes, green beans (haricots verts in English and in French) and baguette. 

For the second course we had cheese (le fromage), cake (du gateau), fruit, and finally, coffee or tea. Of course, we had red wine with our meal. Eluiza was our cook.

This is a photo of the International Centre of the Sisters of St. Joseph. There are members of the community foundation in this area of France (Le Puy and Chambery) that are missioned all over the world. The Centre is one place where they can come for programs and retreats--at the source of their creation.
 There are 21 rooms at the Centre. Here is mine.

It's been a little difficult at first to adjust to such small places after living in a condo with 3 floors, but I'll adjust. Below is a view from the window in my room. I have to keep the drapes closed when I'm on the computer because the sun makes it difficult to see the screen. I also learned today that the sun is out almost every day. Coming from one of the cloudiest places on earth (due to the lake effect), I appreciate the sun, but will have to adjust to it when I'm on the computer.

Here's another view from my window of the two extinct volcanoes where they built a cathedral on the top of each one. The statue is the Blessed Mother holding the Baby Jesus. There is a garden in the cathedral where pilgrims who make the El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James) begin their journey. They meet together informally and are given a glass of wine for good luck. Nice touch.

The Camino is a centuries-old walking pilgrimage across the top of Spain, although you can start from Lisbon, Portugal, or from Seville, Spain, both southern routes leading to Santiago de Compostela. Even popes have walked the trail. The route is marked by a shell.

 
 

Les Aventures de Madame Beaubien -- Regardez la Niege

(I am going by my code name, Madame Beaubien, because it sounds more French than my name. Besides, I like being called Madame!)

We had snow (la niege) today, which is rather unusual for LePuy even in the winter. Nevertheless, you can see that it didn't stick. Now this is my kind of snow!

Les Aventures de "Madame Beaubien" -- Day of Arrival

(I am going by my code name, Madame Beaubien, because it sounds more French than my name. Besides, I like being called Madame!)

the incredible modern Saint Exupery Airport in Lyon

I arrived with my friend, Patty, in France (Paris) Monday, February 27 at 7 a.m. and then flew 50 minutes to Lyon (south central France) in time to take the express train from the airport to the very large Station Part Dieu to pick up the SCNF train to LePuy.

Le Station Part Dieu in Lyon

We made all of our connections but were running fast to catch them. When we arrived in LePuy, Sister Line (pronounced Lynn) picked us up.

We were greeted by Sisters Line, Eluiza and Anita, who live here now.

They treated us to a delicious lunch of salad and quiche at 3 p.m. when we arrived and then at 630 had our main meal of chicken, mixed vegetables, potatoes, cheese, wine and cookies.

We're very tired now but I wanted to let you know I arrived safely--and I'm speaking French!!

Tuesday is a free day to recover from jet lag--and to celebrate the Mardi Gras--the last day before the start of Lent.  

Next Monday Patty and I go to Lyon (2.5 hours by train) to start French classes for 4 weeks. We will stay with sisters but in different convents. My convent is a 31-minute walk to the school while Patty's is a 50-minute walk. There is also a bus to take.

The climate here is moderate and there is no snow on the ground. The temperature is about 45 degrees. That's my kind of winter!!. There are cold crops growing in gardens and although the trees are not yet in bloom, some of the ground is green already--even pansies have been planted! They tell me that it doesn't usually snow in the winter but it gets cold.

Olga (a.k.a. Madame Beaubien)

Cuba -- On the Road Again

As a slight contrast to this experience was our road trip getting here. We had been in ___ and were making our way to Fantasy Island via the rural back roads that provided a more scenic view than the freeway. The only problem with this kind of travel is that there just aren’t a lot of places to stop for a snack or bathroom break. (There were barely enough places on the freeway!) Since we fellows are 30 years old than we were on the fellowship, bathroom breaks have become more vital. We were about 60-90 minutes away from our destination when a few of the women asked our guide for a quick solution.

“Would you be willing to go to the bathroom at someone’s house,” Pavo asked.

“Yes,” a couple women chimed resoundingly.

Pavo and Edgar, our faithful bus driver, talked about where we would stop and who would approach the homeowner with such a request. Edgar found an area on the side of the road that had a number of houses despite our rural surroundings. He saw a woman sitting on her front porch and stopped our huge bus. Then Pavo and Edgar discussed who would approach the woman. Edgar absolutely refused to do it but advised Pavo to “be suave” in his asking.

Pavo left the bus not with his usual confidence, but he was on a mission. He later told us what he said to the woman.

“We are on a tour of Cuba and have some elderly women who need to use the bathroom,” he said. “Would you allow us to use yours?”

From the bus I watched the woman’s face drop with astonishment at Pavo’s request, but she agreed and opened her house to the few people who had to use the bathroom. Many other fellows got out of the bus to stretch their legs and to talk to the woman’s children and neighbors who were gathering around her porch to see who these strange gringos were and what they wanted. There were a few curious goats in the yard who approached a couple fellows and got some petting in return. A dog across the street sat on the roof of one house and checked in amazement out the strange visitors from the big bus.

As we pulled away, Edgar declared that he wouldn’t go to the woman’s house but instead would make another stop once he found some high bushes. A few other men waited until then and joined him.

Fellows engaged the woman and her children as a few neighbors (and those of us who remained on the bus) watched the whole scene. They learned that four generations all lived together in three adjacent houses. Her little girl had been sick with pneumonia for the past 20 days and was even in the hospital. She is better now. After half an hour, everyone piled back in the bus and we moved on. I’m sure we were the talk of the town for a few days.

Evelyn Hu-DeHart

But the surprises of this journey were not over. As we headed west, the sunset began to show its fine colors. Evelyn suddenly and reflectively declared that the moon was very bright tonight. Pavo began to look all around the sky for the moon, but he saw none. Then he realized she was talking about the sun. She must have been really tired to confuse the two lights of the sky. Those of us around her who witnessed this incident started laughing uncontrollably for the remainder of our ride. What was so funny to me was Evelyn’s way of swooning over “the moon.” Later, Evelyn mentioned that the Cubans sometimes mix the sun and the moon or see them as the same. It’s just another example of the “land of topsy-turvey.”