Guess where we went!

We went to France for a conference on crisis intervention. We flew out Sunday late afternoon, and the conference was Monday morning through Friday noon.



The conference was actually held 12 kilometers outside of Geneva, just over the border into France in a small village. The nearest town was Cessy. It was in the country, nestled in a valley with snow covered mountains in the distance. On a clear day, one can see Mount Blanc, which is the highest mountain in all of Switzerland.



The name of the organization that put on the conference was Le Rucher Ministries, a subsidiary of Mercy Ministries. Le Rucher means "bee farm" and got its name because the property used to actually be a bee farm. The folks that staff the conference and run the retreat center are of various nationalities, but they generally do the conferences in English because it is usually the language that most people have in common. The nationalities of the staff last week were German, French, Swiss, Dutch and American.




We had 15 participants, including several new staff who participated in order to learn some of the material themselves. Basically, the conference was on the three basic kinds of stress (chronic, acute, and trauma) and how to help people work through the impact that the stress has on them. That is, we learned how to debrief.

Susanna, a co-worker in Africa

Did you know that if you put any six randomly chosen people from anywhere in the world together and let them talk long enough, two of them will find a connection somehow? Well, we did! Susanna used to live in Daloa, Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire is the proper name) in West Africa at the same time we did! She worked with Mission Biblique for two years but unfortunately, our paths never crossed. Isn't it a small world??? She was attending the conference with her husband and this little tidbit of information came out in a conversation she had with Glenn over breakfast one morning. (I don't do breakfast-I prefer to sleep!)

The conference was good, very helpful, but very long days. We did not have much free time at all. Usually conference planners will give you a free afternoon to either rest or go sightseeing, but not our leader! We started at 8:30 am and went until 5:30 pm, then had dinner. Short break in the morning and afternoon, but not enough time to do anything other than run to the bathroom and get some coffee. (I don't drink coffee.) Even after dinner was over, we had reading assignments to do that took about an hour!

Glenn and I managed to get a walk in one evening through the village and in the countryside. It was very peaceful, lots of curvy roads. mostly going up hill!

We enjoyed this sign on someone's wall around their house. It means "Attention! Strange dog". Hmmm, wonder what the chien does that is so strange?

We passed grape vineyards, apple orchards, and groves of peach and cherry trees. Notice the yellow field in the distance?

We believe it is rapeseed that is used to make cooking oil. Hungary grows a lot of it too. The fields are gorgeous with their bright yellow flowers, especially when you are flying over them in a plane!

The conference ended with lunch on Friday, but our plane back to Budapest didn't leave until 8:30 pm so we had a couple of hours to kill in Geneva. We were dropped off at the airport in Geneva, Switzerland, stowed our bags for a couple of hours at the cost of an arm and a leg, and then caught a train into town. The train ride took 6 minutes from the airport to the center of town.

We were only 2 hours from Kari and Jonathan but weren't able to connect with them on this trip. Even though we saw them in February and will be seeing them again in August, I just about lost it when I saw this sign pointing the way to France. To be so close and not be able to see them was really hard.

We had about 3 hours to wander at our leisure so that's what we did. WithOUT a map in hand, Glenn had to pay attention to where we were going so we could get back to the train station that would take us back to the airport. That's just one of the MANY reasons I like to travel with him. :)

The disadvantage to our kind of sightseeing is that we often don't know what it is that we are seeing, such as this shrine, or whatever it is. It was pretty though!

The whole world was in Geneva!

I forgot to mention that Friday was a national holiday in most of Europe. It was Labor Day, and all the world must have been in Geneva. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. We could not have asked for more perfect weather for strolling the streets of Geneva.

Pedestrian walkway along the Rhone River

We saw lots of tourists with their cameras (like us!), quite a few college age kids with their backpacks, and even this little dog was carrying his own bags!

Flowers were everywhere!

Bridge lined with flags for the holiday

I was surprised by the size of the Rhone River that runs through downtown Geneva. It was very wide! Much wider than the Danube River that runs through Budapest! There were lots of boats docked at the marinas, and quite a few folks cleaning their boats, getting them ready for the summer. I was also surprised at the overall "look" of the area across the river. It looked more like Greece with the mountains in the background, with the pristine, white buildings glimmering in the reflection of the water.

A HUGE fountain?

We don't really know what this is-other than a huge spray of water up in the air! It shoots up not far from the bank on the other side of the river, and as far as we can tell, has no purpose other than it is beautiful to see!

The American Market?

We happened upon this little store and decided to wander inside just to see what delicacies we are missing from America. This store, for as small as it was, carried a ton of grocery items that we don't usually see in Europe. In most grocery stores in Europe we can usually find at least one or two America products such as tortilla shells or Hellmans mayonaise, and it is always interesting to Glenn and me as to the randomness of what the store owners have chosen to sell from America! Of all things, why Karo syrup? Why grits? Why Pop-tarts? Well, this store had it all! Well, not all, but it had more than any other store I've seen so far in Europe.

Glenn and I had 8 Swiss francs left in change so with that amount we were able to buy 3 individually wrapped Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies. Last of the big spenders!

Oh, and we picked up these Easter Peeps for someone special who loves them, but we won't be able to give them to him until August.

When we returned to Budapest, this is what welcomed us! All our Iris's are in full bloom. When we left last Sunday, I was afraid we would miss getting to enjoy them in all their splendor, but we got back just in time! This morning after returning from church, we took a stroll through our yard (took all of 5 minutes!) to look at all the growth of our flowers and fruit trees!

In our yard we now have a cherry tree (loaded with baby cherries!), an apricot tree (also loaded!), 1 almond, 2 apple, and 1 pear tree. We have grape vines, 5 raspberry bushes and 3 blackberry bushes, and this year we also have 15 strawberry plants! We've got lots of Iris's, Day Lilies, rose bushes, Tulips, Jonquils, several Clematis, Rhodedendron, 2 Hydrangea, Hostas, and a bunch for which I don't even know their names. Oh, and my 5 pots of spices (parsley, dill, rosemary, chives, and basil) and my cherry tomatoes. Lots of things to keep us busy on our days off!

And as if Glenn didn't have enough to do already, he put me a light in the gazebo so we could see better at night to water all the plants! I used to have to stand in front of the security light and wave my hands back and forth to get the light to come on so Glenn could see to put plants in the ground or water them when it was dark. Soon, very soon, the sun will stay up until about 10 pm and we won't have to worry about not being able to see! In fact, we will have to worry about getting our bedroom dark enough so we can sleep!!! But that is another problem for another blog entry!

By the way, when is Mother's Day in America?