Parc de la Chute-Montmorency

Well, we may not have had time to stop and see Niagara Falls while traveling across the border, but I managed to talk my husband into taking me to Chute-Montromorency today!

 What a beautiful place. Isn't our God SO good?

 On our way across the bridge, we were talking about the incredible force that waterfalls like this create. It was then that Ryan mentioned how Jesus could simply tell this waterfall to stop flowing (and it would!) or how He could walk right across it if He wanted to. That makes me think back to the scriptures that talk about Jesus walking on water. What would we do if Jesus was here today and we saw these types of miracles happening? Would we believe our own eyes?! Could you imagine actually witnessing all of the events that happened throughout the Bible?

 ^^^That right there is one happy girl!

 (...And don't tell him that I told you this... but I think Ryan actually really enjoyed himself, too!)

 I knew that the streets of the capital city of Quebec were going to be gorgeous, but I had no idea how many other amazing places there are to see here! I am so thankful that I ran across the name of this place while studying my new favorite book: French for Dummies! (Yep - we actually bought one of those!)

 Ryan is definitely NOT a fan of living IN and driving IN the city itself (due to the crazy, crazy drivers and the constant traffic jams), but even he cannot deny how awesome and eye-opening it is to see a city with a culture and views so different than our own.

 Oh, what a wonderful and tiring day we had!

 I can't believe that when we drove into the park and saw the $11 parking fee, I was actually considering leaving so that we didn't have to spend the money to go walk around, just so we could spend a few extra dollars on groceries for the week. I am so thankful that Ryan said "Let's just do it," because it was definitely something worthwhile to see!

 ^^ Here is where I tried putting my (very) few French-speaking skills to the test. I said to a lady, "Pouvez-vous prende une photo pour nous?" And she laughed and said, "Sure, I can do that!" ...Why does that seem to happen to us every time we try to speak French to someone? Then again, I can't imagine how horrible our sentences and accents actually sound to them. :) But on the flip side, she took the photo for us and it didn't turn out too shabby!

And to give you an idea of how much well-needed exercise we got today:
We began this whole adventure by starting our walk waaaaaay to the left of what is shown in the photo, then crossed the bridge on top of the falls, took a stroll through those beautiful trees in the middle and across another little bridge, and then down all of those stairs. Then we walked along the river for quite a ways until we got to where I stood to take the photo above.

And THAT was about the moment that we realized there was no way to get back up to the top where we were parked than to go back the same way we came. (Other than riding a little tram-thing that costed way too much!) So we made the trek back up those stairs - which definitely let me know just how incredibly out of shape I am!

Anyway. What an incredible day. What an incredible place. What an incredible God. :)

We've Arrived!

Bonjour!

Here is an update about Ryan's graduation and our arrival into Quebec City:

Although he thought the day would never come, Ryan walked down the isle of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on May 18th. He received a degree in both Biblical Studies and Christian Ministry.

He is enrolled in the fall for "hybrid" classes at Southern Seminary, where he will take courses online for the semester as well as spend 10 days in Kentucky for on-campus classes. 

Above is a photo of Ryan and Chris Geyer, who graduated alongside Ryan and received his doctorate. (I wish I had gotten a better photo of the two!) Chris has been a major influence in Ryan's life these last two years and I think that Ryan would say Chris has helped him gain his newfound love for academics. 

After graduation, we met family back at Ryan's parents' house for one last get-together before we left for the summer. Above is Ryan's family. From the left: Cheyanne, Pam, Todd, Me (Cheyenne), Ryan, and Chelsey.

My mom and grandma (Teresa and Millie) also came to celebrate Ryan's big day and to say goodbye! 

And lastly, above is a photo of Ryan's grandparent's on his mom's side (Gracie and Gilbert). 

As soon as everyone left that evening, we finished packing our car and headed out for Canada! We drove straight through, only stopping for gas - which led to a very sleepy couple of days after. :) I will note that I was disappointed in the scenery on our way here. It didn't help that we basically drove through the US through the night so I did not see anything but the highway, but then once we got into Canada all we saw was a two-lane highway with trees lining both sides - for HUNDREDS of miles! 

But once we drove into the province of Quebec, things changed pretty drastically. The scenery did not change much, but as soon as you cross that border between Ontario and Quebec, EVERYTHING changes to French writing! I thought it was so awesome to drive through Montreal and see an entire city full of French people and places. 

Ryan and I arrived  in Quebec City at 9:00 PM on Sunday, May 19. After a LONG 25 hour drive, we were graciously welcomed into the home of Marie Eve and Yan and their two children. Monday was an official holiday here, "Victoria Day," to celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria. So what that meant to us was that we were able spend our entire first day here with our home-stay family! They took us to see an iMax movie in French that morning (which we could only pick out about 10 words throughout the entire film), followed by giving us a taste of a traditional Quebec dish of Poutine - which is fries covered in some sort of brown gravy sauce along with delicious cheese bites (or curds, but that doesn't sound as delightful)! 

Then we spent the afternoon walking alongside the St. Lawrence River, which happens to be only a few miles away from their house. I couldn't even count how many times we said, "Comment ça se dite en francais?" - asking Marie Eve and Yan how things were said in French! I did not have my camera with me that afternoon, but the riverside was beautiful! I plan to drag Ryan back there again sometime next week. :)

The streets of downtown Quebec City are gorgeous. They are lined with beautiful old buildings and are kept very clean. The street above is where we walk to the Bouchereau Lingua International (BLI) language school each day. We have went to class 3 days now and I think it is safe to say that we were both shocked at how little we know. We were not expecting to come into Quebec knowing much, but we thought that the levels of Rosetta Stone we had completed would at least help us a little! Luckily, it helped a little with vocabulary, so that makes it a little easier to understand what people are saying. But for now, we mostly can only pick out a few words from each sentence, unless they are fairly short phrases. 

It really helps a lot to be staying with a French-speaking family. Marie Eve speaks to us each evening in French to help us become familiar with the language. Their two children only speak French so we barely been able to communicate with them at all, but I believe we are getting better each day! 

I think that is all for now in this update. It has rained every day (except Monday) here, so I haven't been able to take any good photos of the city yet. I look forward to sunshine so that we can explore downtown more! 

Although we already miss our family and friends, I cannot speak for Ryan - but I already love it here! I cannot wait to continue learning the language. :)

Preparing to Leave for Canada!

Nine days: That’s how much time we have left to accomplish everything that needs to get done before we are scheduled to leave for Canada! We have finals to finish, our last few days at work, moving out of our apartment, and finding time to squeeze in as much Rosetta Stone as possible!

Ryan is graduating Saturday, May 18^th from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I can’t express how happy I am for my husband. When we first met, he had no intentions of ever graduating college. And then he found Christ within him, and was more motivated than anyone I have ever met to get not just one, but two degrees from a Bible college! He has found joy in learning, especially when it comes to learning about God’s word. He is enrolled in Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for this fall to continue his education and get a master’s degree. For a guy who probably never read through an entire book for the first twenty years of his life, we now have more books than we know what to do with! I can only imagine how many more are going to fill our shelves. J

As for Canada, we have been truly blessed by the members of NorthRidge Church to be sent to Quebec City for the entire summer to learn French. We are enrolled in a summer program at a language school where we will be learning to speak French in a classroom for 30 hours a week. Alongside school and work this spring semester, we have been slowly working our way through Rosetta Stone to get as much knowledge of the language as we can before we get there.

However, our scheduled date to leave is May 19^th… I have been having many problems with getting my passport back and we have been praying daily that it will get here in time. If it does not arrive next week, we are sort of at a loss of what to do. We are praying for patience and trying to figure out how to get it in time, which could involve personally driving to New Hampshire to get it. But we are hoping that does not happen!

Anyway, the reason that we are going to learn French is because that is the language that is used in the education system in Haiti. Their dominant language is Kreyol (or Creole), which we have been told is not too difficult to learn if we already have a good grasp on French! Let’s just hope that Ryan and I are capable of catching onto a foreign language quickly!

We are so incredibly excited for this summer. On the other hand, it makes me sad to think about all of the things we will miss back home while we are gone. I guess this will give us a glimpse into what it will be like moving away long-term. But we are really going to miss our family and friends!

I have no clue how to use a blog, but I intend to update it this summer to let our friends and family know what we have been up to. J

-Cheyenne