alone, and content.

Today was a nice day. I slept in a little (until 8...) and then read for a while. I have done so much reading since I've been here. I brought 3 books with me, thinking "I love these books so much, I can read them over and over and never get tired of them." Well, I've been here for two weeks now, and I'm almost finished with 2 of them. I brought Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and my bible. Lord of the Rings, Neuromancer, and The Picture of Dorian Gray are my top 3 books. A close contender is C.S. Lewis' Til We Have Faces, but my brother took it and hasn't returned it (Lawrence, if you're reading this, send it to me! Please.). I brought LotR & Neuromancer because I can flip to any spot, and start reading. Anyway, since I've been here, I've read about 700 pages in LotR, and 100 in Neuromancer. I'm going to need to buy some English books soon. I'm sure there is a charity, or library where I can donate books when I finish. Or maybe I will just ship them to Dan.

Today I explored Geneva a little, while the family went to a birthday party. They dropped me off on the lake, and I was on my own for 4 hours, just wandering the streets. It was so lovely. I didn't bring my camera, because it gets a little heavy. And despite the strong sun, it was a bit hazy near the edges of the horizon, so you couldn't really see the mountains. Not the best day for pictures (in my opinion; I don't like stark sunlight). I really need to buy a camera bag for it... I've been housing it in my purse. I do have a camera bag, but it houses my 35mm SLR. Which I left at home, because when I went to Italy last year, film was crazy expensive. Anyway, I bought a lavender plant for my room! Here's a picture.
Isn't it nice? My room smells lovely already. Lavender is my favorite smell in the whole world. Someday, when I'm a grown-up, I will have a garden, filled with lavender, Johann Strauss roses, and a peach tree.

Tomorrow I am going to church, and I am so excited. I'm also hoping to catch the first part of "Guys and Dolls" (in English!) and meet up with Catherine, who is a great writer and has offered me much advice (check out her two blogs in my blogroll to the right - The Perpetual Expatriate, and Living in Nyon). After that I am going to head over to church.

While I am very excited to get to know some people here, I am also really starting to appreciate my solitude. While I have always enjoyed my alone time, there was a period in the middle of this week where I felt desperately lonely. I emailed Dan, asking him to pray that God would send me one good friend this year. I know I've been here only two weeks, but I was so ready to make friends, and just go out for an espresso with someone. So far during my free time, all I've done is read books and blogs, watch movies with French subtitles (Ivana's suggestion, it really helps), and practice French (still not good). But today I am really thriving off my solitude. It is nice to not talk, to just sit in a cafe and listen. It is nice to sit in the park with a coke and read. It is nice to change in my pajamas early, and curl up on my bed with a movie. Granted, I don't want to be alone everyday, but I am appreciating it now more than ever. I can honestly say I am very content. I do need to be a bit more patient, however.

Hopefully tomorrow I will meet some people, and quell some loneliness that might creep in during the night. I have nearly a whole year ahead of me, which is quite a bit of time to make friends. Right now I am going to climb into bed, and listen to Dave Pedde's album Windows, and spend a little time with God. But I will leave you with a picture I took last night from my balcony, of a sunset over France. My whole room was filled with a rosy glow. It was so lovely.

May you all have a peaceful night.