Je Suis Charlie, burgers and fish

Wow.  It's been quite the week here in France.

Now, please know that in general, my TV does not get turned on.  IF it is on, it is usually connected to my computer and is broadcasting either my favorite newscaster (Scott Swan, WTHR) or some recorded program that I can't watch on local French cable.  It is NEVER tuned in to a local French station, cause let's face it, my French isn't fluent enough to follow what's going on.

So last week, I received a text that read "Are you in Paris"? It went through my email account and I had no idea who was sending me this random text. Initially, I thought it was possibly one of my "mom" friends who happens to be a flight attendant for Delta.  Maybe she thought we could hook up for a croissant and a cup of tea in the City of Lights.

I sent an email back saying "no, who is this?".  Turns out it was David's sister, Gale.  Why would she be asking me if I'm in Paris? I sent her an iMessage, and the chat continued.  As all of you are probably aware, she was watching the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack story unfold.  I was clueless as to the whole event.  I quickly hooked up my computer and started watching the CNN broadcast.  I also texted David so that he would be aware and could inform his employees.

It was heartwarming that so many of our friends (and of course our family) were concerned about our well-being.  I had many messages making sure that we were safe.  As a "foreigner", it was a blessing to be able to witness the French spirit and camaraderie unfold.  There were spontaneous vigils held all around the country.  There were marches honoring not only the victims of this senseless tragedy, but also showing that Terrorism will not squash the values that the French people hold dear, nor will they live in fear.

I find it amazing that these twisted extremists attacked a magazine with a weekly printing of only 60,000….the newest edition (issued yesterday and completely sold out within minutes) is currently printing over 3 MILLION copies.  I have never looked at the magazine, but have gone to the TABAC store next to me 3 times trying to buy the latest copy.  (Sold out, but more are still being delivered) I'd say their quest to "shut it down" had a complete opposite effect.

The only other comment I have about this tragedy, is that as an American, I was absolutely embarrassed by our President's personal choice to not attend or at least send anyone from his staff to the Unity March that was held in Paris.  I mean, come on….you sent 3 representatives to Michael Brown's funeral in Missouri….oh well, I better stop myself now….

Here are some photos taken in our city of Strasbourg this past Sunday at a rally that coincided with the Unity March in Paris. (photo credit to DNA and Krys Wesselink)

Place Kleber (city center).  Packed with over 40k people

"We are Charlie"

40k take to the streets in a city of 270k

On a lighter note, I have a story to share with you about French business.  We were blessed with an invitation to spend an evening with friends from Cleveland, Charlie and Lynn. Yes, even though they are Browns' fans, we still socialize with them.  They have an adorable son, Jack, who was born in October, so it was to be an evening "in".

We were excited to try their favorite burger joint,  Le Pied de Mammouth.  David made the call to order the burgers as he is the "most fluent" in French. He was on the phone for quite some time placing our order.  Finally, he hung up and explained why the call had taken so long.  He had placed the order for the first two burgers and when he started the third burger, the employee said they didn't have that one.  So, he chose a different burger, only to be told that they didn't have that one either.  Then, he said just give us two of the first burger, she said okay, then he said give me two of the second burger choice….
nope, we don't have that she replied.  FINALLY, he was able to determine that the restaurant (which is SOLEY a burger joint) only had TWO BUNS left.  No matter what our third choice was, we couldn't get it.

David and Charlie walked over to pick up our burger/fries order.  While in the restaurant, they heard the employee explain to another customer that they were out of buns.  They could have their burger choice "sans pan" (without bread), but no buns were to be had.  FOR REAL?  Don't you just take 10 Euro out of the register and go to the grocery and buy some buns???  It was 9:00 at night for pity sakes, isn't it easier to buy buns than to explain to everyone that walks in the door  or calls on the phone that you are out of the darn things??

So, the four of us split two burgers and two orders of fries.  It was a great evening and ended with them giving me my belated Christmas gift….

Miracel Whip….has to be better than MIRACLE whip, no?

One last story for you.  This one goes back to our week in Cabo.  As you might remember, we took a fishing excursion.  We took 4 boats of 2 people out for 5 hours. The idea was to have a competition amongst the boats.  If you know the Sternasty family, you will know that we LOVED that idea, we are ALL about WINNING.

The mamacita boat, which was my friend Lisa and I, were captained by a Mexican man named Chincho.  At least that is what we thought he said.  Chincho couldn't speak a lot of English.  He could navigate through simple phrases, but certainly couldn't hold a conversation.  The one phrase that Lisa and I heard over and over was "CHIT".  Use your imagination and I'm sure you will figure out what he was saying.

The first "hit" on our lines happened only about 15 minutes after we began.  We each had a Dorado (mahi mahi) on our lines.  WOO HOO.  We began reeling them in .  Chincho was at the back of the boat to help.  Unfortunately, as we got the fish close to the boat they managed to cross lines.  The fish on my line went under the boat and "boom", my line went slack.  He had managed to break the line and lose Chincho's lure.  That was his first "Chit".

Then he was attempting to gaff (like a hook on a pole) Lisa's fish and needed me to "get out of the way", remember, these boats are SMALL.  I moved quickly, falling back into my seat, all the while getting splashed by the floundering dorado as Chincho gaffed it and brought it inside the boat.

Wouldn't you know that the "hold" was under my seat?  Up I went so that he could lift up my seat and throw a 25 lb fish inside.

Once the poor thing stopped thudding around, he splashed off the blood and I snapped this awesome photo of Lisa and her fish.

The next hits on our line were Bonito.  They are much smaller than the Dorado and easier to reel in.  We had three lines going, so Chincho was working on the third pole.  As you can imagine, on a small boat, with three lines being reeled in together there was confusion.  Chincho would yell, chit, chit, chit, Lisa and I would burst into laughter and he would try to give us directions in broken English as to what he wanted us to do.  Stop, go, or he would simply grab our pole and swing it to a different side of the boat.

Finally, our goal became to catch more fish than the number of times Chincho used the word chit.  We brought in 6 fish (3 dorado and 3 bonito), but we weren't even close to attaining our goal. We were wet and shivering, so the mamacita boat headed in about 40 minutes early.  Lisa was the master fisherwoman and we felt confident that we would win the competition.

The next boat in was David and Sarah.  I ran to the dock with my camera to take photos of their catch.

Yep, that would be a photo of NOTHING.  They hadn't caught a single thing!  I can bet you that David will never go out on a fishing excursion again.  

Next in was Sam and DJ, back to the dock with my camera.

I was glad that they had managed to bring some fish in, and the mamacita boat was still winning!  Finally, we saw the last boat pulling in.  Rich and Spencer.  Imagine my surprise when I got to the dock and this is what they had caught….

Yep, Rich had landed the catch of his dreams….a Blue Marlin.

Oh, and yes, they had also caught a dorado. Now, if you go by NUMBER of fish, the mamacitas won, but I don't think Rich considered himself a loser :)

However, those mamacita fish did feed all 8 of us for lunch right there on the docks, 

so I think that we all won.

Wishing you a week filled with friends and laughter and maybe even a little "fishing" for men as we were instructed in Matthew 4:19.  I mean really, the only hope for Peace that we have in this world is through Jesus.  How many people do you think were crying out to God in Paris last week?  When there is a spirit of FEAR, men look to God.  Be bold, share your faith.