greatest show ever: sigur ros for free.

so after my last post i mentioned that i would either be going to see paul simon in montreux or sigur ros in lausanne. several of you asked which show i ended up at, and i'm pleased to say that a friend and i both got into see sigur ros with just one ticket. before i saw them, i would have said that if i could see any band in the world, i'd see sigur ros. thankfully it lived up to my expectations. it was perhaps the best show i've ever been to. it was happy and sad and so beautiful. so here's the scoop:

i drove to lausanne with a friend who has a car, and we were totally lost in the city so we were asking people for directions and no one spoke english. so we ended up asking this guy and he was going to the show, which was crazy because we were on the total opposite end of the town and we'd have never found the venue without dude. we took him in our car and he told us that a friend of his might have a couple tickets. he called and said his friend only had one. so we waited around and a histerical woman sold us a ticket for the original price (60 francs) and waited for dude's friend to show up. ten minutes later his friend called and said his girlfriend would be coming with him and so he didn't have a ticket. mega let down. so we still had only one. we were begging and cajoling the security to just let us in or let us pay ticket price or something, but to no avail. so i told eric to go ahead and go in, and he did. fifteen minutes later he felt bad and came out and asked the security if i could go in if he came out. they reluctantly said yes, so i walked in. and i guess they had a flush of compassion, because they let eric back in after me. so i got in without a ticket to see sigur ros. in switzerland. it was amazing.

arvo part says that music should be thought of more as texture than structure. meaning that it should be a place for people to dwell, not just notes for people to appreciate the theory or aesthetic. i think this is what i like about sigur ros. i have no idea what they're saying, but i can feel the sheer emotion pulsing through so clearly, and it takes me up.

so beautiful.

this is a video of the show i took that night. it's the first couple minutes of 'saeglopur', which is one of my faves. make sure you turn your volume down before you play it, as it was quite loud inside the venue.

photographie.

evening at the targets with magda.



another evening at the targets with a friend, curtis, from oklahoma.



one cold, cloudy day.



moonrise over the l'argentine ridge.



afternoon hike at solalex.



my temporary home. taken outside chalet chesalet, where i eat some of my meals.



lovely swiss cows, their bells ringing day and night.



downstairs at farel house, our library/chapel.



taken at la gourmandine the last time i posted. jongmoon (above at right) was teaching everyone a south korean game.



cousin magda! this was taken at the targets the night of her one-year anniversary. we drank ollon's finest pinot noir in memory of joel.















this is the view from my room, the first day i arrived.


so i've decided to stay on at l'abri as a helper for the fall term, which means i won't be back stateside until december. i don't know how it ended up that i came for ten days and will now be staying for six months, but it just did. lots of theology, philosophy, and vocation-specific exploration in the coming months. thanks to everyone for your prayers and well-wishes.

a friend from california has a car here, and this afternoon we're deciding which of two concerts to go to and try and scalp for tickets:

sigur ros in lausanne.
or
paul simon at the montreaux jazz festival.

my heart hurts at taking one over the other, but we shall see what eventualizes.

i must sign off for now, but i'll post more photos and life commentary soon...

much love, from la suisse.

wednesday evening rap session?

i've been helping jasie digitize 50+ years of l'abri lectures that are on cassette tapes. today i came across one i was hoping would be legendary. sadly, it's not what i was expecting.

i promise to post more photos soon. it takes ages to load just one, and seeing as i'm paying for this service by the minute, i'm going to wait for a more opportune time.

much love, from la suisse.

surprise visit!

so just before dinner tonight, i was walking into the kitchen when i heard kay shout, "magda!" realizing immediately that i've ever known one person called magda, i turned around and there was standing my cousin's cousin magda tigchelaar!

so my mother's brother married magda's father's sister. i guess we're not technically related, but it's still fun. neither of us knew that the other would be here, so it was an unexpected surprise. unfortunately she's only here until wednesday, but i'm glad to have another friendly face around for a few days. i'll post photos soon.

from la suisse: at last.

dearest friends and relations,

greetings from huemoz! i've been trying to blog for three weeks, but the computer situation here isn't entirely compatible with sitting down and taking my time to write something thoughtful. at the moment i'm sitting with a few friends as la gourmandine, a classy creperie just above huemoz in the ski village of villars. they have free internet here, and a kiwi friend has graciously allowed me to hijack her computer for a few moments so that i can pen a few thoughts.

i had originally intended to stay here for just 10 days, which turned into two weeks, which turned into three weeks, which turned into three months. i can't imagine now what it would have been like to stay here for just ten days. getting situated in the community here, getting on and following a particular study path, developing a relationship with my tutor (may God be merciful to you, Richard!). there's a consistency and relationship that develops with time here, and it feels so freeing to be able to ask questions freely without (most of the time) people jumping down my throat in judgment. people are shuffling through here for a few days at a time pretty often, and i don't understand how they ever get anything done. for some reason it was difficult for me to decide to stay here the whole term (not for some reason: my pragmatic nature with regard to finances), but once i decided to stay i knew it was the best thing for me. L'Abri is french for 'the shelter', and i have found it a safe place to rest, refuel, and ask questions that bug me. it's wild for me to think about people in my family that have lived here for different stretches of time: my godmother gini who was here almost 50 years ago, my mother and uncle in the late 60's - early 70's, cousins and friends more recently. it's fun to think about where they all lived, ate, places they loved to take walks and think.

we have a great group of helpers and students here this term, and most of us get along really, really well. i got an email from gini last night after she remembered that an old friend of hers (and of L'Abri's) works at a home for learning challenged children near bern. apparently they make furniture and cultivate a garden there. gini seems to think that the garden might be therapeutic in nature, which would be really interesting to investigate. an aussie horticulturist friend and i are thinking about taking a day trip up (maybe hitching a ride with gian sandri) to get a feel for the happenings there.

so this term will ends july 21, and i couldn't get a flight out until august 12, so i'll have a few weeks to kick around after everyone leaves. i've been asked to house sit for family friends in huemoz, but i'd also like to spend time at the Taizé community in france. and maybe, if my time with max (in bern) goes well, it may well be enticing to spend time with him working with the children as well. we shall see...

the flower above is one of switzerland's countless wildflowers, fields of which are aplenty on and around the mountain where we live. sadly, they are mown down from time to time. to my shame, and against my will, i weed-wacked a hillside of them last week. i'm hoping they grow back soon. i don't know the name of the flower above, but i'll find out and post it next time.

À la prochaine.

on holiday.

my last day of work.

so, at long last, i have reached the end of my employment with florida's child welfare system. it's been a long, hard year. it's been challenging and overwhelming with occasional flashes of fruitfulness. i've talked with my friends and housemates about how i'm struggling to make peace with leaving my kids behind. on one hand, most of my cases are not demanding and will survive fine after i leave. on the other hand, i have a few kids that i'm (too) emotionally involved with, and they're cases are complex and they won't be taken care of after i leave. all the same, i feel i need to leave to keep my head above. i feel like leaving is the right decision, but i can't help feeling like i could have done more, especially on my most discouraging case that i still have no closure on. walking away from someone vulnerable is always unsettling.

but tomorrow is bright.

i'm going to spend some time at swiss l'abri and in sicily, and i'm looking forward to resting. i'm anticipating an eventual relocation for school, either later this year or early next year. but until then, i feel like there's so much fresh potential for positive change. there are a lot of areas of my life that are up in the air right now, and i'm excited about what my life will look like in a year's time.

i was arranging some songs on my computer this morning, and the last few lines of brett dennen's 'don't forget' struck me as appropriate for my separation anxiety on this last day of work:

don't be afraid, should things happen to change,
'cause change can be a beautiful thing.
should things fall apart
be patient like a rainbow,
life is loving and letting go.