PaulPrins.net

(Just found this one left over from my last hours in france that never got posted)

It is now 4h45 in the morning, in 30 minutes I’m going to start the coffee, and in 40 minutes I’m gonna wake up John (and dave… he didn’t make it all night like I did, but his flight is also five hours later than mine) so we can start our early morning walk across town to the car. Picking the girls luggage up and heading to the airport! From there we’re going to hang out until the girls arrive and then we’ll check baggage and be en route, and I will be asleep. (more…)

It’s been a while since I arrived here and that means that the time to leave is rapidly approaching. Approaching so quickly, in face, that only 15 hours from now I will be on a play to Frankfurt and then back to the U.S.

As of right now I really don’t know what to think. Everyone here is kind of butting heads and trying to discover what this last day holds for them. I believe for each of us it is to little of what we want (seeing friends), and to much of what we don’t (administrative gabble). I can now count the number of things left to be moved out, and the number is 6 (3 lamps and 3 mattresses). The majority of the apartment has been bleach cleaned already, doors are shut, and maybe the shutters should be as well.

Soon enough I will be back, talking to my love face to face, able to gaze into her beautiful eyes, brushing her hair, and realizing how real she is. How amazing our future is, and how blessed I am to hold her. I know the sap there was rather thick, but she is free now so I’m going to talk for a minute before unplugging our modem. Then you know we’ll be gone.

God bless, and I will write once I’m home,
~paul

Lately my mind hasn’t had much time to slow down and rest. In less then 10 days I will be back in the US. It has so many implications for my life that it is taking a long time to wrap my mind around from; Leaving France, getting married, leaving Midwest Skier, and even projects from France.

(more…)

Today was another Toulouse student strike over a recent law past by the French government that will allow any employee who has worked for less than two years at their current employer to be terminated without reason/notice. While obviously unfair, it raises the question of, “Who Cares?”

Sitting outside capitole this afternoon with my friend we watched the mass of nearly two hundred students (out of about 50,000-70,000+ who were on strike, in Toulouse, and not in school) amass with goofy chants and large bed sheet signs held between two by fours. Video cameras arrived on the scene from the local media after rumor of two students being hurt by police. Those cameras were just in-time to catch this. The three person thank you crew.

Mind you it is around 40? outside right now, and I salute their bravery in the face of the weather and many only lookers. The question remains, does it accomplish anything? In earlier the words of my French friend about the protest, “Look at them, they look so stupid. This will do nothing.” At the sight of these three, she just laughed.

Points to learn from:
1. Don’t strike if your numbers can’t change anything
2. Remember to vote, otherwise the politicians won’t care
3. Those who have the drive and determination to do well will be cherished by their employer and not need to worry about this new law.

God bless democracy

We don’t really have a change in colors here like I’m used to, they tend to just fall off of the trees. It’s very interesting. Here is a shot down one of the sidewalks near the river, one man out for a run. It was beautiful today.

Taken Wednesday night on my way back from a friends house. I got a new tripod over here in France and need to still work on how to use it well. Might need to invest into a remote shutter for it… I hope they are cheap here.

“Hundreds of cars were set on fire in different towns on Sunday night, and police had to use tear gas to disperse a club-wielding mob in Toulouse.” – BBC news

Again, I want to assure those reading that the rioting is still well away from our part of Toulouse (across the river, and several miles). It’s continuing to escilate. Last night I was out in the city and I’ve never seen it so empty. Meeting up with some friends and getting to talk, one French friend explained that the basic premise of this is normal. Things in France tend to be ignored until they explode, then there are way more issues at hand than what started it. The catalyst in this case is no longer the issue at all. The death of those two kids was just the last straw to an oppressed community.

So far the rioters have only gone after property and emergency workers. They have entered into the center of Paris for the last two nights. There are a lot of police around patroling the center of toulouse here, just about every other corner. Paddywagons of officers in riot gear driving around along with fire trucks. They are just out waiting for what is going to happen.

Pray for the wounds to be fully exposed, for strength in the dealing with the issues coming to the surface, and for safety for the AGAPE teams in France (there is one in Paris as well).

I will continue to post here every morning so that you know I am safe, or if we have to leave.