What am I trying to say? 




I recently read an article in Newsweek.  The gist of the article was that John McCain said he always buys American when talking to Auto Maker Unions in Detroit; yet, two of his twelve cars are Japanese.   The story in this article was that "Was John McCain telling the truth when he said he "always" buys American??!!"  I however, am not that concerned with whether or not John McCain "buys" American.  (fyi he also has three other vehicles, which from the description in Newsweek, I can only imagine must be golf carts and his wife Cindy doesn't even drive 1 of the 12 cars they own, she drives a car that her work provides for her with a liscence plate that reads "Ms. Bud" But, I digress....)  There was no outrage at all expressed that this man owns twelve cars (15 if you count the golf carts).  There was no outrage at all expressed that these are not even cars he necesarily drives.  Of course, this is the same man that did not know that he owned 7 houses.  (How can you not know that? I know I don't own a single house)  I am trying to say that I think that our American public and media is so out of touch with reality.  Why is it that we are upset that this man ONLY bought 10 cars made in the United States.  Our outrage should be at the fact that he bought more than one car.  Our outrage should be at the fact that he owns more than one home.  How many cars can you drive at once?  How many houses can you live in at once?  John McCain talks about reforming our country, yet he is part of the elite class that is benefitting most from the policies that are being enacted.  He talks about wanting to create change.  He talks about feeling the pain of the "everyman". How much change can you want to bring when you are already winning.  Although more than a million people in the United States have defaulted on their home loans in the last year, there is no talk of bailing out those one million people from the government.  There is no talk of making sure that those who are now losing their houses are kept housed and safe.  Perhaps Senator McCain can give 6 of his houses to some of those people.  I am sure he will not be one of the Americans that will default on his mortgage.  Change has got to start at home.  If John McCain wants change in America he needs to change the way he lives.  During the "faith forum" John McCain joked that rich people are those that earn more than 5 million dollars a year.  (He was joking, and I want to be clear, he was seriously joking)  Joking like that reveals just how out of touch with normal Americans John McCain is.   It is not just John McCain, it is us.  It is not that John McCain is out of touch with Americans it is that we are out of touch with our own values.  We have stopped seeing that when we reward the rich and stop protecting the poor the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  If we lived in an ideal world, sure, we would not need to have a government to protect the poor, but we do not live in an ideal world.  We need the government to work on behalf of the people because individually we are greedy and we are just looking out for ourselves.  Hopefully, if we pick the right leaders we can get a government that is of the people and for the people.  By the way, Michelle and Barak Obama own one car between the two of them and it's a Prius. 

I have been thinking a lot about the financial crisis on Wall Street.  I was thinking a good way to ensure that CEO's don't gouge the investors of the multi-million Forbes 500 companies might be to create a cap on their salaries.  Not a monetary cap, though; a proportional cap.  Let's say the highest paid employee could only make 400 times as much as the lowest paid employee.  Although that's not perfect that would definitely make the money trickle down a little faster. 

I also don't want to seem partisan (although I am a yellow dog democrat), Barak Obama is not a perfect candidate and I am not of the opinion that he will save this nation (as a Christian I think that would be blasphemy)  I am of the opinion that he walks that walk.  From what I know about him I believe that what he says is generally what he does.  He's not perfect, just like all of us, but I think that he will think about the poor and the oppressed in America more than he will think about the multi-billionaires (although he is rather wealthy himself).

Okay. This will not necesarily be pretty, but it will be true.

I just got back from Paris yesterday!  I was there for 5 days with my cousin, Lela, a friend from the US, Lydia and my Ace scottish friend, Maria.  We stayed with this french guy, Rémy.  He was sooo French.  (We called him our chevalier -ie knight for those of you that don't speak French ;) I do not know any other way to describe him.  He did not smoke - he did flirt.  Non stop with all four of us.  It was fun.  We slept in his TINY one room appartment in the outskirts of Paris. We litterally took up all his floor space while we were there.  During our stay we never went to bed before 5 am.  This meant we usually got up around 12 and made it into Paris proper by 6 if we were lucky.  For Lydia's 22nd we spent all night in Paris.  It was so cool staying out all nigh; watching the sun rise over the Seine while taking photos of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.  Those are some of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen.  (As soon as Maria posts them on facebook you can expect a link from my facebook!)  Paris is so amazing.  If you ever get the chance, go!  Go! Go!

I am now back in Cannes... working. I am so done with work!  I cannot be bothered anymore to plan anything. for my classes. I  think some of my the teachers slightly suspect that, but oh well. I  only have 6 lessons left with each class!  6 lessons!  Then I am done!  done Done DONE DONE!!! Never will I have to tell the kids.  No, it's not I am from French, it's I am from France.  No it's not "Have you got I have two dogs"  It's "I have got two dogs"  No! No! No!  I will never have to ask "are you HUngry or ANgry?"  or be confused if someone is about to yell at me because they are angry or if they just want a sandwhich.  Oh.. the joys of living in France! 

No, seriously, I LOVE France.   I do have those moments.. where I get fed up with my kids because they still do not know how to say how old they are, but I also have those moments where they understand sentences that I thought I was just saying.... and they UNDERSTAND!   It is amazing.  I think some of them may actually be learning a bit of english!  Crazy; huh?

As for my future.. I have not been thinking about it too much . I decided a few weeks ago while I was in Taizé, (an amazing monastery )  that I am gonig to move to Austin, Tx.  Some may wonder why.   I am still wondering why sometimes.  Right now, I know that is where I need to be.  I do not know where I will be living, what I will be doing or anything really.  I do know that I am moving there.  Any ideas on jobs or apartments - please let me know!  Once I have a place everyone is welcome to come visit me!!  Please pray for me and send me practical leads!

I leave France in one month and 2 days.  I  do not know what my future holds, all I know is that it will be (is?) MY future. 

I also know that I am not done living abroad yet, and hopefully not done living in France.  This country has a special place in my heart.  Elle ve me manque, beaucoup. 

I hope this entry makes up for many entries that have gone unwritten.  If anyone wants a more personal note (or a postcard) just email me..