Although our MCC France retreat already seems like a long time ago, we haven't yet done it justice on the blog. It was a great time of relaxing and meeting our fellow Europe MCCers. Gathered were about 25 MCCers from across Western and Eastern Europe, most of whom we hadn't met yet. We stayed at a monastery just outside Lyon, so enjoyed the peace and fresh air of the country, yet had access to the city through the bus system. Most of our time was spent meeting together and reporting on our work, but we made it into town several times to tour some points of interest and wander in the city. Another highlight of the trip was the cheese. After every lunch and dinner we were served several different kinds of cheese, as they do in France. (I think we should start such a custom in Ukraine). The rest of the food was good, too. Dave and I had fun eating in an outdoor cafe with one of our co-workers, and ordering by randomly choosing items on the menu. Neither of us speak any French, so we didn't really know what we were getting, but it ended up being delicious. We had fun being tourists and were happy to encounter friendly natives who forgave our ignorance of their language. It was a much-needed break for me, as English Intensive planning had been consuming my thoughts for weeks. We even found ourselves happy to hear Russian spoken on the plane on the way home - and realized that we have learned some language since we've been here.
Laura
