My freshman year of college, I went on a missions trip to New Orleans. We spent a week on this trip in lieu of going home for spring break. It was the first time I was a great distance away from my family and home and also a chance to see what I was made of. I learned a lot on this trip and had some great opportunities. We spent the week working in clothing shelters and soup kitchens mostly doing work needed for homeless and less fortunate people and families. One day we went to an Indian village outside of the Big Easy whose village was on the bayou. This sheltered little girl didn't even know what the bayou was at the time and had no idea what world travel was awaiting her. Lo and behold this Indian tribe was French-speaking. We were brought into a meeting room and were greeted by the chief (not dressed with feathers, etc.) and gave us a brief on their village life. He then switched his speech into French, which none of my teammates understood. This was my first opportunity to do some translation, however spontaneous it was! Call it Divine Providence or just a taste of what my francophone life was going to be like. Fortunately, I rose to the occasion and spoke with him in French and did my best. Up until that time I had really only spoken French in protected environments like classrooms even though we hosted Delphine the summer before it was experimental for both her and I. One could very well say that day at the bayou began my path to incorporating French into a career.
My freshman year of college, I went on a missions trip to New Orleans. We spent a week on this trip in lieu of going home for spring break. It was the first time I was a great distance away from my family and home and also a chance to see what I was made of. I learned a lot on this trip and had some great opportunities. We spent the week working in clothing shelters and soup kitchens mostly doing work needed for homeless and less fortunate people and families. One day we went to an Indian village outside of the Big Easy whose village was on the bayou. This sheltered little girl didn't even know what the bayou was at the time and had no idea what world travel was awaiting her. Lo and behold this Indian tribe was French-speaking. We were brought into a meeting room and were greeted by the chief (not dressed with feathers, etc.) and gave us a brief on their village life. He then switched his speech into French, which none of my teammates understood. This was my first opportunity to do some translation, however spontaneous it was! Call it Divine Providence or just a taste of what my francophone life was going to be like. Fortunately, I rose to the occasion and spoke with him in French and did my best. Up until that time I had really only spoken French in protected environments like classrooms even though we hosted Delphine the summer before it was experimental for both her and I. One could very well say that day at the bayou began my path to incorporating French into a career.
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