I think I'm going to use this entry throughout all of Lent, posting words and photos of my journey during this time, especially of things that make me happy :)<br style="line-height: 15.86px;">So check back for more! 1. So we are a few weeks from Easter and seeing as I'll be gone a lot up until then, I decided to write about Lent abroad now. I cannot lie, it has been tough and different from what I am used to. We were in Athens, Greece on Ash Wedensday, which I believe to be a very large city so I assumed there would be at least one Roman Catholic church. There was- one. I called that Wednesday to see if there were any services for the beginning of Lent and they replied "uh, no we don't do that." Ok. That's fine I'll just watch it online, almost the same thing right? I am proud to say I didn't go so far as to put makeup on my forehead, but I was pretty disheartened. On top of that, we had just arrived in a country with sun and meat, so we feasted pretty ******* that holy day of fasting. whoo. But I'm only in this country for a few days, I should get the whole experience of the culture... I also didn't know what to give up. Chocolate is very much in the culture up north here in Lille, and sometimes I really need a soda.  I thought I'd do something instead. What could make my Lent in France really memorable and effective? I tried to think back to before I came to all the things I told myself I would do here. Service. Perfect. When we get back from vacation, I head over to the campus ministry and ask for the service opportunities they have listed on their website. I got one date in late May that they would serve a meal. Great. I even looked at the churches and the cathedral and there was nothing about service. Really? Disheartened, I kept on listening to the lady at campus ministry and she led us downstairs to the chapel. WHAT. I've been here for 2 full months and tried to get involved with campus ministry and no one let me know that there's an actual chapel?? I was kinda angry but mostly happy. It's a cool dark brick chapel, and they have Mass every day. Surprise!  I decided I'll go to Mass every day as my Lenten promise, and try my best to learn the French Mass. Mind you this was decided last week, literally halfway through Lent. I've already missed a few days, but I think I've gone to more than I've missed. I also reorganized my church book so that I can find the responses more easily, and I'm in the process of taking time to memorize the prayers. As of today, March 7th, I officially went to the same church for a second time... In all my time here, I have not gone to the same church twice, which is kinda hard to believe. Even today I went to the chapel at school, somewhere I hope to return a lot, but only finally returned today. It's pretty cool though to think that I've been to Catholic Mass all over Lille, including the Cathedral, Belgium, Greece, Cyrpus, a famous basillica in Reims, and Notre Dame in Paris. Thank heavens our Mass is the same everywhere. I'm hoping to try out even more churches here and abroad. Some highlights from this Lenten journey: -Tuesday night 10pm Mass at school.... sound familiar Golden Eagles? That was my first Mass at school, and it was really cool- they turned out all the lights and only used candles, all the music was a capella, and there was a good turnout of students. We didn't sit on the floor, but there was still a good turnout. -Mass for students at the Cathedral of Lille- I went with Celina... we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. First off, we started outside (yes it's still cold) and listened to the archbishop give a speech. Then we sang Latin songs as we processed into the Mass, AND THERE WAS HEAT. ok well, heating lamps, but I could feel it (on one half of my body). The Mass was nice and there were probably a few hundred students overall. Afterwards we had adoration and time for Reconciliation. That was really nice and they threw in some Taize prayer so that also brought me back to MU.... -Thursday lunch- every week campus ministry has a family-style lunch on Thursdays. Celina and I knew about this but were always too scared and/or forgot to go. But we went this week and it was great! There were so many people!! They had 4 huge long tables that were jam-packed. The meal was a bean chili (but it wasn't spicy) with rice. So good. But I found a totally random piece of extremely spicy something that was so spicy it made me cry, but no one else's had that, even the rest of my plate didn't have it... I'm still not sure what that means. But we got to have a good long conversation with some new French friends, and I really think coming back there every week will help me a lot. 2. This past week did not go so well for me Lent-wise. I got sick and used that as an excuse to not go to Mass all week. I didn't even go to the Thursday lunch with the French kids. So I felt pretty bad about that, and still feel bad about it, but now I'm extra determined to make Holy Week really good. I went to Mass today at the church that's closest to my house, but this was my first time there. They have one Mass a week at 8:30 in the morning, which is why I never went haha. I was proud of myself for getting up early after my day in Amsterdam, and it turns out I thought it was at 8am and not 8:30am, so I went out and came back in and then went back out again. It woke me up more at least. The Mass was PACKED. It's not a big place, but man do they utilize that one Mass. I was coughing a lot, especially during the reading of the Passion, of course it was Palm Sunday, a perfect stage for my coughing. But luckily it calmed down and I could focus on the rest of the Mass. It was really nice to be in Lille for Mass again, it's only been two weeks but I missed it. This church was very homey and I liked the priests. There were also nuns there so that was cool. I'm gonna force myself to finally go to their Taize prayer tomorrow...which I did! Best decision ever. It was exactly what I wanted and needed, plus it was a small group and we all drank tea after (well ok except for me because I don't like tea). It was really nice to have good conversation with people. I got to learn a lot about the church too. I think I went to Mass the rest of the week, except for Thursday on. My friend Reid had his parents coming in town and they were so kind as to make us dinner at their Airbnb :) we had some delicious wine and got to chat a lot, it was a lot of fun. They made a really good roast, and I was the only American in the room, which usually never happens. We had a good time. From there Celina and I went to adoration at school, it was all night that night so it was perfect. I came back late though haha. It was really nice. Then Friday I just took it easy after missing stations of the cross because of an exam. I did eat meat though cuz it was going to go bad :( Then I did Easter in Paris, there's a separate blog on that, but it was a cool experience. I love celebrating in that church, as cheesy as it may be. When the priest holds up the body and blood and sings "pour les siècles des siècles" I get goosebumps every time- it literally translates "for centuries and centuries". It is truly for centuries and centuries that we celebrate, and it's cool to think about no matter what was going on right outside the church over the centuries, people still gathered here to celebrate the Eucharist. We are truly living out the centuries and centuries. Easter Monday I was home and woke up and ate my whole chocolate bunny, or rather duck. Ya I didn't feel so hot after that one. Then Gina and I got welsh's downtown, which made me feel even more fat. So I just lounged around all day, after all I was tired right?? Now lent is over, and I really enjoyed it here in Lille. It's almost sad to see it go, but I learned a lot and now can get into a rhythm. I'm about to launch into two weeks of vacation (including seeing my parents), so I'm very excited for what's coming and am looking forward to living up every moment I have left here :)