All went wonderful today at the school. The Director is a gentle giant of a man who was so cordial and sweet to me and Jonathan. It turns out that Jonathan's class has two English-speaking teachers, which will help with him getting acclimated to this new environment and new students. I walked out of there quite excited about how the Lord will work in his life through this school - and pray that he truly enjoys it.
I did encounter a couple of more hiccups, though. One was in terms of arranging Jonathan's lunches and afterschool program participation. You have to do a separate application through the arrondissement's La Caisse des Ecoles, which is a different set of administrative office that handles this area of the schools. The Director gave me a form to fill out (in French), which using Google Translate, wasn't too hard to do, and I made my way to the Caisse offices (also in the main mairie building). The sweet agent who helped me (while Jonathan had one of his outbursts of activities and not listening to me...knocking over items on her desk, crawling under the desk, etc. -- we had just eaten, and I get a sense that when his insulin is high after food consumption, he's that much more crazy! I should have gone there BEFORE we ate), let me know that I would need a letter, in French, explaining my situation, along with a print out and copy of a rent payment, and two copies of my lease, and copies of my bank account statement. They would then calculate exactly how much I would have to pay (it's on a sliding scale based on income). I'm about to draft that letter now (again using google translate - thank God for that tool!) and send it to the school's student coordinator, Justin, to see if he can print out copies of that for me to pick up tomorrow.
The other hiccup is that the first day of school tomorrow for Jonathan is mandatory 1/2 day. I will have to pick him up before lunchtime. I totally agree that is the best thing to do. However, it also means that I had to unregister from the first class, Executive Leadership. Part of me is relieved. Part of me is dumbfounded. As I wrote earlier, I'm just not even sure I want to go through with this program. I thought I had a plan attached to it and a reason for doing it, but now, it all seems baseless and futile. Maybe we're just here for Jonathan to go to school. However, the issue there is if I'm not here as a student and can't get my OSCII endorsed as one by remaining in the program, than we will have to return to the states. What a mess.
The Academic Director (Matthew), requested a meeting with me on Monday. He responded to my last note about having to unregister from class AND miss orientation by stating that it's unforunate that I did miss orientation and that typically if a student cannot make it, he recommends that they defer enrollment. He understands my extinuating circumstances, and agreed that I should opt out of Exec Leadership. However, he wants to meet with me for 30 minutes before I enroll in any future seminars. So, maybe the door will be open in that meeting to simply say, you know what, this was not a good decision on my part.
I believe that I can get 1/2 of my tuition back if I unenroll. At this point so much money and time has been wasted it's all a wash. Yet, returning just yet doesn't seem right at all. I know that under my passport alone I can stay for at least 3 months, but that puts sweet Herve out after all that he has done to help me.
What a selfish, self-focused, trying to get my life straight on my own mess I have gotten myself into. I think to myself how, if I was gonna hit my retirement savings, at least I could have used the money for something more worthwhile, like helping out my parents, and not for my own selfish interests. I feel so foolish. So so foolish.
I never got around to sending the follow-up note to Laetitia about her sister Sandrine, and caring for Jonathan on Saturdays , and at this point, I don't want to bother. I need to hear from God and hear from Him good about what to do next.
Gonna go silent for a bit until I know for sure.
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