It was recently brought to my attention that I have seriously neglected this recording of my life's twists, turns, and international adventures. I am not lying when I say that I have had every intention of transferring my thoughts and photos from my paper journal to this digital one, and that the word "blog" has remained on my multitudes of To-do lists for months (even if it was at the bottom). All this being said, there will effectively be a large gap in the timeline delightful events marking my last months abroad this time around. These moments are recorded elsewhere, but I feel that working backwards to rewrite them here would not only be counter-productive given the lack of free time available, but also, I get the sense that the emotions and perspectives of these memories would be skewed by not having been written in the moment. This would therefore make them less-than-honest representations of themselves, which defeats the purpose of this online chronicle.
Basically, to sum things up, my last months in France went like this:
-Springtime hits the Lycee (last blog post).
-I am visited by my boyfriend, with whom I spend three adventurous (train strike and natural disaster-ridden) weeks traveling between Paris, Le Touquet, Brugges, Bordeaux, Lorgues, Monaco, and Sospel.
I could write a series of blog posts on this trip alone. Amazing.
-I return to Lorgues to finish up my remaining two weeks of school, while also packing up the entirety of my apartment and preparing for a trip to Spain. Such a tough life I was living... sigh.
-I move out of my apartment on the last day of school and immediately embark on a weekend of exciting, action-packed activities and rendez-vous with Patricia.
-I leave for Spain three days after the end of school and spend 26 consecutive hours on 8 different trains in attempt to reach Sevilla. I arrive to find sunshine, tapas, lemon-tasting beer, and relaxation. I stay 3 days in Sevilla before heading to Madrid to spend a week with a friend I met in Morocco months before. Marc=best tour guide ever. I get quite sick with some mystery illness and spend nearly 2 days in bed before heading to Tolédo for a matter of hours, then to Barcelona for a weekend with Patou and Roland. Here, another series could be dedicated to Barcelona. Two words: Antoni Gaudi.
-Following our return from Spain, I had a matter of a week or so left in France, and I crammed for my last lessons of TEFL certification (which I have yet to complete).
-The eve of my departure was spent with surrounded by my favorite people in France (minus Lucy) at a BBQ thrown graciously by Patricia and Roland. This lively dinner followed a day of shopping at the Vide-Grenier in Sospel, and I could not have imagined a better finale to 8 of the best months of my life so far.
And so here it is, July already and it all still feels like I could step out my front door and expect to be on my 12th century street. My french is fading a bit (as I discovered today when I sought desperately for the translation of the word "couch"). My culture shock will be the discussion of another blog post, but I can definitely say that I feel that culture shock will never entirely disappear once you have lived abroad. Mme. Brault, my college french advisor and mentor, told me once that you will always feel some sense of homesickness no matter where you are, once you have fully experienced another culture. You long for elements of the culture even if you were craving your home-cooking every day you spent abroad. My "mal du pays" has come in quite a different and much delayed form in comparison with my last homecoming experience, and I am intrigued by how much each homecoming might be different, and consequently change me and my perspective each time.
My relationships with people have also changed. Travel and long-distance living give you great insight into who your best-of-friends really are, and in a harsh way, show you with whom you truly wish to stay connected. I have also come to realize that my relationships formed in the extreme situation that was Lorgues, will perhaps never be the same again, but will not fall away like those of my high school career. While I may not have much time to reminisce between taking drink orders and running pizzas, I think of France everyday; I long to indulge in friendly "soirées des filles" and Patricia's gourmet cooking... just one more time.
