Holy Cow! Today is May 7th, meaning I have only 10 days until I am on my train to Paris and then a plane to Detroit....for good.
Last week, as soon as I got back from Ireland, I had a list of things to get done! Firstly, there was the IES family reception, where I gave a short speech thanking the families for the amazing job they did last summer. Next I had my Microbiology final, a friends birthday to celebrate, make-up courses on top of regular courses for all the times professors were absent this semester, required attendence to a Arms Trade conference, souvenirs and train tickets to purchase, etc. Also, my french professor from Alma was in Nantes for a few days, so although I was only able to spend about an hour going out for a coffee at a cafe, I was so happy to see her, and in France too! I only wish I could have had more time!
Such a short time remaining means that we have been taking advantage of as many activities as possible, just to cram in all that French culture. Therefore, Saturday, IES organized a day-trip to Clisson, an adorable neighboring village with Italian influences. Tres cute. We spent the day exploring the castle (I feel like I have written that sentence SO many times in these blogs!) which was interesting because, in contrast to other Chateaux, it was falling into ruin, and thus felt much more midevil. The weather was gorgeous: 75-80 degrees, so after picnicing along the river, Julie and I found an awesome tree that led out over the water, so we just sat and enjoyed the weather for a while. During the afternoon, we had our wine tasting at a local winery. The region around Nantes is famous for Muscadet, a white wine, so, after getting a tour of the wine-making process, we tried three different types of Muscadet, which were all very good I might add. The one problem was that we hadnt eaten in about 5 hours and were all a bit dehydrated from the heat, so add some wine and we felt the need to go to bed a bit early that evening.
Sunday turned out to be beautiful as well! I spent the morning in catholic mass with my host family and then accompanied them to the Talensac Market, one of Nantes largest, to buy fresh fish, veggies, and fruit for lunch. That afternoon, a group of 6 students rented a small motorboat and took it up the Erdre (one of Nantes 2 rivers) for an hour, something I have wanted to do all semester! So many people were outside : having drinks at outdoor cafes, jogging, musicians playing on every street corner. It is such a bummer that we have to leave just when the weather is becoming amazing! The first Sunday of the month in France is also Free-Museum-Day, so before catching the bus home, I finally decided to check out Nantes' Museum of Natural History. Not bad, I think the problem was that I just didnt understand exactly what Natural History was..so I was a bit surprised when I got to the room of all the stuffed/painted animal bodies. A tad creepy. But interesting...i guess? At least now I won't regret not going to any museums.
In conversations with friends over the past week, I feel that around IES we have a pretty general concencus on how we feel about going back to "Les Etats-Unis." After spending almost every waking moment depending on eachother, for study partners, social outings, help with cultural differences or translation, or even just lunch buddies, the saddest part of leaving, is the idea that we have no clue if we (students) will ever see eachother again. We come from different states across the nation and are all moving on to different areas of life, so who knows? However, with the type of experience it has been, I truley beleive that the friendships that have been made mean that we could call eachother up 10 years from now, after barely having heard from eachother, if we were in town and needed a place to stay, or just simply wanted to catch up and it wouldnt be a problem. I know that I am going to miss everyone incredibly. On top of that, there are our host families who have made France really seem like home and been one of the biggest aides in improving our french. Furthermore, Im just going to miss living comfortably in a big city, where there are always things to do, the hustle and bustle, my weekly routines, etc. I feel like we have all really grown up during the last 5 months, and have come to realize that we can make it, wherever we decide to live, if we just give it some time and effort. And although we have had a lot of help from our school and from our friends, we have become much more independant, just knowing we can plan out the logistics of our own travels, manage our money, confront different cultures etc. I think that we all have deeply fallen in love with Nantes and life here and could probably live here quite contentely for a while.
Nevertheless, taking all that into account, the general concensus has been "It's time." We can feel it. With finals coming, our classes ending, and even the weather changing into summer, it has given our semester/time here a bit more closure than if you were just living somewhere rather than going to school there. We miss our families and friends. our american comforts. our homes. our hometowns. the dollar. customer service with a smile. the ability to drive somewhere. our bins of clothes stored in our houses that we couldnt bring overseas, and therefore the feeling that you are not wearing the same thing every day. and as for me, I miss Slurpees. Its just not summer without them! And of course, I am also excited to be done, because it means that 1 year of my boyfriend and I being on different continents is finally coming to an end :) So thats something to celebrate, right ? :)
Anyways, as my stay is coming to an end, I will probably be only adding 1 or 2 more posts to my blog, so if you have any questions or you want to know about things I havnt covered, let me know and I would be happy to!
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