Well, I don't know if I will ever get to the full details of my time from my trip to Paris to the end of my time in France. So much happened in that last month I wouldn't even know where to start! So here is just a list of the highlights of what happened during that time along with a picture of each.
1. I went to Paris! La ville de l'amour! (Minus l'amour).
2. My family came to visit!!!!
3. My parents are adorable.
4. Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris is like Space Mountain on steroids.
5. I hitchhiked for the first time, I unfortunately didn't take a picture of this.
6. I went to London!
7. I hiked the White Cliffs of Dover.
8. I kayaked on the Mediterranean.
9. I toured a winery and boy is wine disgusting.
10. I hiked a mountain watched the sunset and then watched it rise
11. I failed my finals....(no picture of that...)
12. The people I lived with threw me a not very surprising surprise goodbye party.
In my last few weeks in France I learned a lot about the power of prayer. It may have seemed like little things but honestly God couldn't have answered prayer faster. For example on the way to the winery Amanda and I didn't know which stop we were supposed to get off. So I just prayed that someone else would be getting off at the same stop. After I prayed that I leaned to lady in front of us and said "Vous allez ou?" to which she responded "You know I'm English." She happened to be getting off at the same stop and proceeded to basically give us a guided tour during the rest of the 40 minute ride. God is good!
Leaving France was so much harder than I expected it to be. A lot of crying was involved. I cried especially when I said goodbye to the people that had put up the most with my horrible French. I don't know if they realize how grateful I am to them. The hardest was definitely my last church service. Crying occurred during the entire thing!! It's amazing that in just 4 short months I was able to create such deep roots.
The day I went home was the longest day of my life! I woke up at 4 am to get to the airport and didn't go to bed until midnight (which was really 4 am the next day). I managed to surprise my sister at her musical which was fantastic! She was crying and I missed her so much! I also did awkward "I still think I am in France" things like give my family kisses instead of hugs and saying "pardon" to strangers I ran into instead of "excuse me." I also somehow came back with a stutter when speaking English...it's rather unfortunate.
I am slowly adjusting to my life back here in the states and trying to transition into the Spanish mindset. So I met with my Spanish teacher from high school and she gave me a ton of resources to help me get back into the Spanish groove. Though I'm afraid I didn't get groovy enough before my placement exam, oh well. I am also getting ready to head to Peru! That will be my next stop in my journey around the world!
This past weekend I went to my friend's bridal shower in Presque Isle, Maine, which required a total of 16 hours of driving there and back. Thankfully I had my girls Caitie and Molly with me! It has been so great to see my friends again. It's so hard when you are abroad because no one knows you the way your friends know you! Honestly though, my entire time in France feels like a dream. There is just photo evidence that it actually happened. I am glad I have other friends that were abroad who understand what I am going through.
I wanted to thank you all for putting up with my poor blogging habits during my time in France. This is not the end of my blog by any means! I have Peru coming up and I fully intend to blog during that time. I might even have a guest blogger! In the meantime, if I feel inspired I might post a few times.
