That sentence takes a minute to sink in for me. First, I had to say good bye to all of my friends. And getting thrown into a completely foreign culture can really bring you close to people. And I had some really great friends. We traveled, studied (or rather, pretended to study), ate lunch, shopped... things that seem really normal, but when you do it in another language, it's never that simple. So we bonded and I'm sad that I really have no idea when I'll see most of them again because most of them live in Minnesota.
Then I had to say good bye to my host family. They were so friendly and welcoming that I'm leaving way more than just a bed behind. The wonderful conversations we had that were not only fun and interesting, but really pushed and stretched my French; the food; and the overall feeling of having a family who was there to help me, but also to give me my independence (a rare balance for sure) will all certainly be missed.
Hardest of all, I had to say good bye to my host mom, Marie. This makes me think of one day that I came back from class. Everything had gone wrong and nothing was making me happy. On top of it, I felt worse because I had just come back from break the day before and was super exhausted. So I hear someone downstairs and I figured I'd see who was there (and check on my laundry in the process). And there's Marie unpacking groceries. And she offers me a coke and it was probably the most well time glass of coke ever. And then we sit and chat for maybe an hour, maybe more. And we talked about a lot: my past trip, Bin Laden, the Royal wedding... etc. But more than what we talked about, just having someone there to talk to who was interesting, interested in what I had to say, and patient when I couldn't quite get it out right, made me feel so at home. Not just that I was at ease, but I felt true support, even though the subject of my Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day never even came up.
So my real parents came into Montpellier yesterday and things have been kind of bumpy sailing. They like to get lost at every chance they get and unfortunately, real Mom is sick. But we had a really nice breakfast with host Mom.
Then we packed up and headed out. Of course, about an hour and a half into our all day drive, I realize I left a coat at my host family's house. Didn't go back for it so hopefully it'll show up in the states one day.
But this mini-vacation at the end will be an interesting wrap up and (as soon as mom feels better) we have a lot of cool things on the itinerary.
Stay tuned for... A Merz Euro Tour (sponsored by Rick Steves)
(Note: I arrive back in the states on the 25th, so keep an eye out then for posts from this trip and a final wrap up about being home and such)
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