Coucou,

Sorry for the delays…I have been soooo busy this month! It is obviously my last month here in France, so I have been trying to soak up EVERY minute that I can. In the past few weeks I have finished school, gone to Bordeaux, had a friend come stay with me, and truly learned how lucky I am to have had this experience.

On June 13th I had my last day of school, and it was both super happy and fun as well as horribly depressing. I had to say goodbye to all my friends, knowing that I would probably never see some of them ever again. But we only had two hours of class, and we fooled around and had a "pique-nique" and took a million pictures! I ended up crying after the final bell rang, and all my friends promised me that we will continue to talk and someday when I come back we will all get together and catch up.

The week after that, I went to a play with some of my friends from class and then continued to see some of my closer friends throughout the week. And then last Friday my friend Malia came to visit me for a few days. We went to a dinner party with some of my friends and visited Montpellier and Nimes. After that, I went back with her to her small town of Leogeat, outside of Bordeaux. We visited Bordeaux, went kayaking, and then visited many other small towns close to where she lived. I was supposed to come home Wednesday night, but I missed my train and ended up staying another night. On the plus side, after the past two days of trains, I would say that I have officially mastered the art of train travel!

I have 5 more days with my host family and each day gets harder and harder. For the past 3 nights, I have not been able to sleep for more than a few hours because I am so nervous and sad to leave. After six months with this family, I have become apart of it! I have 2 French sisters and a French mom and a French dad. Coming into this program, I knew I would be close with my family, but I never imagined this. I really do love them.

I don't know what I will be up to for my last five days, other than going to Emma's birthday party tomorrow at the beach. On my last full day, Monday, I am going to give my family their gifts and make them an American breakfast of eggs and pancakes! I don't like to think about the end of this journey, but I can't help but to know that it is close.

My friend Mika and I are going to Paris for the last few days of our time in France and then I am off to America!!

See you in 10 days!

Bonjour!

Since my last post, I have been very busy! Two weekends ago, my family and I stayed on Ludmila's grandpa's boat for the three day weekend. It was so much fun! We went boating in the Mediterranean and had tons of fun in Meze and Sete.

Emma and cousin Cantine enjoying the boat!

I then had another week of school, and before I knew it, it was the weekend again! This past weekend, was my last AFS weekend. All the exchange students in Languedoc met up in Meze and we had a weekend full of games, cooking, talking, and more. I have grown soo close with the others and I truly am going to be so sad to leave them in Paris on July 8th. The five of us in Montpellier, Aron, Tonya, Macarana, Iveta, and myself, try to do things together as often as we can, but for the other 5, it is hard to see them. Regardless, I have grown extremely close to all my friends and I am honestly glad to have known them.

Gabriel (Colombia), Carmen (Honduras), and me

Us host students made a real French dinner for the 30 other kids who will be going on exchange this fall and summer. It was so much fun!

Sunday when I returned, we celebrated Mother's Day and Nathalie's birthday! I bought her a bouquet of flowers and went down to the festival of Corrida de Torros. There was bullfighting in an arena, but we didn't go the show. Instead we enjoyed Spanish churro's and watched little girls perform traditional Spanish dances. After that, we went to dinner in Palavas, and we had fresh Mediterranean seafood! Super good!!

On the topic of food, I have been learning how to cook! Nathalie and I made Ratatouille last week and at my AFS weekend we made curried chicken with a special bell pepper sauce. And of course a homemade chocolate and raspberry dessert!

This week is Lycee Joffre's first high school dance! It was even put together by my wonderful host sister, Ludmila. I plan on going and can't wait to see if it is anything like our dances in the States. Saturday night, is Nathalie's birthday party and we are all celebrating with a ton of friends over at the house! I finish school next Wednesday and then I am on summer! I don't have any summer plans yet, but I think I will be at the beach a lot, as well as finishing up some French shopping! I leave on July 3rd (less than a month!) to Paris with my friend, Mika, and we have an amazing itinerary planned out.

I can't believe how fast time has gone by, and I have to say that I am not ready to leave. I miss my family and my friends SO much, but five and a half months in such a diverse and beautiful country is simply not enough. This exchange has been the most amazing and rewarding thing I have ever done in my life and I can't believe how fast my time has gone by.

See you shortly!

And congratulations to Emily and Billy for their new baby girl!! :-) Can't wait to meet her!