March 28, 2005

Well, it’s almost time for me to go back to the states. Wow. I was feeling excited about it, but as the day approaches I feel like it is coming too quickly—that I want more time here in France. I was looking at my map last night and I realized that there was no way I could see all that I wanted to see in the next couple of weeks. Agh! Also, right now I actually don’t feel too much like traveling. I just want to stay around the kitchen and hang out with the other assistants.

I don’t know what it is going to be like for me when I get back to the states. I don’t know how different it will be. But I want it to be different. I don’t want it to be too much like France. Or… I don’t know. I mean, I’ve only been here six months. That is really not that long, in the grand scheme of things. But, then again, I suppose when you’ve accomplished a lot it is actually longer… I mean, again in the grand scheme of things. How many other six month periods will I go through where I will accomplish so much? (Then again, this is me we are talking about… I tend to be an experience junkie…) Okay, then there is the newspaper article that Mom was telling me about four months ago. It said that students who spend a semester in Europe are often depressed when they get back because of the lifestyle change. They get used to things in Europe and have problems re-adjusting. When Mom told me about this I had only been in France for a couple of months so it was a little difficult to imagine, but now… Well, I don’t think I will become depressed, but I do wonder how difficult it will be for me to re-adjust. And also, there are some things that I don’t want to change.

For example, my palate has changed considerably. When I got to France, I didn’t like red wine. It was too bitter for me. Instead, I would only drink Rose or White—the sweeter, the better. Now I prefer red. Also, I never used to like dark chocolate. Now it is the only type of chocolate that I will eat. I have stopped drinking coke. (I know, I know—how weird is that?!) I haven’t had fast food in the longest time. Now when I am hungry, I go to the kitchen and prepare something to eat. I no longer even think about a microwave—and six months ago I was convinced that I would starve without one! I wash all my clothes by hand (though it will be awesome to get back to a washing machine) and hang them up to dry (and I am already wondering how I can do that when I get back to the states—it saves electricity). Speaking of saving electricity, I still do not sit in the dark like the rest of my roomies. When I enter the kitchen I turn the lights on—I think it drives everyone else nuts (especially Dagmar) but I can’t stand to sit around in the dark.

Ah well…

So, I did a rough practice pack yesterday. I think I will be able to get the most important stuff back. But wow, I’ve bought a lot of gifts. I really haven’t bought that much stuff for me, actually. Most of it is gifts (as in, one suitcase full of stuff for other people). In fact, chances are that, if you are reading this, I bought you something. How cool am I?

Oh, and Yanis is not here yet. I spoke to Sophie yesterday and she said that she and Hamid are doing fine, but that Yanis (her baby) had not yet arrived. So he is now a few days late. She is really ready to give birth—I know that she is exhausted and that she feels like she is getting bigger every day. Also, she is excited to meet this new person. She has known him for nine months now, but she has never really gotten the chance to meet him. But if she does not give birth naturally by the first of April, the doctors are going to induce labor.

It will be interesting for me to see Yanis too. I have seen all the sonograms (is that the correct word? I think it is.) She showed me the very first one—the one where Yanis is still, I don’t know, not a real baby yet, and she said that when Hamid saw it, he decided that Yanis looked just like him (this was before Yanis was Yanis. He was just “the baby”).

Okay, gonna get a shower and eat something, then head over chez Sophie to say hi to her and Hamid.