a brief update, before i die of exhaustion.

i wrote that last entry at 740 am in Paris, approximately 1.5 hours before i realized that my 1:35 pm flight no longer existed, and that i was really booked on an 11:30 flight home. i was fortunate enough to have checked my delta itinerary that contradicted my studentuniverse booking information, and of course, turned out to be right. so instead of exchanging my euros, dropping off my friend's bike, and returning another friend's cellphone, i entrusted said items to carlotta's boyfriend, ran out the door, successfully flagged a taxi, and made it to the airport at 1020. even at the airport, i had to hurry and cut in lines to get on my flight. but thankfully i was indeed aboard my flight. i have to confess i was looking forward to flying the later flight as it was operated by Air France, which means better food and an after-dinner Bailey's or Cognac. and speaking French. but i managed, and got back to Atlanta safely, where i met becca and my parents---my mom ALSO happened to find out about the flight change, so i didn't have to wait 3 hours for them to pick me up. and then we met my brother and his wife for a big american steak dinner at Ray's Killer Creek. and i put bone marrow on my steak, which has a very strange consistency but melts right on.

and so now i am home, totally exhausted and heading to bed. i still have a lot to process re: leaving France, moving back to the States, my year in Paris, things i've learned, etc. call me or email me and i'd love to chat about it with you.

barclay

and this little piggie went "waa waa waa" all the way home

it is monday morning, june 11, 2007. 7.42 am, paris time. i am preparing to leave my apartment in a few hours to catch the RER to the airport, and a flight back to Atlanta. i saw becca off this morning, she left the house at 6 to fly standby on one of two delta flights.

so here i sit, making sure my bags are packed and the weight is mostly evenly distributed. i've got to drop off my friend's bike, give back my phone to the friend who lent it, change my euros to dollars. and though these errands are all very much associated with leaving France, i still don't quite feel like that's what i'm about to do. i haven't really had time to process this transition---with my 3 weeks back in paris after china i have been busy trying to see people and things in paris, and especially the last 10 days with becca here, i haven't been able to give this big event much thought. i hope i will take the time back in the states, or maybe even on the plane, to start to decipher or unravel my year here in Paris. i will ask lots of questions, and try to understand the ups and downs, positives and negatives of my year abroad. what lessons have i learned? how do i know myself better? which experiences have impacted me most??

i must confess that already the fall seems like a blur or a distant memory. that i hardly remember what it felt like to be without an apartment for those first 6 weeks. and while that and other experiences have been difficult, i'm certain i stand to learn much from them.

everyone has been asking me if i'm ready to leave, and in the end the answer is no. i usually tell them that i'm eager to go back to the states, to go back "home" per se, but that i'm not ready to leave france. and that's the truth. had i nothing at home to call me back, i.e. a job, family, friends(primarily the first, as i could stand living here and returning home to visit if i had a job in Paris), i would be glad to stay. i will miss france, french culture, french food, french formalities. i will not miss french bureaucracy or standing in lines in France. i will miss Paris specifically, being the city i love the most, with its parks and museums and restaurants and cafes and public transportation. hemingway and his "moveable feast" couldn't be more right.

i apologize for the disjointedness of my thoughts here, but understand the gravity of the situation and the fact that i haven't even begun to process the changes i've undergone and will continue to undergo. thanks for reading, i wish you all the best wherever you may be.

dirty south

becca got into paris last wednesday after a bit of nervousness, on my part, over whether she would make it at all--that flying standby thing is very nice cost-wise, but nerve wracking otherwise. over the past months i've been compiling a list, mentally, of places to go, restaurants, parks, etc. i have to say, at the end of 7 days here, that we have not succeeded in conquering even half of this list. however we have done some exciting things, not limited to: Da Gelo a Gelo at the Opera Garnier, followed by a superb french dinner at "the three little pigs"; a weekend in Aix-en-Provence, my ancient home in the south of France where we dined with my host family friday night, an old professor saturday night, a conservatory friend for lunch, dinner with a church friend after sunday evening church, and the most exciting part of all, visiting the Calanques. to visit these stone cliffs on the Mediterranean, we took a bus to marseille and another bus to luminy, from where we hiked to a belvedere offering a nice view of the sea, and then down to the water. at the water's edge, we were enticed to take a dip, despite not having bathing suits, either one of us. so i in my boxer's and becca in full clothing, we tested the waters. all was well and good until we jumped off of a rock, and as i came up to the surface i realized i'd lost my glasses. the water was about 8 feet deep, but crystal clear. which didn't help me much since i couldn't see, but i implored becca to find them. despite the freezing cold water, and with the help of a stranger's mask, becca located the glasses and dove down to grab them. having already thought about making my way back to paris without seeing clearly and then buying new glasses, i was quite relieved and impressed and awed by her mad search and rescue skills. all in all, however, the Calanques were definitely worth seeing.

back in paris we've been busy with dinner with my best friends from church, hanging out with my Scottish friend Frankie, church service last night, a goodbye picnic with the english teachers from school(where i came out on top with 12 or so new French books), and a friend's birthday dinner tonight. tomorrow i go to the French Open to see the women's semifinals, provided it doesn't rain.

and before you know it, i will be on a plane home next monday. i haven't even started to process it, and i'm not sure i will. this may very well be the last blog entry i have about paris. or maybe not, who knows. but don't be surprised.

abl