written Friday May 11

Ah, c’est presque le fin. Today I took my last final, thus officially concluding my study abroad program. It felt great to be done with school. It was stressful, as any finals week will be, but there was an added weirdness this time. As I was walking out, I knew that there was little chance that I would see most of these people again in my life. It felt strange.
I repeat that I have the best French family. Isabelle threw me a going away party and I invited my French friends and Ashley. Kathia (my language partner) came as well as two of my cousins, my French aunt and uncle, Yamina (our school’s housing director who I have likened often to a yippy lap dog), Marie (a friend of Isabelle), her son, a friend of Guillaume, and of course Guillaume and Maxime. It was bittersweet. I was happy to see Kathia. We had a great time together and I hadn’t been able to see her because of conflicting schedules with exams. She gave me a really cute black top as a souvenir of France. Isabelle also surprised me with a gift- a really adorable French bracelet. I had seen her and many of her friends wearing jewelry and I loved it as soon as I saw it. It was a great night for me to share with all of those who made my stay in France so special.
I wore a new dress that I had bought here. For the first time since I had gotten in france, I was complimented for my style. Lol Everyone kept repeating how cute I looked and how French I looked. Haha perhaps this sounds conceited that I’m including this- its just that I have tried endlessly to imitate the Aixoise fashion sense and up to this point, have not succeeded. Being complimented by women who are fashionable from birth was a major success for me. Haha I think some of them were just surprised to see me out of the sweatpants or jeans and t-shirt I was sometimes caught wearing.
Afterwards, Ash and I met up with our American friends to “boire une verre” and say our goodbyes. Once we finally finished our “a bientot”s (we’re scheming to meet up in Chicago for New Years) I called up Guillaume and Ashley, Guillaume and I went to a club and danced- I got to salsa with my French brother. It was really fun. A lot of reminiscing was done tonight. It’s always hard to say goodbye, and now is certainly not an exception. I keep pushing it from my mind- delaying the time I will have to deal with it. It creeps back though and I’ve begun reflecting on my time here. As we were walking home, scenes from the semester started playing in my head- the first time Isabelle pulled up to our apartment, Maxime helping me with my suitcases up the stairs, going out with my cousin Marie to Divino (a club), hanging out with new friends in Spain, the first time we returned from a weekend trip and had Aix feel like home… a lot of memories. I know I’ll take them with me when I go.