All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...
In six small days, I'll be leavin' on a jet plane, and bidding 'au revoir' to the country that has been my home for the last eight months.
As I write this, I'm sitting at an outdoor table at Place de la Victoire. Although it's been as quiet as Sunday for days, the crowds out tonight make me think that the population hasn't completely left Clermont for the August 'vacances,' but they are starting their free days by sleeping-in in the mornings and going out to dinner at night!
As for me, I'm sipping a glass of Sancerre, enjoying the perfect weather and energy in this place. When the sun goes down, they're going to be showing a Charlie Chaplin movie on the big screen they've set up in the square here, which I'll slip over and watch before heading home to go say good night to my last Tuesday in France.
The last few weeks have made for a pleasant, drawn out farewell to France. I've spent a handful of days with Isabelle and her husband, Bruno, talking and barbequing at their country home, 40 minutes away. They are wonderful people, and my life is definitely the richer for having shared this time with them!
The last few weeks have made for a pleasant, drawn out farewell to France. I've spent a handful of days with Isabelle and her husband, Bruno, talking and barbequing at their country home, 40 minutes away. They are wonderful people, and my life is definitely the richer for having shared this time with them!
I also made it to the top of the dormant volcano, Puy de Dome, that is the major landmark of this area. Melissa, one of my fellow IMBAers welcomed me to Marseille two weeks ago, and this coming weekend, before jetting out of CDG on Monday, I'll romp around Paris one more time.
What's more, I feel really good about my internship experience. I can now say with confidence that I can conduct business in French. My project will hopefully serve as a model for how to manage information within the entire personnel department for the company. And, I have a much better idea of what makes such a huge enterprise tick.
More than anything, though, all of this time away has made me appreciate home. An older woman overheard Melissa and I speaking English in Marseille, and she stopped to "practice" with us - everything she had to say related to someone she cared about and their ties to the US. What was striking was how crucial our relationships are for giving meaning to everything else in our lives. For me, those relationships at home - my friends, my parents, my family, Javier - are shining in technicolor as I count down the days until we're together again!
So, France, a la prochaine! This girl is heading home...
