Leaving Soon

Hello everyone! I actually have been so busy with trips, friends, preparing for college applications, etc, that I haven't had much time to make a blog post! As I'm writing this, I actually end the CIEE program in less than two weeks. It has been an amazing trip! Honestly, the biggest complaint would have to be the rainy weather that prevented me from being outside every day! Currently, it's about 75 degrees and sunny out, so I'm sitting in our backyard. With the sounds of the pool, the sight of our chickens in the yard, and one of the cats right next to me, I know I will miss this place. 

I've been on a few small trips to other ares, such as Provence and Albi. I got to visit Marseilles briefly, and it was beautiful. Out of all areas, however, I think I prefer Toulouse because of it's safe feeling. To me, I think the city is actually quite large compared to my home town, yet I always feel like I know where I am and I can get home safely. The other areas while beautiful were either too large, busy, or just more of a "vacation city". I plan on coming back to France (as soon as possible, really) later in my life, and I would definitely consider staying in Toulouse again.

I'm not really sure about how I feel about coming back so soon. Of course, I am excited to see my friends, family and pets, and actually I really miss the food in America. Although, a lot of things are nice about living here, too. I love the fact that when I want to go out to the city, all I have to do is take a bus and it knows exactly where to go. No google maps- I just get to sit there in the bus until my stop! While I do miss driving, it is a nice change. However, public transportation can be annoying when you're in a rush! With traffic, sometimes it takes me an hour to get home from the city on a bus when it is only a ten minute drive by car! Also going to school, I take a bus and a tram, and if I miss one, or if one is late, that could be what makes me late to school! I hate when this happens because it makes me seem unprepared when I walk into class late, when really I missed the bus by 30 seconds! Another thing I like about living here is basically the ambience of... the whole country! I love that people just go to parks and lay in the sunshine, or sit at cafes during breaks at school. There is so much socialisation which is incredibly different then where I live. For me, well we don't have breaks during school, but if we did, I'm sure everyone would just go home or to a friends house. We wouldn't walk anywhere, or sit at a cafe together. I feel like meeting people here is a lot easier (when you speak french of course) than it is when you're living the typical American drive-everywhere lifestyle. But anyways, I think I will miss being in France some days but I am glad to be getting back to my normal lifestyle for a while.

Anyways, my host mom's home so I'm going to go chat with her!