Goodbye

          This post is probably one of the hardest I’ve written yet.  My time in Toulouse has finally come to an end, and tomorrow I will get on a train at six in the morning and travel seven hours to Paris to meet my family who I haven’t seen in four months.  I have been so excited to see my family and friends back home that it hadn’t hit me that going home also meant leaving behind a beautiful city that I have grown to love and amazing friends that have become my family here. 

At the Salon de The

Last night I went out to a cute little Salon de Thé next to San Sernin (one of the landmark churches in Toulouse).  We had the most amazing dinner! I had stuffed rabbit with a chickpea based side and thé gourmand (which included an amazing black tea brewed from fresh tea leaves and served in a teapot, a lime cheesecake, and mint ice cream) for dessert.  The dinner took three hours, but it was lovely.  We had the absolute best time.  I really enjoy spending a long time eating here.  You really get to enjoy the food and the company.  That is one of the things I am going to miss for sure. 

The girls that I had dinner with are some of the coolest people I have ever met and were my best friends here.  After girls’ nights, wine and cheese parties, movie nights, travels, class, and living in the same city for four months, they kind of became like my sisters.  We were all sad to leave each other so we came up with an idea to ensure that we keep in touch.  We are going to share a bracelet among the six of us and each time we send it to the next girl send a letter with it to update her on what’s new in our lives.  We of course also plan to use Facebook, but the idea of letters and sharing a bracelet is so cute to me!

Going Away Party #1

Tonight was my last night.  As people have started leaving, we have been having “good-bye parties” in my apartment building.  Basically, we all get together in someone’s apartment to visit and say good-bye to whoever is leaving next.  As you can imagine, they are quite sad little parties.  Tonight myself and several others said goodbye.  I thought I was going to be fine.  Like I said, I assumed the excited of seeing my family would even out the sadness of leaving, but I quickly found that it doesn’t really work like that.  I began saying goodbye with my friend that I went to Nice with. She looked up at me all teary eyed, and I lost it and started bawling like a baby.  It was much harder to say goodbye than I thought. 

Last night in Toulouse

I hope that all of my Erasmus family knows how much I love them.  You guys have been my friends, classmates, teachers, traveling buddies, neighbors, and family here, and I cannot describe how thankful I am to have been privileged to meet and spend four months with all of you.  You are all amazing people, and you are the reason my exchange has been so absolutely incredible! I hope to stay in touch, and if you are ever in Arkansas (or the U.S. for that matter), you will always have a home there! Stay beautiful! Love you guys!