Hello!

Where to start? A few weeks ago, we had a week off for vacation, and for the first weekend, I went to my host family's home in Brittany. They have a beautiful house in the woods in Pont Aven near the coast. It was a little stressful being the only American and non-family member there; for the most part when everyone was talking, I couldn't understand much of what they were saying. That's what happens when you put 21 French family members together. But I enjoyed my time there! On Easter day, I ate so much wonderful food! Seriously, there was soooo much food. And wine. Haha. And I went fishing with my host brothers and my host dad, and when we were coming back to shore, a wave overtook our small little boat and we got soaked and the boat was filled with water. I thought it was pretty hilarious, even though I was really cold. Then I came back to Nantes for a couple of days and then set off for Antibes to visit my friend, Etienne! We went everywhere in Southern France, and it was great! We also got to go to Italy which was really exciting! Had the best gelato of my life there! And the hot chocolate in Italy is basically hot chocolate pudding. It's crazy! Monaco is beautiful and the most rich area ever; saw a super fancy boat docked that had a helicopter on it. We're talking serious money. Grasse was a lovely town too; it's famous for it's perfume, and Etienne and I visited the Fragonard perfumery there which was pretty cool. All in all, it was a great trip! Last Saturday, IES organized a trip for us to go to Clisson, a little town near Nantes and we visited a beautiful Italian style chateau and then we went to a little vineyard and did a little wine tasting of muscadet white wine. I felt a little pretentious at the wine tasting but I got a kick out of all of us pretending to be wine experts and discussing the wines.
Right now is academically a little more difficult with all of the essays and homework and finals coming up. Writing a 5 page 1.5 spaced paper for my French Romanticism literature class is not easy task. Now I need to work on my Philosophy on Language paper. That will be interesting.
With my last week and half here in Nantes, I am trying to fit in things into every free space of time. The French language has this word "profiter" that is the best way to describe what I am trying to do right now. It essentially means to benefit and to take advantage of your time, but I feel that it encompasses a lot more than just that. It's really truly amazing what living in France for 4 months does. I have changed so much, learned so much about myself, France, people, French culture, American culture, traveling, and more than I could ever try to express. To be honest, although I truly miss friends and family at home, my university and my psychology classes, I have fallen in love with France. I never knew how attached I would become to France and the city of Nantes. I have a wonderful host family, great friends, both American and French alike, and I feel so blessed and lucky to have had the opportunity to live here. When you live in a foreign country, you are obligated to make a new life being that you are totally removed from everything you've grown up with, including your native language. Now that I have lived here, I feel a part of France and of Nantes, and Nantes and my experience living in France has become a part of me. I was talking with my host mother about how it will be hard for me to leave, and she said that it's like you leave little pieces of your heart wherever you go. That is exactly how it feels. A part of my heart will forever be in Nantes. But Nantes has also become a part of me and I will never forget my time here and my life will truly be forever different for the better because of my experience here. Although it will be painful for me to leave, I know it will be worth the pain of leaving to have been able to live here for four months. I can say it a million times, but I can never express how my life will be forever changed. Knowing that I will be leaving this wonderful place soon is one of the most difficult things I have ever done and I imagine that when it comes to be time to leave, it will take every little bit of strength I have to let myself leave. In understanding that I must leave, I also know that I will come back.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my time here. I am going to enjoy every moment I have here until it comes time for me to part.


Jordan