Toulouse

Here's how it is to be inside my head right now.

Second #1: I can't wait to go home and see everyone.
Second #2: I'm not ready to leave. I'm never going to stop crying when I get on the plane home.
Second #3: Just don't think about it.

And then it starts all over again.

For my last weekend in France, I spent the night in Toulouse with a few friends. Toulouse is one of France's largest cities and has a very diverse and mostly student population. We found several second-hand clothing stores, coffee shops and bookstores, and the atmosphere kind of made me wish I had studied abroad in Toulouse instead of Pau. Our art history teacher met us at the train station and showed us around the city's curvy streets and pink brick buildings, then left us to do our own thing in the late afternoon. We drank vin chaud (hot spiced wine) at the crowded Christmas markets in the town center, ate at a nice Indian restaurant for dinner, then got a drink at the bar next door.

The bar seemed to be popular with the young crowd, and it wasn't long before a large group of French people invited us over to their table. So cool! And it was during the conversation with them that I realized I could finally understand everything perfectly, and communicate without any problems. I may never speak French as well as I want to (especially only having lived in France for three and a half months), but I have made amazing progress with my comprehension and vocabulary since I arrived in September.

Toulouse is a place I would like to visit again. I'm glad I went this weekend, especially since it's only two hours east of Pau by train. When I got back on Sunday afternoon, I decorated the Christmas tree with my family and we ate another raclette for dinner. I believe I've eaten four times my weight in cheese while I've been in France.

It's pleasant evenings like that that keep me from packing my suitcase. The pulling of clothes from my closet is something I have trouble facing.