Better yet, what did I spend the last six months doing? The purpose of studying abroad, as the name suggest à is to study. However, when you’ve spent the greater part of your life living in a country that reaches from coast to coast (the song: This Land is Your Land comes to mind), and you suddenly find yourself in a country where: 1. A few hours in a car seems like a lot to the locals and might take you to another country, 2. Charter airlines have cheap tickets, 3. there are abundant vacation days, and 4. the motto is “travaille pour vivre et ne vit pas pour travailler” “work to live, not live to work” … I had to travel. What better way to learn.
Don’t take me wrong, I went to class, but the travel bug got the best of me as well. Since re-telling in detail what I saw and lived might be overdoing it at this point, I’ll go ahead and highlight some of the experience.
1. Barcelona, Spain: I start with Barcelona for the wonderful people I met there. The Italian Prince that saved me from the streets and introduced me to his friends, the random man on the streets that turned out to be the best trip advisor, the energy of the city (every city has vibes) – the mix of ages and art, mountains and ocean, Catalan and Spanish. It was a trip done on a whim and worth the unknowns, worth traveling through Ryanair, worth arriving to snow.
2. Marseille, France: The package deal. What better way to spend the last weeks in France than by being with great friends by the coast. Highlights of the week included a brass band, hitch-hiking, Festival du Soleil (street music festival), climbing rocks, ‘private’ beaches, and laughing from dawn ‘til dusk.
3.Budapest, Hungary: My Uncle comes from Hungary, which is what truly sparked my interest in visiting this capital. Memories of him reading “Josefina la Gallina” in Spanish when I first moved to the U.S. stayed with me as I met his life-long friends and walked through a city with fascinating history and gorgeous landmarks. I had the greatest hosts anyone could possibly ask for.
4. London, England: I only spent about 4 days in London, which was not enough to see everything the city has to offer, but the city definitely surpassed my expectations. Truth be told, I did not even want to visit London. It might’ve due to the weather (silly perhaps, but I tend to go by “sunny is better”) or the fact that English is spoken there, but thanks to some great persuasive skills, I spent a fabulous time visiting friends and seeing what someone described as “New York in the 70’s”. Favorite spot in London à Camden Town Market, sure it’s for tourists, but I have a thing for markets, especially big markets with music, vegan food, and antiques. Did I mention museums are free in England? God save the Queen.
5. Nantes, France: Falling in love with a small town, one hour away from where I lived (Rennes) was not at all on my to-do list, but I did it anyway. The city captured my heart away each of the three times that I returned…even if it’s the place where my camera broke. First, with our great couchsurfer, Alex, who showed my friends and I an exciting weekend complete with my first oyster experience, great views of the city, and an interesting dress-up party. I returned to Nantes on my way back from Bordeaux to visit Alex’s new bar and an exposition at Lieu Unique. The third and final, quick visit to Nantes was on the way to Marseille, and included a visit to a fishermen’s island, a bohemian community that reminded my friends of Valparaiso, Chile.
I round my city highlights off at five, because it’s my favorite numbers, not because that’s where it ends. Amsterdam, Brussels, St. Malo, all of Brittany really, Bordeaux, Paris, Germany…they were all great. Traveling is always an opportunity to meet new people, test my senses, encounter adventure, try the unknown. The sentences I weave in this blog can only touch the surface of what my semester encompassed. Furthermore, they leave out the most important part – Rennes, the city I lived in, and the feelings I had during the last six months. The challenge of capturing that and putting it into words is one I don’t want to take. I’ve left out the details on nights that started with the chanting of “IEP Libre” and ended with cold walks home, Saturday mornings in the market, weekends with the ‘family’, taking tea with friends, and becoming obsessed with ‘Weeds’ (the series). I went to France to learn more about the French. I returned knowing more, but I learned more about my own culture too, and gained a madrina, two papis, hermanos, and incredible friends. Though it may sound cheesy, despite volcanic ash that ruined vacations, French bureaucracy, rain in Rennes, and seminars of read lectures, it was a combination of the people, the classes, the weather, food, incidents, and fiestas calientes that made the semester worthwhile. These reasons, and more, kept me from updating the blog, and thus I’d like to think I’m different and quite okay with two months of partial unemployment and tranquility in Indiana.
So with that, and a small comparison of my summer and life in France…I say ciao.
