Firsts and Lasts

This past weekend was filled with both of them. It's strange that after seven months in France I could still have new experiences and even weirder still that all of my "lasts" are beginning to happen.

About a month or so ago, I made a list of all of the things I wanted to do in Toulouse before I leave to go back to the States. One of those things was to go to the ballet and so on Friday night, Ayse and I went to see "Pâques Russes" - translates to Russian Easter though I'm not sure how that's related to the ballet we saw. It was incredible. And incredibly cheap. Only 10 euros for student tickets! Things I will miss about Europe. Even though the seats were partial-view I was still mesmerized. The way that these dancers do what they do with their bodies is incredible. Makes me really want to go see the New York City Ballet when I get home.

Couldn't take pictures at the ballet so this poster will have to suffice

Another thing on my list was to see a rugby game, so on Saturday a bunch of us went! Here in southwestern France rugby is king, not soccer. My only experience with rugby was going to see my cousin Kristin play at Gettysburg last year so I wasn't (and still am not) too familiar with the rules. We got our tickets from the international student group at our university so we ended up going with students from all over Europe which was really fun! We were also surrounded by a group of drunk of irish guys so of course that was entertaining as well. Maybe more entertaining than the rugby? Maybe equally entertaining? Tough call. Going to a professional sporting game in France definitely made me miss football (as in real football), hockey, baseball, and all of our glorious professional sporting events at home. It's much more fun when I can understand what the angry drunk fans are yelling (this includes not being able to understand the irish guys because let's be honest, it's practically a different language). Toulouse won the game which was the icing on top of a great night.

Dickinson ladies do rugby!

Then on Sunday I had the first of my lasts. Throughout the year I have eaten dinner on a bunch of Sundays with a family who lives just outside of Toulouse. They would love to be a host family for students on our program but they don't live close enough to the center of the city. Thus, I go and share my American culture and help them with their English! It's a family with three kids all of whom study english in high school and who have traveled in the US, so they love learning all about us strange Americans. Well, the mom does at least and she forces her kids to, which I appreciate. We always have an "apéro" where we snack and have drinks, then have dinner together, then hang out either looking at photos, playing board games, or watching movies. Every Sunday that I spent with them was so much fun and I really will miss them! When Martine, the mother, drove me home it was so sad saying goodbye because I honestly don't know if or when I will ever see them again. I must prepare for saying goodbye to my actual host family because that is going to be rouuuuugh.

Sundays in the country

Their dog Cannelle (Cinnamon)

They have an amazing garden - these smelled like honey and mint, no idea what they're called

So strange that I have to start thinking about things like saying goodbye. Today I chose the dates for my end of year meetings with our program directors and this week is my last week of classes. Have I mentioned that time is flying by?

Home in 38 days.