Nice, France our last night in Nice was spent at the beach and Amorino's
As a little girl I had such big dreams that were constantly
changing. One day I would want to marry Elvis in Hawaii, and the next I would
want to go to the Eiffel tower like Madeline and wear a chapeau jaune. There is
this overpowering feeling you get when you fulfill a dream, it is such an
overwhelming and exciting moment I never know whether to smile or cry
(sometimes I can’t help but do both).
I have had more than a few of these awe-stricken moments on
this trip:
1.
The moment I officially understood a full
conversation in French. I never worked hard at French in high school; the only
thing I remembered when I got to 1010 was how to count 1-10 in French (I was
proud of myself for just that!). I have a difficult time with languages; I am
not fluent in anything besides English, I am the type of person who has to work
extremely hard to just get the basics so, I basically just surround myself with
others like Travis, hoping their brilliance to pick up languages will rub off
on me ;) I may not have been the best at speaking French back to others, but by
the end of the four weeks together and living in the French culture, I was
smiling just knowing I could understand French clearly. I am thankful for Blondine speaking as much
French to me as she did, for Tammy always being there for us, for my host,
Jackie, talking our ears off at the dinner table in nothing but (really really
fast) French, for the “Woof-pack” always helping and working together in class,
for Renelle having days where she would only speak to us in French even if most
of the time (not all of the time) I responded back in English, and for Alex,
the fifteen-year-old kid that lived with us from Corsica, who taught Caylene
and I the real words kids use in the French language ;)
2.
Just having the incredible memories of having
the chance to go to Rome with a group of friends I will never forget. Making a
wish at the Trevi fountain, walking through the Sistine chapel for the first
time, meeting & speaking with Suze Orman at the Vatican, bus rides in Roma
(even with how traumatizing they were for me, ha), seeing “that stadium thing”
for the first time, and the amazing food & conversations we had
together—Roma will always be a great “Woof-pack” memory for me. Thanks guys!
3.
Seeing Monet’s Water Lilies at Musee de
l’Orangerie; I could have sat there for hours.
4.
Finding a rare edition of Alice in Wonderland at
Shakespeare and Company in Paris.
5.
Having the opportunity to go to church at the
LDS meeting house in Paris, and then after getting to sit through a full service
at Notre-Dame, it was so astounding. I will never forget the sympathy I felt
for the mother thanking God in French for blessing her with a family, for her four-year-old son who is almost completely deaf,
clapping for his mother after her talk, for the testimonies, for the
beautiful music sang to praise God in Notre-Dame—it is rare to have a chance
like that and I was lucky enough to experience it (one of my favorites days of
the whole trip).
6.
Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up for the first
time (and then going back almost every night to sit under the Eiffel Tower and
eat crepes with great friends and good conversation—though Trevor and I never
found Hemmingway, it was still unbelievable).
7.
Finding Jim. The Doors have been my favorite
band since I was fourteen-years-old, after countless essays written about the
band’s lead singer, Jim Morrison, I was able to visit Pere Lachaise cemetery in
Paris. It is rare to get a moment alone in this cemetery because it is the
final resting place for greats such as Oscar Wilde and Chopin, and the fact
that I was able to get a full ten seconds alone with Jim Morrison was absolutely
surreal.
I have lived some incredible dreams while on this study
abroad, with hard moments to go through and great ones, I will be forever
thankful and exceedingly grateful for taking this opportunity.
Travel Often-
Alle
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