obligatorty sentimental pre-departure post.

Bear with me as I get all sentimental:

Currently writing this on the final leg of our journey back to France from Turkey and surprised at how natural it feels – how strangely comfortable it is – to be going “home” to Lyon.

Which worries me. Before leaving for Turkey (and many of you can attest to this) I was wishing time away, thinking of little more than my rapidly (although at the time it felt much slower) approaching return to the States. For some reason, I found myself in a rut deeper than any other I’d experienced over the course of the past 9 months. And at the time, I convinced myself that this was a good thing more than a bad thing. Not because I wanted to leave France, but because I figured it’d make the transition back into American life that much easier.

But being in Istanbul and away from Lyon for six days made me realize how intensely I’m going to miss this place. After the first day, I was already going through croissant and baguette withdrawal; I was eating delicious Turkish delicacies, but part of me just wanted a 4 Saisons sandwich from my favorite boulangerie; and surrounded by Turkish, of which I don’t speak a single word, I felt an odd sense of solidarity when we passed groups of French tourists.

In general, I think the most shocking realization was the discovery that I have, and was excited to get back to, my comfort zone in France. Especially since so much of this experience has been about leaving the ol’ comfort zone back in the U.S. It’s going to be so strange going home, but I think it’ll be interesting to see how I’ve changed…

Anyway, enough of that. Mama Atwood gets here in 6 hours, and the two of us hit up Paris in just a couple of days! I will write about the magic that is Istanbul when I get home. Until then, here’s a little taste:

(sunset view from the rooftop terrace of our hotel)

ces petits moments

I know I just posted pictures of my shoes, but wanted to document this petit moment. Every day, the morning sun pours into my yellow room through the filter of sheer, orange curtains that, I must admit, I used to hate but have since come to appreciate. And then it disappears behind the building for the rest of the day -- except for about twenty minutes in the early evening, when it somehow reflects off of the window of an apartment across the courtyard and into my room again. This is hands down one of my favorite moments of the day.

Today when it happened, I was sitting in my bed listening to some favorite tunes from last semester, checking out the headlines on NYTimes.com, and sipping on hot coffee. I paused to take a snapshot of my shoes bathing in the warm light.

I think I'm gonna miss moments like this.

la flemme!

French lesson of the day:

Expression: J'ai la flemme!

[Rough] Translation: I'm straight up lazy.

3 finals down, 2 to go, and never before have I been in such a raw state of lethargy. Reasons for my sluggishness:

- An entire school year without work has left me with the attention span of a 3-year-old.

- The pressure of all of my grades coming down to one final exam has done the exact opposite of motivate me. I just don't care.

- Spring was a tease. Welcome back, winter. (Current "feels like" temperature: 35. It's May, folks.) Also, 10-day forecast: rain.

My body's in France but I think my mind's already back in the States. The fact that I've accepted my inevitable departure (in 26 days - the final countdown has begun) has made me restless, and I just can't wait to be home. Don't get me wrong, I love it here and there are SO many things I'm going to miss about France. And if I still had several months here, I know I wouldn't be feeling like this.

Perhaps I should heed my own advice, though, and appreciate the days I have left here instead of wishing time away or realizing that my year abroad is coming to such a speedy close. There are still so many things to look forward to before I'm back in Crozet. In particular:

- Blake's arrival in 8 days! I don't know if Lyon is ready for us.

- ISTANBUL in 13 days! Turkey's definitely not ready for us.

- Mom's arrival in 19 days!

- Paris in 21 days!

- Packing (sarcasm. don't even want to start thinking about the burden of stuffing the last 8 months into one suitcase.)

Best discovery of the day: one of the coolest bookstores I've ever been to. So many dusty, leather-bound books! In a rare moment of self control, I left the store les mains vides (empty-handed). Liz should be grateful she didn't have to drag my wailing body out of there.

(if only I could justify buying a 45€ copy of Aesop's fables in French

when my books alone are going to put me over my 50-pound limit...)

if these shoes could talk...

Because my Chucks can say more about the last 8 months than I ever could...

may day muguet

Special shout-out to JL and Anna for these May Day muguets!

May 1st is Labor Day in France, which means pretty much nothing is open. But it's also a tradition for people to sell tiny bouquets of these flowers (called muguet or "lily of the valley") on the street, which you're supposed to give to friends and family. Kind of neat.