Bliss

(my mommy took this lovely photo at the market in Lyon)

I am so happy today. 

Perhaps it is because I have loads of work to avoid, perhaps it is because I started the day with a giant bowl of lemon tea with lavender honey, perhaps it is because it is the perfect temperature outside and I am wearing my new sandals with the big green fabric flowers on them. 

Perhaps there is something in the water.

Nonetheless, I have made quite a day of it. I bought chocolate chip cookies at the corner bakery and handed them out to friends and staff at the American Center. I bought cheery yellow flowers to go on my bureau. I bought three tiny macarons from a woman named Caroline who told me I spoke lovely French, and a hunk of strong cheese wrapped in paper from a pretty girl with tangled blond hair at the market. I have a sack of olives in a spicy pepper oil waiting to be snacked on in the fridge. I have walked (and occasionally skipped) around town today smiling at strangers, which is like shouting to the world that I'm an American. I could not be happier.

Last night I went out with friends to a smoky hookah bar on a side street where you take your shoes off and lounge around on giant floor pillows. We drank caramel vanilla tea and had chocolate fondue, and I had real conversations with some of the kids in my program for the first time, which made me a bit sad to be leaving so soon. Afterward a few of us went to Pizza Capri for melty mozzarella pizza with spicy oil on top, and ate them sitting on a bench along the Cours Mirabeau. 

Spring has sprung and I don't know whether this explosion of glee is because the air smells like jasmine or because I'm excited to see everyone I love again. Either way, it should be a lovely final two weeks.

I'm alive, I swear.

(Tulip fields in Holland!)

Hello darling family and friends, 

I'm back! I had a wonderful two weeks of vacation, and arrived back at home late Saturday night to discover the internet was broken and I had no way of telling anyone of my lovely vacation. Right now I am sitting in Quick, which is a sketchy French burger chain, taking advantage of their free wifi and trying to avoid the eyes of the creepy guys sitting one table over. 

I only have about two weeks left here in France, which is pretty weird but really nice. For awhile, especially right after Matt left, I was so homesick and my time here seemed interminable. Having only two weeks left is really nice, since I can really enjoy the town and the last few days of living in France and then go home to my family. It helps that I came back to sun and flowers and greenery, and so I've been throwing caution and cultural assimilation to the wind and strolling around town smiling at strangers all week. 

As for my vacation, I could not have asked for a better two weeks, and it was really nice to get out of Aix. The first week I spent with my mom, and we went to Lyon, Amsterdam, and Brussels, ate delicious food, shopped, and had a lovely time. The second week I spent in Sorrento with friends, and made day trips to Positano, Pompei, and Capri. It was an amazing and lovely and pasta-filled week, and I will post more eventually, promise. 

Tonight I am having friends over for dinner, since my host mom is gone, and tomorrow I'm going to a BALL!

Seriously. 

I am trying to save money, since I have a non-paying internship this summer and will be poor for awhile (Greenpeace, though! I'm so excited!). I just transferred some of my savings over to checking because I had exactly $5.03 in my account (pretty sad), and the tickets are 22 euros, so I hesitated at first...but then I realized that it would be really really dumb to waste my second to last weekend in France sitting in bed watching The Office (sooo good though) and that perhaps going to a ball in France is well worth the extra babysitting hours. 

Anyway, I must dash home to meet my friends, but I would LOVE to hear from you all. My inbox is full of requests from deposed Nigerian kings and updates on the NHL (yay Hurricanes!), but sadly empty of updates from the US. Pretty please?