Bastille Day!

Well, I'm back but I have some catching up to do about my last days/weeks in France. It was pretty crazy but fun too. The weekend before I left was a whirl of cleaning and packing, meals with everyone I know in France and even more drinking then usual.

On Thurdsay and Friday before I left, I went into the field. I had to fight a bunch of plants and take samples in the rain. I saw Carole and her husband Chris and then I headed back to Dijon on Friday night. I spent most of Saturday freaking out about all of my stuff and filtering samples. It was a pretty nice day and I made sure to go on one more run with Katie before I left for the States and she left for internship. On Sunday, Carmela and her family had me over for lunch along with their family friend, Phillipe and his two kids. It was cool because these are people who have been so nice to me since I have arrived and they all speak both English and French so they have been extra amazing when I've really needed help. I also gave Carmela's daughter, who is obsessed with the movie "Sweenie Todd", a t-shirt and hat that Maresa got for free from work. Now, I think I will always be a good memory for her. We spent the rest of the day wandering around their village and relaxing in Carmela's house. That night, we returned to Dijon and I gave away a bunch of my furniture to all of the kids. It felt good to finally get rid of some things. I should have started giving away/selling things sooner but I guess it is just in my nature to do things last minute. I had dinner at my friend Corinne's and then hung out with friends for the rest of the night.

For Bastille Day or the 14th juillet we had a big picnic at the "fontain de jouvence" (I think that is how you spell it). It's a really cool park right outside of Dijon. It was kind of like my going away party/Bastille Day celebration. Most of my friends from the University came and it was a beautiful and really fun day. I spent the rest of that day working and then sorting out my apartment. My friend Aurelie came over and helped me soooo much. It was incredible. She just made me put everything in a box and like that, my apartment was being prepared for actually leaving.



After Bastille Day, I really had only 2 days to move out and head home. It was definitely a whirlwind and I don't even remember half of it. I can say that saying goodbye to everyone was hard and that I hope that I'll be seeing most people pretty soon. I got a really nice Burgundian cookbook with a little message from all of my friends at the University in it! It was a crazy few week following a crazy few months and an amazing year! I can't believe that last year is over; I think I'm still in shock. But I'm sure the years to come will be just as interesting, but never compare to my year in France.

Back in the USA!!!

Yes, I'm back.  And even though the blog address is "sarahindijon" I will continue my blog and not change the address because that is too difficult.  Yesterday afternoon, I arrived safe and sound to the most welcoming place in the US, JFK airport.  After a relatively nice Luthfansa flight and 4 movies, I arrived in the US.  It is still a little bizarre being home.  I think I'm in shock, but it is nice to be here and catch up on my missed TV.   I'm still exhausted from the moving/traveling.  It is very difficult to move from a foreign country and I learned that it is better to try and sell your belongings earlier than a few days before you leave.  I worked until the day before I left Dijon.  Then, I left my apartment and I spent the last night in France in Paris and flew out that morning.  

On Friday, I got home.  We were called like 10 minutes after we walked in the door to be told that this super cute new car that my mom reserved for me was at the dealership and I had to go and organize those things.  I am officially picking up my new car on Tuesday and it is so weird.  I'm like a real adult!!!  Since I returned in Binghamton, I hung out with my friend Lily and went swimming.  Then I finally saw my sister yesterday evening and had a nice dinner with my family and my half-sister Josey.  I've been mostly relaxing and enjoying time here.  

Overall, it is weird and nice to be home at the same time.  I miss everyone in France but have missed people here as well.  There are so many SUVs and American flags in the US, which is weird.  It really is a different world, but it's home so I'm trying to take it in and enjoy while I can.  

Ciao for now!

To Germany and back...

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post but I've been busy traveling, working and then preparing for out grand 4th of July party that my American friend Katie and I hosted. It was really her to had the idea but because she had exams until 3 pm on the 4th, it was me who was put in charge of a lot of things. Which we all know can be a bad idea. But the party turned out great and I've had a relaxing weekend. Although, trying to pack up all of my belongings is not fun.

I got back from an amazing trip to Deutschland (aka Germany) to visit two friends. I had an amazing time and I really felt like I was on vacation, and those of you who know me know that doesn't happen very often. First, I visited Paris for a day and had a nice little lunch with people from the Franco-American/Fulbright Commission and stayed with Chris that night. The next morning, I flew out to Munich and had a really fun time walking around aimlessly and viewing all of the sites. It was weird being in a country where I didn't speak the language at all (like nothing except for "thank you') but I ended up being helped my some really cool people and I found this really cool biergarten (yes a beer-garden) in this beautiful park in English gardens. And as an extra bonus, they were having a special musical performance that day and I met this Swiss women who lived in Minas Gerais, Brazil (the place where Lindsey is studying) for 18 years. It was really fun. That evening, I took the train to Rosenheim, this German city at the base of the Austrian Alps to stay with my friend Connie. Rosenheim is very Bavarian and she took me to a small village for the evening that was straight out fo the sound of music. It was beautiful.


The next day, we went to Munich again with Connie's friend Roxy and spent the day wandering around and visiting the Olympic Village there. It was really fun and nice to see. We saw this really cool standing wave that is a part of the river in the park where there are these crazy surfers and tons of spectators. We ate really great food, I almost had a Burrito!! And had a great day. On Sunday, I left Rosenheim for Mainz. But first, Connie and I did a tour of Rosenheim and saw all of the preparations for the Germany vs. Spain European World Cup Finals. In Mainz, I had a little tour of the city from Bettina and then went to straight to watch the Soccer game. Unfortunately, Germany lost but the Germans had plenty of spirit and were yelling (according to Bettina) things like "it's ok, we played well" in the streets after the game ended.

On Monday, Bettina went to school and I went running and exploring. For the afternoon, we went biking along the Rhine into wine country. ( I was forced to rent since I was too short for her mom's bike). We went swimming in the Rhine on the way back, which was first for both Bettina and I!! It was so fun. That evening, I saw the Sex and the City movie in German which was quite funny and wierd. And on Tuesday, we spent the day in Heidelberg. It has this beautiful old castle that is half in ruins and half still in tact. It is also the site of "The Philosophers' Path" because it is this huge and famous University town that has been made famous by many German academics, especially philosophers. Heidelberg is also located next to some pretty big American military bases and the American presence there was really palpable, which was kind of nice. We spent the whole day wandering around, hiking the philosophers path and then we went paddling on the Neckar which is a tributary of the Rhine. It was an awesome day!!!





The next day, I headed back to Dijon on a quite long and circuitous route due to train problems. I spent more than 13 hours on a trains and was on a total of 7 trains but thanks to a very kind and interesting train companion (who spoke fluent French and German) I made it back to Dijon the same night. I'll try to post more (and include photos) of the rest of my week including the 4th of July celebration.

I hope everyone is doing well and Happy 4th!!!!!

Ciao,
Sarah