new haircut

Holy Shit

I am going to be gone soon. I am leaving Paris. I am returning to America. That's it. The show is over. This year is done. Finished. Yeah...

I can't believe it. I am not going to be able to walk around the most beautiful city on the face of the earth at my leisure. I won't be able to get a crepe on a street corner. I won't hear an accordion player on the metro. No more picnics on the Champs de Mars on along the banks of the Seine. It is coming to an end. I don't want it to. I love Paris and I love my life here. I have made some amazing friends and this year have been spectacular. I know I have bitched and complained but when it is all said and done Paris has been the most amazing experience of my life and having to leave it is really hard.

I am really sad. I always knew that it would end but you never think that point is going to actually come. At some moments it seemed as if it would never end but now that the end is actually here I don't know what to do with myself. Paris, France, Europe...it's done. I know I will come back, I hope I will come back. But it will never be the same. It won't be with Judith, Clark and Ilaria.

This year has been great and I have learned a lot. I am so extremely glad I have had this year. But it is always sad and difficult to end and to say goodbye to something wonderful.

Alone

Adam left last night. It was a nice visit summed up by this brief dialogue:
Adam: (makes some sort of weird hand gesture)
Me: (responds in kind) Who ever thought we'd have this much fun together?!
Adam: Not us.

But it was nice. I saw some things I hadn't seen before and went to the shitty shitty Live 8 concert and left after that.

It is nice to be guest free though. I have been entertaining people for well over a week now and it is nice to have some time to myself. I leave in 8 days or something of the sort. That is ridiculous. I am hoping to go to Milan this weekend but I need to figure all of that out. I have some random stuff to take care of this week and I have to pack. Not looking forward to that. I have already started but I really need to go through things. There is a lot to sort through to see if I am keeping stuff.

It still hasn't really hit that I am going home in a week. I am really excited and at the same time really sad. I love Paris and going home is going to be hard. But at the same time I have a lot to look forward to this year. I already have plans to go to DC to see Hesham and then Pittsburgh for a long weekend then home for a bit then I move to Pgh and then Phil and I are going to Chicago for a week then back home until the 19th of August. Crimmeny. This is nuts. Next year is going to be great. I will be living with Chris which will be nice and I think will work out really well. Our apartment is rather close to Phil's and my classes should be pretty cool. That and I get to write papers in English!!

It is nice to have a few days to enjoy Paris without having to worry about anything else. I can go for a walk or see a museum I haven't seen yet and do it on my own time and not have anything else on my mind. It is still very surreal that I will be in America in just over a week.