An American Girl in Avignon

Our grand entrance into the apartment last night was less than quiet, and the night was next to sleepless after the craziness that had occurred. Sakinah spent most of the evening on the phone with family members. I made her tea and we sat and talked for a little while before I went to bed. I’m pretty sure that she stayed up for quite a while after that though. Storming in our 5 story echoing apartment building with paper thins walls, being an emotional wreck, and then being up until 4:45 in the morning did nothing to make the neighbors fans of us. Martine came barging in this late afternoon saying she had been “attacked” at les Halles that morning because “the Americans” we making so much noise the night before. She was furious. I tried to explain to her the situation, but she didn’t seem to want to listen. I explained to her later on what had happened, and she seemed to understand. Buying her a box of chocolates and a card as a parting gift didn’t hurt either.
This morning, Sakinah was not feeling well, so I went to our final evaluation of the program that day. The time when we could finally express what we liked and what we didn’t about our study abroad experience in Avignon. When I got to the paper, I wasn’t surprised by what I had negative to say. Hardly anything at all. Although the program wasn’t perfect, no program was ever going to be. I didn’t have much criticism. I had had such a great time that it was like any problems along the road hadn’t even existed. They didn’t matter in the end. If you go to Avignon next year, save some space for me in your suitcase. I may just hop on that plane with you! That’s how much fun I had: I want to go back, and I wasn’t ready to leave! :)
I went back to my house after to going with Katie to give our French friend Alex back the keys to his apartment before beginning to pack. I had stood in line and bought a “colissimo,” a huge package I could send home that weighed a maximum of 15 pounds. I ran home, shoved in some champagne, books, clothes, and anything and everything else that could possibly fit. The box was near-bursting open when I got to the counter; so thankfully, the lady taped it shut for me. When reviewing the contents of my box, she told me to cross of champagne and put something else. Apparently that’s illegal. Oops.
She was so nice. My box even weighed a little over fifteen pounds, but she just let it slide without a second thought. On top of everything, I think she made the climax of my trip. It was nearing the end and was becoming frustrated with this whole French thing, but when I went up to the counter, she continued to speak with me in French and acted surprised when I said I was sending my box home to the United States. She looked up with wide eyes, “Oh, I thought that you were French.” STOP EVERYTHING! What?! You thought I was FRENCH? ME? MOI?! Really?! Finally, A BREAKTHROUGH! Sounds lame, but this was the nicest thing that anyone said to me the whole trip. That had been my goal since day one. At least sound French to one French person and then I’d know, I was finally improving and I should stick with trying to tackle a second language! Believe me, it’s harder than it sounds and looks. I left, heavy box sent off, with a huge smile on my face. Even though I was down about leaving, her compliment was enough to give my mood a complete 180.
Martine’s mood did a complete 180 as well after explaining the reasoning for our noise. We were threatened, so I think our noise was excusable, but only after something as serious as that. She was also in a much better state of mind after the card and chocolates. She took us to the opera and out to a crêperie for some hard cider and crêpes for dinner that night. It was so nice. The Opera was a free show, so it was packed, and inside was absolutely stunning. There were lots of kids there too, bobbing up and down with their heads trying to get a better view. Although I really enjoyed the opera, it was so long, so I stared to doze off in my chair. Hey, I was tired. Not much sleep the night before for obvious reasons.
It wasn’t until the song that they used to sing in the “movies, movies, movies, movies…” commercial that I woke up. I song I knew! The large choir sang beautifully, but I was happy after the show was over at 10:15. Although I should have probably gone to bed, it was my last night in Avignon, so Sakinah and I met Thomas for a short while one last time before I had to say goodbye. Parting is such sweet sorrow.