Au Revoir, Arles!

So alas, my time has come and I have head home from my journey and wonderful, wonderful study abroad experience. 

My last days were sad. Saying goodbye to my host family, teachers, and new friends I made. It's truly so tragic to leave knowing that you might never walk these streets again or see some of these people again. But goodbyes need to happen eventually! 

The worst part is always the trip to the airport. On the way to the city, you have so much excitement and expectations and dreams and goals! You think "these next weeks will be so great and I have so much time until I have to go home." And then the time rushes by you so fast and before you know it, you are trying to shove all of your souvenirs into your backpack. On the trip to the airport, you look out the window of the car or the train and you just think of all the wonderful memories you have made and how much you have learned. You are so lucky to have lived THIS! It's so bittersweet. 

Before I left, my dentist told me about her trips abroad with her friends in college. She said "there's something so great about coming back from abroad. You just feel so different when you return." She was absolutely right. No one could possibly learn as much as they do when they live in a foreign country. Studying abroad has been, by far, the best experience I have had in college so far. If you are considering it, GO! Don't be nervous! Or rather, it's okay to be nervous! But every ounce of that nervousness is completely worth all the adventures! It changes you for the better in a way that nothing else could! 

I am so thankful.