I have 30 days left here. 30 more and only 30. I have mixed feelings about this number. It means that I have less than a month in a country that I'm truly growing to love and yet I am close to being home with the people who matter the most. I feel like it's almost a no-win situation. I'm sure there are a lot of things that would make it a win-win, but for the sake of emphasis, I won't mention them in this blog. ;)
I've been able to help my host mom bake/cook, which has been absolutely amazing. I forgot that being in the kitchen does wonders for my mental health. Last night, Alix and I helped Mme Anne make a tarte aux pommes that she had made for Alix's birthday a little over a month ago. Then, I "helped" Alix make a dish from Belgium. Both were extremely delicious and the recipes are in my possession. Today, when I got home from school, my host mom asked if I wanted to help make the gateau chocolat that she normally puts in my lunch when I go on excursions. Everyone in my group loves my host mom because she gives me this huge "cake" and I share it. I was thrilled to learn how to make it! I also learned a couple of other things, like how to make meringue. Who would have guessed that I would learn how to make meringue when making French brownies? Not me, that's for sure. I hope that I can continue helping in the kitchen for my last month here and I can accumulate more "recettes" before I leave. I'm planning on making an American meal for my family as well, but I'm wavering on what I should make. I think I'll end up making cheese enchiladas because it's one fo the things that has least amount of ingredients that I have to convert from American to metric... I'm lazy, I know.
Last night was Alix's last meal with us... she'll be leaving on Sunday and I'm already really sad. She's been a lot of fun and has helped me so much in finding things to do and places to go. I hope that this is not the last time I get to see her. I'm hoping someday in the near future to go visit her in Belgium and then maybe have her come to the US and stay with me so I can "learn her the love of the West" as she put it. I thank God for this period of 6 weeks that we lived together.
Also, with these last few weeks, I realize that I have a lot of work to do. Papers, tests, reading, other goals... the list goes on. Does that motivate me to go do them? Not necessarily. :) I think this last month will feel more like Taylor (academic wise) than it ever has, which could be a good thing. Different, but good.
Tomorrow, the BGSU group travels to Angers to see the tapestry that depicts the book of Revelation. I'm really excited about that and the conversations over lunch were really interesting when others were referring to it. I believe someone asked if "what's-his-face was on crack when he wrote it"... and I think my jaw almost dropped to the floor. Oh the things people say. Needless to say, tomorrow will be interesting in more than one aspect. We'll also be visiting Saumur, which is a small town that has yet another chateau. :)
I'm so thankful for weekends!
P.S. The first jar of peanut butter is almost gone. I fail at rationing.
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