Time to say goodbye...

Well, guys, this is it. I depart in one hour for the airport, to take my flight out of Montpellier and back home. I haven't been around much lately because, well, as you can imagine I've been trying to enjoy my last few days in Montpellier after coming back from England (which was great, by the way - will share eventually!) as much as possible. I got back the 8th and today, the 11th, was my departure, and I haven't slept more than four hours during any night since. In fact, I'm writing this at 6 o' clock in the morning after staying up all night,

....and that's where I stopped my post before realizing that I still had to mop my floor before leaving an hour and a half later. So, while this goodbye to Montpellier post isn't actually in Montpellier, per se, the sentiment remains. I'm now back in south Alabama, after a long trip and some entertaining soccer matches. But that's for another time.


My last few days in Montpellier, after arriving home from England, were incredibly full. See, I got back late afternoon of the 8th and, as you saw above, left early early on the 11th. So there was lots and lots to do in the meantime. That day I got back, I had pre-planned a last night of salsa dancing with my wonderful dance group friends, a couple hours after arriving home. Once the party started winding down near 3 am, me and a couple -other- great friends (who I also met through our common love for dance) grabbed a group together and went to a friend of theirs' apartment for late-night cards, music, and drinks. Ended up riding my dear bike home sometime around 5h30 and crawling into bed before setting my alarm for 9, given all the "business" I had to attend to the next day.


That business was: closing my bank account, arranging course credit transfer, meeting with my agent de menage for what needed to be cleaned and how in my studio before check out, and last-minute shopping for items I wanted to bring home. Closing my bank account felt more sad than I expected it to, like a big ripping away of a legitimate link to French life. Same with doing the état des lieux with the cleaning lady, as my room got progressively emptier and more plain. The shopping was...well, actually kind of fun, deciding what wonderful French goodies (read: FOOD) I wanted to bring home with me. I ended up with an amusing assortment, including a bottle of wine, two beers, saucisson sèche, several varieties of tea, chocolate, cookies, mayonnaise (French mayonnaise is better: trust me!!), kebab sauce, and perhaps one or two other things that pressured my already quite full suitcases. I also bought some pastries, but those were just for me! Guilty.

Then after that, I spent the following night-the 9th- in a similar state of non-sleep. More meeting up with various Montpellierain friends for our last goodbyes, continually reminding me with each meeting that this meeting or the other will be the last time I see this person for a long time. But I kept away the blues for the most part, focusing instead on enjoying myself. Had crêpes and cidre for dinner/dessert, then went for a walk through town with a friend to feel less guilty. Over these last few days I proceeded to randomly run into just about everybody I know, giving me a chance to say goodbye in person to people I hadn't otherwise thought! It was crazy, but just goes to show how on beautiful summer days/nights in Montpellier, everybody's out and about.

I wish I had my camera available to post pictures, but while enjoying the sunset over the top of the Corum (one of Montpellier's performance halls/opera houses that also happens to have great views of the centre of town), ran into some more friends! And though I had been planning on biking home to change, I ended up just staying out, once again, all night. At the Esplanade in the centre of town there was the coolest gathering going on of at least 30 people, with their own instruments, doing traditional French dance. These were mostly young people, awesomely, very welcome to people watching and even making clumsy attempts to participate, so throughout the night I/we tried our hands at some super entertaining circle/group dances, mazurkas, and waltzes. As the night went on, the people I was with shifted: the friends I was with before went home, and other friends out on the town joined in, and we ended up staying out yet again quite late (this time, only until 4 am!) Even better, I got to say goodbye to a friend going home for the summer that I hadn't expected to be able to. The atmosphere of the night was great, just a bunch of people outdoors playing music, dancing, and hanging out under the yellowish-orange lights that give a warm glow to everything. You could just taste the happiness.

My final day at Montpellier was spent in a similar fashion, up early once again as I had so much to do, and so little time! My wonderful Moroccan friend made me a delicious tajine lunch, I later on ate Nutella and banana gaufre (waffle - French street food) not caring the least bit about our waistlines with a girlfriend, took care of assorted business, and wished I didn't have to leave this awesome place for good. At the end of the day, I just sat and talked with two friends from the day previous about leaving. It was happy, but sad. I got home after 10 pm to attempt to clean, but got sidetracked by saying an extended goodbye to my wonderful Erasmus friends at Vert Bois. Altogether, the last couple days in Montpellier could not have passed more perfectly. I was worried beforehand that I wouldn't wrap up my time here well for whatever reason, but as it turns out I didn't need to. At the end, all that was left to do was go back to my studio at around midnight and, as you know, stay up all night finishing that stuff I'd been procrastinating.

I think that's all for now; I'm off with my mom soon to buy a new cell phone. I seem to have notoriously long-lived electronics; my current one that's about to retire I got in December of 2006. And it's still kicking. I'm gonna miss it, actually...

There will be a new post soon, for anybody still reading! So with that, until next time! bisous.