family in France~ I was strangely anxious about my family's arrival in France-- I couldn't imagine speaking as much English as I would need to in my French language sanctuary. What blasphemy was this? But of course, with one of his more famous quotes, Emerson says it all:
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we would find it not."
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| tching! |
It's true that much of my blogging this semester has been an almost ridiculous love fest for a place and its beauty. But my love for France, my taste for adventure, my ability to find beauty around me, comes from within, not from all the croissants and conjugations in the world. And the source of this travel lust in my sister and me from the moments we were born: my parents. If nothing else, I owed it to them to share the large part of me that belongs to France. Thus yes, I felt a bit like I was abusing my beloved country by being "just another tourist," but in the end, my hope is that I wasn't really that at all. I was instead a girl in love having a very, very long first "meet the family" dinner.
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| my parents on the beach in Nice |
It is always good to see the one you love through the eyes of another. My family didn't particularly love the pervasive smoking, the dog poop all over the streets, the limited availability of water at restaurants, the late dinners, or the frequent closings seeing as how we were there during one of France's beloved vacations. However, they remained open minded and prepared to appreciate more than to criticize. The merging of my two worlds was therefore not something to be afraid of but instead something to cherish.
After much talk about reverse culture shock and the difficulties of returning home, I wanted nothing more than to pack up and go directly to Mali at the end of my program in France. But thanks to my family, I can now speak relatively fluent English again and am ready for a month in the U.S.A. before my next adventure. Ultimately a brief break should be helpful, as I will need more preparation than a few immunizations before a semester in Mali. That means that we all will have a pause in our francophone findings for a bit, but it is definitely to be continued soon...
K'an bEn
