So we are officially down to our last few days here in Toulouse and generally I have been updating the blog at the begining of each week, but this week I didn't know where to start and what to write so I felt like I needed a few days to come up with what I wanted to say. It's still not perfect--this is one of those times when I feel like I could tell you about it better than I can write it out. Oh well. :)
It is the end of our France adventure, but in many ways it is the start of new adventures. I am not trying to get emotional, but I am a little sad to be leaving. I know I have mentioned several times in my posts the last few weeks about how excited we are to be going home and don't get me wrong--we are--we have so many things to look forward to at home but as this last week draws to a close I feel myself trying to soak in as much of this place as possible and I try to memorize the sounds and the sights. I am not trying to remember the smells though because they are a lot different than home and more often than not they are unpleasant. At the beginning 3 months seemed like a century but now it feels like it went by fast for the most part. I feel like both Cam and I have grown tremendously during our time here and we also had the opportunity to spend lots of time together which doesn't always happen at home. I'm very thankful for both. We have had numerous learning opportunities- with each of us learning different things. Cam was able to learn a lot professionally through his work on the assembly floor as well as his personal limits. The longest amount of time Cam had ever been away from his family was about 12 days when we went to the West Coast earlier this year. When you are used to seeing your family at least once a week and sometimes more , 3 months can be intimidating. ( This is one area where Cam and I are different--I don't have the opportunity to see my family very often--I get to see my mom about every 1-2 months and my dad even less-usually 3-4 times a year so it wasn't as big of a commitment for me as it was for Cam). I am very proud of Cam for being able to handle being away from his family that long (we did FaceTime a lot though so I think that helped tremendously with homesickness). It also helped that Kerry and Melinda were able to come and visit us--gave us an extra boost if you will going into the last few weeks. Cam also experienced living in a foreign country and a different culture for the first time. Every experience is new and different and it is how you handle and respond to them that determines what outcome you get. Cam took each and every experience as a chance to learn and improve whether it was a new phrase in French or how to read a foreign street sign. We did make some mistakes along the way, but we survived and moved on. During our time here I learned several things as well as a renewed appreciation for other cultures. Cam and I grew up in very different lifestyles and I was fortunate enough to be able to travel fairly extensively with my dad being in the military. I have always said I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything and that is still true today (I might have traded some parts of it--like always being away from family but overall I wouldn't trade moving around). I was able to live overseas twice before this trip (once in Turkey and once in Germany) so I had a little experience with the European way of life if you will. I did not know any French however so that part was intimidating for me. I was able to get by though with learning a few key phrases. I think the biggest thing for me on this trip has been the renewed appreciation for other cultures and different ways of living. We have it pretty good at home, but it is fascinating to see how other people live and thrive in their own environments. I spent a lot of time out walking through the streets and more often than not I would find myself people watching and watching how they intereacted with one another. The different social norms as well as the fashion could keep me people watching for hours! I could go on and on and on about everything Cam and I learned but that would end up as an essay and that's not what this blog is for ;) Overall I would say that this experience was everything we thought it would be yet at the same time nothing like what we thought it would be (If that makes any sense ;)We had no way of knowing exactly what it would be like until we got over here but we also knew (hoped) we would each get something out of the trip other than just simply living in France. I asked Cam the other night if he would do it all over again and he said yes. I agreed. The only thing I think we would have changed was how we prepared--we didn't bring the right power converters and enough t-shirts but we still made it. (The couple who was here before us let us borrow their converter and Cam and I both got a few extra shirts while we were here so it all worked out).
I don't have any pictures from this last week because to be honest we have been busy getting things ready to go home. Plus it rained all weekend. I am hoping that this Friday afternoon we can walk around Toulouse one last time and take a few pictures of some of the things I haven't taken pictures of yet. But we will see. If something comes up or the weather doesn't agree it won't ruin my day by any means.
I titled this post the way I did because we have spent almost 3 months here, I have taken at least 1000 pictures, and packing up we will be bringing home 7 bags (3 big suitcases, 2 carry on bags that are rolling bags, and then we each have another carry-on bag!) We are very excited to see each and every one of you when we get home! As thankful as were are that we got to experience living in France, we are even more thankful for the support system we have at home. We can't thank you all enough for the Skype calls, FaceTime calls, cards, emails,and the package we received while over here! It truly meant the world to us! We love you all and look forward to seeing you all very soon!!
