In the blink of an eye, that's a wrap!

So there's a lot to talk about as you all know well. I mean, I have the time to fully flesh out these thoughts, but for the sake of not being too all over the place, I'll spread out my thoughts over the next few weeks I think.

That being said, I think I'll just write about the past week. Like Erin said, looking back at old posts where you were optimistic about something and seeing how things panned out all but "smacks of dramatic irony". Last Wednesday was really when things were extremely up in the air. The leading days we'd been having group meetings about how we were feeling about the situation but still making it clear Smith wouldn't pull us unless France became a level 3 according to the CDC. That night (Wednesday again) I was quite distressed. Low key it was because I was supposed to give a presentation the next day but I was also like... should I even bother? Turns out I didn't because Trump announced late that Europe as a whole is at level 3. The next morning, my program director emailed us with the official news.

Since I had pretty much been awake since reading the Trump news, I couldn't sleep at all and decided to at least put myself to use and start packing. We were called to meet at Smith's center at 10am so until then I was just doing that. I felt sad but also I suppose I saw it coming so I was feeling more robotic than anything, like let's get this done, start packing. But Jean did knock, basically to acknowledge it all and that's when I started crying.

At the group meeting we had pastries and coffee and just shared a moment all together. It was sad but also I could just feel the love in the room. It's like that often with goodbyes I find. Even if you didn't necessarily get on with everybody, that's forgotten when the reality hits that your time is over and it would never be the same even if you did all get together in the future.

From that moment on, it was just about tying up loose ends and jamming in all the Paris I could. It was cute because our group has these "liaisons" to plan activities that Smith will fund. A lot of their projects for the semester didn't come to be realized, but they did set up an area to paint tote bags and that was a really calming thing to while processing everything.

That night we had an impromptu group dinner at this really nice place next door to our center. I think it was a good way to have closure.

i come away from this experience still wine averse

In the following days, I finished packing, arranged to have my phone line and bank account closed, had my final dinner with Jean and Nina, babysat one of the families one last time, went to the Louvre, did the souvenir shopping I never did, and bought a plane ticket home (this was a bit scattered because at first I was going to go to DC to see Mary but then ended up coming to Boise). It was so unfortunate bc this was literally the weekend I had tickets to see Aboni in Geneva and I already bought plane tickets for Copenhagen :/. On the bright side, for once I didn't feel the pressures of school (how bout that pass/fail ruling ladies)....

last croissant :'(

if you were wondering, i made nina and jean take this photo with me

in the louvre

louvre emptier than you'd ever believe

my desk setup this time

All the while, things were getting more intense in France. Thursday evening Macron announced that France was a Level 3 and this meant schools at every level would be cancelled (they said until Easter break but I'm sure it'll be basically the whole semester). Friday some museums and stores were closed, and Saturday/Sunday it was ruled that bars/cafes/musuems/cinemas/stores/etc must be closed. So I didn't get so rush to see some of the things that I didn't get a chance to. But it's ok of course, the closings were for the best. Some bakeries/pharmacies/supermarkets could remain open. Apparently now things are even more serious with police on the streets and control of people in the supermarket and pretty much flight in and out coming to a halt. In this sense, it's not as harsh having to leave because there'd be nothing to do.

Monday morning I flew back to the US. I stopped in Seattle, and I was worried because I didn't have a lot of time to catch my next plane and there's been stories of CDC checks taking hours. I was surprised to find that the CDC thing went really fast though. We just had to fill out two forms with personal information and detailing if we've been experiencing any symptoms. Other than that, they were performing random temperature checks. Honestly I'm not sure if that's such a good thing seeing as at other airports I think everyone has theirs checked. My flight from Paris to Seattle was not completely full but maybe 80% full... it was a big aircraft so it's a bit worrisome.

My family met me at the airport and I've been back ever since, trying to stay occupied. Honestly in high school though, once I came back from school/the weekends I would literally be in my room all the time and loving every second of it.. so it's not that difficult for me to be here/self-isolating. I'll let you know next week though if I feel the same way though because I think I have changed since then. Also next week is my birthday!! Kristiana said Boise>Paris so turning 21 in Boise is preferable anyways, right?

froggy chair

Lastly for now, a note/retrospective on my post on Jan 30 calling to debate the virus: I still hold my beliefs stated there, at the time of writing, the virus was virtually only in China and was not deemed a pandemic. But I will say that Aboni and Naoni were right (except not on that they shouldn't get vaccinated annually)! There I said it. I don't think I was wrong but I think they were right too. Anyone in the US who's not self-isolating and has the means, then yes, I do think they're selfish.