Firsts and Lasts

This May will be a time of small hellos and goodbyes--I have already experienced a few. The biggest goodbye will come at the very end of the month: leaving Strasbourg one last time, leaving my host family that I have come to know and love over the past 10 months, not knowing when I will be able to return. My flight home is already booked. My year abroad is about to end. However, at the moment, the changes have been quite small. Most of them are really me just trying new things, honestly. For example:

1. Last night I finally gave in and tried a Donner Kebab for the first time. The Turkish dish has become a classic drunk food for European party-goers, and little fast-food shops selling Donner Kebabs can be found all around Strasbourg (all around every European city, basically). I, however, ate them as a "last meal" with Emma, Laetitia, and my host mother at a sit-down place in Schiltigheim (and yes, names of  Strasbourg suburbs are all really complicated). It was pretty good, actually! I'll probably eat another before leaving in a few weeks, especially since Kat has been pestering me to try them ever since she returned from Barcelona.

2. Last night was also Emma's last night in France. I became really close with my lively housemate over the past three months, and I was quite sad to see her leave this morning. Dinner conversations will simply not be the same without her. We made pancakes together at Laetitia's apartment on Sunday, and we went out for huge ice cream sundaes from Franchie's yesterday as a final hurrah. Saying goodbye this morning wasn't physically difficult, but it sucked all the same, and it just reminded me that in a few weeks, I'll be the one saying the final goodbye. Seeing her empty room this afternoon actually hurt the most because it made everything real. It'll be strange when my room is empty... and no longer mine.  

3. Kat and I arrived early for our reservation at CocoLobo (a great tapas restaurant in Strasbourg) a few nights ago, so we wandered around the area a bit. Right across from the restaurant's entrance is the one tourist site in Strasbourg that I had not yet seen: the long covered bridge by the art museum that gives a beautiful view of the river and the towers that used to guard the city. Kat and I walked up to the top of the bridge and admired the view as dusk was closing in. 

I've never really loved change (who does?) but there's no use fighting against it. My time here in Strasbourg is quickly drawing to a close, and it feels surreal. Wasn't I at the beginning just a few days ago? I'm not quite ready to say the last goodbye. I've got three more weeks to live it up!