Coming and going. Location: Brooklyn.

It's been a long time since I've posted because I've been at home and being home was honestly pretty busy. My departure from Paris was sad as I really felt connected to my neighborhood, my host family and the pace of my life there by the end. My host family was super sweet the day I left and my host brother drove me to the airport and said good bye. It was hard to leave a place feeling so in tune with it and not having an idea of when I'll come back. Hal and I tried to say good bye to some of the people that were important to us while we were there (including our favorite bartender who came over with lots of free goodies on our last visit). I'm so jealous that he was able to tell them all that he'll be back, even just for a moment to say hi this summer when he returns to France with his family. That said, I know I will be back some day and I hope that then at the very least, my host family and I will be able to catch up over dinner.


My almost 3 weeks at home were really wonderful. It was so great to see my family and friends. Leaving this time was one of the hardest because of how much I enjoyed my time there. Even though I leave tomorrow evening for Madrid, I'm still not really thinking about the fact that I'm about to move to Spain. It's hard to judge whether or not it was such a good idea to do 2 semesters abroad in a row like this because as much as I know that these are incredible opportunities, I'm still processing my last semester a bit and sort of wish I had more time for that. But I can't at all complain. Adventures abound...


Right now I'm in Brooklyn staying with Hal and his family. It's been so nice to see them and New York again. We've been busy these past few days between seeing Porgy and Bess on Broadway to having dinner with his grandparents to trying to squeeze in visits with my (now) many friends in New York. Yesterday I went to the DA's office to visit the Victim Services Unit. It was really great to see the people I used to work with and revisit the idea of staying there in a more permanent position. We'll see where I end up eventually. I guess for now I should just focus a little more on what's immediately next...


The exciting news is that I got information about my host family already! I'll be staying with a woman in her 40s (Eva) and her two daughters who are 15 (Rebeca) and 18 (Carlota). I don't know a whole lot about them yet except that they like to cook, which is a good sign since they'll be making me 2/3 of my meals. For those of you who enjoy google maps as much as my boyfriend my address there will be Calle Jaime el Conquistador, 27, 2º A28045 Madrid...(DON'T send mail or anything to this address though) So weird that I'll be moving in with them in just a couple of days. This week when I get there apparently we'll spend some time discussing host families and doing ice breakers living in a hotel and then this weekend we'll meet our families and move. Orientation with Tufts in Madrid is 2 full weeks after that. I'm looking forward to being with a program that makes such an effort to get me settled.


Okay, off for now to enjoy my last night in the US for 5 months... 


Love,
Anj