Right now I'm running on less than two hours of sleep, and not regretting it at all!
We definitely made the most of these last two days. For the potluck dinner, Marlyse, Eva, and I made a whole bunch of foods with des pommes (apples). We made apple crisp, apple & potato latkes (sounds weird, tastes good), and barbequed apple slices. After the potluck, everyone went to a three-star motel called Le Perroquet (the Parrot), known for its karaoke dance bar. What a strange place! It was filled mainly with middle-aged women who all knew the same strange line dance. Someone would start singing a song, and one by one all the women would get onto the dance floor and start up the line dance. It was bizarre!
After singing the night away, everyone took their final exams yesterday morning. After the exam, Marlyse, Brenna, and I went to centre-ville for crème glace. Later that night we had our going-away dinner soirèe, followed by many hours of going-away fun. I played an intense chess match with John that sped up very quickly when it was time to leave for a microbrewery. We had ten seconds for each turn, and have agreed we need to finish a chess match sometime in the future.
Later that night, a few of us snuck onto a beach and sat on rocks by the water talking til the wee hours of the morning. Great way to end the program. Afterwards, we had to walk back to the brewery in the rain, where most of us said our goodbyes. It was really hard to say goodbye to all these people I've spent every day with for five weeks.
Eva and I returned to our house around 3:30, and sat outside talking for a bit in the early morning light (the sun rises reeeally early up north!). Then we had to pack. Somehow we both finished right around 5 AM, slept for a little less than two hours, and had our final breakfast with Fabienne. We gave her our gifts, she gave us hers, we hugged, and then we went our separate ways. Saying goodbye to Eva was impossible, and yeah, I'll admit it, I cried. Geez, I'm tearing up again writing this. Eva really helped make these five weeks great for me. I made some really great friends at Alma, but Eva was more than a friend. Sounds cheesy, but she's like the sister I never had, and I am going to miss her more than anyone else. Oh boy, I have to stop writing this, I can't type...
...okay, a little better now...
All day I've been trying not to think of how much I'm going to miss everything and everyone. Sandra drove Brenna and I to the airport today, and I'm so glad Brenna was there so that we could talk about what we're doing for the rest of the summer and kind of ease into the transition from Alma to English together. Ironically, the girl from the Chicoutimi program who I sat next to on the flight to Bagotville in May was on the same plane as Brenna and I. Somehow we'd all booked our seats next to each other, so we were able to talk the whole way to Montreal, and get lunch together afterwards. She told us about everything they did at Chicoutimi, and once again I was grateful for being in the small music program.
After lunch, I said my final goodbye to Brenna. That was tough. Even tougher was having to sit in the waiting area for my flight for the next two hours due to delays. I was trying so so so hard not to think about all the goodbyes I'd just had, and Eva, and not getting to speak French and hear French and think French and dream French, and how great Fabienne was, and how much I'm going to miss Heather, Mike, John, Emily, Charmaine, the other Carolyn, Marlyse, Christy, Kimmie, Katie, Malcolm, Iva, Katherine, Brenna, Anna, Amanda, Keena, Melanie, Lisa, Krystal, and EVA. Ughhh I can't think about this. I'm going to miss tout le monde so much. And I already miss the French. I don't want to talk English, I don't want to hear people talking English. I learned so much in these five weeks and I don't want to lose that knowledge; I want to learn more. And I want to be a geek studying on the porch with Eva, and feeling great when I can give quèbècois citizens directions en français and they understand me, and I understand them! And choosing a new verb to learn each day while walking to school with Eva, and jus d'orange each morning, and ohhhh boy I need to stop now. I'm going to see these people again. It's a small world. And if I don't see them, I'll at least keep in touch with them. And if not, then it was great having them in my life these past five weeks, and I'm so glad I got to experience that. This trip was worth each and every single penny.
Charmaine told me there are some great schools for percussion master degrees in Canada, and I think I seriously want to check them out. I really want to learn more French, and getting a masters degree in program in Canada would allow me to learn French at the same time, since almost all their schools offer French classes too. I don't think I've gotten enough of Canada yet, and maybe going to grad school there is the thing for me. And if not, at the very least I will be returning to visit some of the amazing people I've met there.
If you have a chance to go somewhere new, meet new people, and learn new things, please do. It can change your world.
So glad you had such a wonderful time. :)
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