It’s almost my last week in France and I am so sad to go. I know I’m going to miss my host family a lot, but I’m also missing my family back home. Therefore, this past weekend, I hopped around a little bit. I spent Thursday and Friday night at the Abbey. The room was like a dorm room, except extremely quiet. On Thursday night, I was invited to eat dinner with the family that helps care for the Abbey. Since the Abbey is quiet and a bit lonesome, it was a nice feeling to be with another family. Their grandson from Wallis was staying with them, and it was extremely interesting to learn about a different francophone culture. On Friday, the students spend the last hour or so of school for sports, which they play in the field inside the Abbey. I saw the grandson there again, and he invited me over for dinner again. So, Friday at around 5pm I showed up at the door of the family again. I do not know if they were expecting me or not, but I was welcomed anyway with open arms.
Saturday afternoon, another family who have children in the school came to pick me up. I spent Saturday through Monday night there. This family has 7 children, which was a warm welcome to me. Since I have 4 siblings myself, I’m used to and love all the noise and chaos of a big family. It was nice to spend time with a family that felt a lot like my own. My family took me to the town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse where we went on a small hike to see la Sourge, which is a beautiful river that runs through the town. There's also an ancient paper mill that's powered by the river.
I felt so lucky this week and so thankful for the hospitality. I am very grateful to all of the families that have taken me in.