Last week, I went to dinner with a bunch of the Penn people at a Paul Bocuse restaurant. Paul Bocuse is a really well-known chef here in Lyon. There are a lot of boulangerie/patisseries that carry his name, four bistros, and one really fancy restaurant/culinary school. We were actually supposed to have our Thanksgiving dinner at the school, but there was a problem with the reservation and we ended up elsewhere. I was a bit disappointed with that because Florence kept telling me how fancy and amazing the food is (not to mention incredibly expensive). Not that we didn't have a really delicious dinner. Anyway, we ended up at one of the bistros because they wanted to do kind of a blowout fancy schmancy dinner before leaving town, and I got to join them, which was really nice. Delicious! A good way to say goodbye to Lyon, I think. Or in my case, to say goodbye to new friends. I've also had a couple more outings with various Penn people who are getting ready to head out, and it's quite sad to say goodbye to them. I think my friend Jenn is quite convinced to work on coming back for spring break, though, which would be quite exciting.
I can't even imagine leaving right now, despite the strong desire I've had lately to be home. It would be really nice to be with my family for Christmas, but even with all the stuff I've been going through, I'm definitely not ready to say goodbye to this place. There are so many things I haven't done yet, and I can't wait for Lyon in the springtime, when it starts to get warmer to leave the comfort of my bed and get a bike and ride around and hang out at the park and hang out on café terraces and just wander. Plus, I can't imagine saying goodbye to Wei-Ching or the Babots or Florence or any of the other great people I've met since being here. I'm definitely of the opinion that one semester is not nearly enough time to really get to know a place. At least not for me.
In that same line of thought, I am really looking forward to the next few weeks here (even without all my friends who are going home, or the others who are traveling for the holidays). I am excited for my friend, Dia, to come stay with me. I'm really excited to celebrate Christmas with the Babots and to have the French Christmas experience. And to add my own little New Mexico flair to Christmas by making biscochitos and egg nog. And then my friend is coming from New Mexico, which I seriously cannot wait for....and not just because he's bringing Frontier tortillas, although that in itself is pretty exciting. I'm really looking forward to showing him around town and taking him out on the town and going to Paris and seeing Cabaret. SO much to fit into his 9 days here. Plus, we are going to a New Year's Eve party that Flo's freind is throwing, which is Disney themed!! That is SO cool. Detective Nikky Flippers (I heart nicknames) and I are going to go as characters from Peter Pan. Naturally, I wanted to go as Sleeping Beauty, but that costume would be a lot of work, and Peter Pan is easy and fun. Although I might have to fight him for Tinker Bell. Hehehe. I love that I found people in Lyon who throw theme parties...it's like being back in Eugene and going to theater parties. Plus costumes lead to great photos, and great photos are fabulous.
Um...other than all that, it's still too cold to do anything and I think I'm sick again (what is this? I do not get sick this often!), which is a bummer. So I've been trying to find a balance between going out with friends and getting rest so that I don't spend Christmas couching up a lung or not being able to breathe. So far, so good, and I'm feeling a lot better today than I have the past couple of days. Good thing I got the box from my mom, though, because I definitely needed the emergen-c. I seriously love whoever invented the stuff.
Well...speaking of trying to see friends, I'm going to a movie with Flo and Claudine, so I've got to get moving.
Biz!!
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