(au revoir & hola)

It has been a VERY long time since my last post, and for that I suppose I can't complain if it turns out no one is checking up on my blog anymore...but for those who still have hope, I'm back! I've got pictures from a weekend in Provence to share later, silly student stories, and eventually some long-awaited Ireland pictures (I'm waiting to get my copies of the rest of them before deciding what to put up).

All of that, however, is for another time. As it turns out, and rather suddenly (doesn't it always?), my year in Rodez is speeding to an end. I leave for Berlin to fly home in just over two weeks, and my roommate, Sandra, is heading home to Colombia tomorrow. It's officially time to start feeling bittersweet about leaving the little impermanent life I built up in Rodez, and definitely a time to be looking towards the next thing with excitement and trepidation-- something that is becoming a bit of an annual ritual with me.

So--the next thing. Believe it or not (even I'm still getting my head wrapped around it), I'm moving to...

CHILE

...in 6 weeks.

I just found out that I've been accepted as a volunteer through English Opens Doors, a Chilean/UN program that gets English speakers in the classrooms, interacting with the students and getting them excited about (as well as more competent in) speaking English. Yes, it sounds familiar because it is very similar to what I've been doing in Rodez this year. There are a few differences, however:

--I am only going to be able to stay for 4 months--meaning I'll be Stateside by Christmas.

--I'll be speaking Spanish instead of French.

--I'll live with a host family (yay!).

--I'll be working a whole lot more (a full work-week, which should be a cultural adjustment of its own after this year of vacations in France). :-P

I don't know where I'll be in Chile. They'll tell me the general area about two weeks before I leave, and then I'll find out more when I arrive at orientation in Santiago.

So that's the update. It's going to be a crazy six weeks and then a crazy four months after that, but I can't wait to dive into something so totally different. Oh, and let me clarify "a crazy six weeks." I will wrap up life in Rodez and move out of my apartment, then begin a 4-week period that will in which I will spend time in 4 countries: France, Germany, the US, and Chile. Whew! But as insane as all that will be, and as nervous as I'm getting, I am flabbergastedly pleased with this next step. Hurray for adventures!

In conclusion: Ack!!