A week-end without being at school... can you imagine?

I spent the WE in Paris, being a tourist, walking the Louvre, the Jardin des Tuileries and the Champs-Elysees on Saturday and the Eiffel tower, the Invalides and the Grand Palais on Sunday morning. It was a cold but sunny week-end. I don’t know how many kilometers I walked in the cold but I enjoyed it a lot. I never thought that walking alone in Paris would be so nice. I didn’t touch a single book in two days. I needed time away from school, I needed time for me. My mum and step-dad were giving a seminar this WE so I joined them and so did Tom. It was good to be all together on saturdyay night ! The last time it happened was in Venice a year ago.

I was finally able to relax a bit ! I enjoyed mum’s food and famous apple sauce and I took my longest bath of the year (I have a shower at home). So it is decided, my next appartment will have a huuuuuuge bathtub with enough space around it to put candles and speakers so that I can listen to Norah Jones while playing with soap bubbles ;)

My exams are in 10 days so I’m going to be busy reviewing everything during the next days. I also need to find the time to re-take my GRE before the Xmas break. Don’t know how I’m going to manage to do both… But one thing is for sure, no sleepless nights at school anymore (at least till the end of Module 2).

In 17 days I’ll be sitting in the sand in front of the Pacific Ocean… And in February I’ll be travelling through the US and visit the schools I’m applying to. Don’t know yet exactely how long I’m going to be gone but I’m planning on going back to Oregon for a few days for sure. I cannot wait till June… Also it’s going to be a good opportunity to have my poster ready for the next FPS conference, as well as my papers ready for submission. In March, I’m going to Russia for the first time. A new country, another culture. And hopefully, in May, I’ll be back in the US for my internship.
I just cannot stay in place. I need to travel... I don’t care if I will have to eat pasta and rice for the rest of the year to pay for these trips. I cannot imagine my life without having a train/plane ticket in my pocket and a camera and laptop in my backpack.

And tonight, for the first time in weeks, I feel good.

Pics of Paris and Strasbourg by night will come soon.