Je ne comprends pas...

Alors! Ma phrase favorite : "Je ne comprends pas"!

That's a pretty good description of my time here thus far. Je ne comprends pas. I don't understand.
Well, hopefully not for long. I'm learning French at a very quick rate now. I don't know how many words a day I'm learning, but it seems to me that everyday I can express myself a little better. My accent is improving a little and people are starting to understand me more easily. It's a great feeling, initiating and maintaining a conversation in a foreign language.

I don't have a lot to talk about right now. Things haven't been slow in my life, just a bit redundant. I go to class, eat lunch (usually a panini or kebab), go back to class, go home. The only difference is now I actually have some friends, haha. So, now on the nights I have something to do. Our crowd is an array of nationalities; mostly English-speaking, but none from France. There's always a couple Americans, Koreans, Chinese, Africans, Spaniards and Mexicans. It's amazing to sit down at a table and be constantly switching conversations between French and English so everyone can understand. I actually found myself translating an English question from somebody into Spanish for a Spaniard. Harder than I thought it would be, since my mind is in French mode, but it's amazing the stuff I still remember.

What else can I talk about right now?

I finally went to the bar for the first time here since I have a crowd of friends now. It was a pretty good time. Everyone is really friendly and accepting of everybody, even if we speak real choppy French still.

So, yeah, not a whole lot has changed in my life so far. I'm just putsing around, trying to learn a new song on guitar every two days (my room mate has a backpacker's guitar with a really small body and normal sized neck). I'm keeping busy with classes and homework, mixed in with late nights and jam sessions. I'm starting to have a great time here now.

Abby's cousin told me to go into this vacation with the mindset that I'm moving to France indefinitely, and not think about the return trip; I'm living here until I leave. It's so far away, but I feel like I'm leaving tomorrow.

I always heard Abby and other people say how, when you travel, you really learn a lot about yourself. I believe it, now. I'm starting to find out who I am as a person, what I really value and the things I really care about.

None of you will ever see me again. At least, not as you know me. Each day I evolve as a person, each day I learn more about myself, and each day I grow closer to being the person I want to be. It's a tremendous feeling. Sometimes I look around and it takes my breath away. I don't see the same way I used to. I don't hear the same way I did before. As I walk along old walls, I'll reach my hand out and let my fingers drag across it, relishing the feeling of the old stone, trying desperately to remember every detail. I will never forget this place, my home in Angers.

This place has taken a part of my heart and I don't expect to get it back.

I'm fine with that.

Samuel