quatorze semaines.

     I spent most of Thanksgiving at home cooking. I bought an insane, not normal amount of bread at the bakery up the street, (I needed three loaves for my stuffing, and the 8 Euro minimum for using a card forced me to purchase 2 additional baguettes. Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, one small girl purchasing 5 loaves of bread looks slightly ridiculous. It is what it is.) And proceeded to prepare my mashed potatoes and stuffing. After a few hours of cooking, I showered, got ready, packed my 5 pounds of food, and headed for the metro. Even though it's the least convenient way to get to my friends' place, logistically packing all of my dishes in my bike basket didn't seem like it was worth the risk.

Our "Thankful" board

     When I finally arrived at Alex and Megan's festively decorated apartment (a little late, as per usual, whoops,) I unpacked my food, met some new people, and got to work with some of the fellow LCB kids in the kitchen. Surprise, surprise, the culinary students spent our time at work in the kitchen (voluntarily and happily mind you.) After a little getting to know you over champagne, bread, and cheese, it was time to sit down to dinner. We had quite the international bunch as usual, with the 3 of us from the U.S. explaining the history behind the holiday to our friends from Finland, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and Greece. We had a delicious and very traditional meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams with marshmallows, and homemade rolls (Nora, Alex, and my contribution from a couple of days earlier). The company and food could not have been better, and we all felt thankful and blessed to be surrounded by friends who felt like family and made the city feel that much more like home for the holiday.
    After we enjoyed some dessert of pumpkin pie, apple tart, and a delicious chocolate layer cake (I tried a couple bites of each, but was so stuffed finishing them at this point was beyond my capabilities,) we cleared the table and moved into the living room to play some games. We also wrote what we were thankful for and posted them on the awesome board that Megan had made. The overwhelming commonality was that we were all extremely grateful to be living here, but especially to have so many phenomenal people and friends that truly made Paris home. I then went to their guest room to Skype the family and wish them a Happy Turkey day, and when I'd returned I joined in the fun and began playing Cards Against Humanity with everyone. After some solid laughs, Nora went to the kitchen to finish prepping her contribution of Finnish cinnamon rolls (I told you, serious feasting), Megan and some of her friends and co-workers had to call it a night. It was a Thursday and they did have work the next day after all. That's the trouble of celebrating American National holidays abroad, the traditions carry, the four day weekend, not so much.


Dessert!

     Once the gainfully employed of the bunch left, those of us still on break (the LCB crew essentially) enjoyed some more vin and played some games. After a bit of hilarity, my family called me back on Skype again so that I could say hello to the tribe from their Thanksgiving meal, and after a few rounds of games they somewhat chaotically were able to meet my friends over Skype. We were slightly ridiculous and perhaps obnoxious, but loving life, and for me it was fun to have my worlds collide a bit, even for only 10 minutes.
     We hung out awhile longer, and then said our goodbyes for the evening. Since Nora lived closer to Alex, I crashed at her place for the evening to avoid the late night bike trek home. When we woke up the next morning, we had some breakfast and made plans to meet up later in the afternoon with a friend for lunch, and I went home to get ready for the day. Once I made it home and showered though, the exhaustion set in and I decided to hang home for the afternoon and evening. Nora understood, and I met up with her the next morning to help her pack up and clean her apartment before she headed back to Finland for a week.

My lovely goodbye from my Parisian brothers.

     Thank goodness her friend who was fluent in French was there for the arrival of her landlady, because aside from catching bits and pieces here and there about her power being turned off now, we were at a loss. We then said our farewells to her lovely little apartment that had served so well, grabbed an Uber to pack all of her things, and trekked back to my place. The three of us were making light and laughing and joking on the 10 minute ride, but there was definitely a somber mood in the car as well since we didn't want to say our goodbyes, even just for the week. (Thank goodness she'd already purchased her ticket and made the decision to return to Paris for the two weeks before heading to the Alps.)
      When we arrived at my place, we lugged all of her things up to my place (most of it staying stored at my apartment until she was back, everything was making it's way to Finland and the Alps in rotations,) we hung out watching New Girl and enjoying some homemade pasta once ordering a pizza was a bust. Around 4pm, we had to say our good-byes. Eugene needed to head to a PSG game and Nora needed to catch a cab to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye, we spend so much time together and it was coming to a close in a sense, like the end of an era. She would be back and we would still obviously talk everyday, but since she was no longer going to be at LCB it was it's own little ending. I wished her a safe flight and said goodbye until the next week.
     I spent the next couple of days catching up on chores around the house, reading, watching movies, and preparing for Lisbon. For whatever reason having Nora and Joana out of town made me a bit sentimental, even though I would be seeing them both again very soon, it felt wonderful to have such wonderful friends after such a short time here. We were all lucky to have one another, and it was just another reason to appreciate my time here and to know that I was exactly where I'm supposed to be.
     On Tuesday I biked back up to Alex and Megan's because I had left a few things at their place on Thanksgiving (namely silverware and dishes,) and I had to pick up some things for Nora as well before she returned. We hung out for awhile watching the Blacklist together (where Megan and I realized that we were television spirit animals, we literally watch all of the same shows (and when I say literally, I mean it in its actual definition, not just for exaggeration)). After a lovely evening catching up and admiring their new Christmas tree, I grabbed my things and biked home.
     I spent yesterday and today cleaning and packing, and tomorrow I hop on a plane for Lisbon, I'm so excited! I can't wait to add another country to the passport but I'm especially excited to see Joana, meet her family, and get a tour through her city to see all of the best places (and taste all of the best dishes, of course!)