August 31st was the worst day of my life. It was filled with hard goodbyes, delays, crying babies, missed flights, lost luggage and horrible weather. I had never traveled alone before nor left the United States and the usual casual travel stress felt nightmarish to me. This new chapter of solo exploration and self discovery was getting started on a pretty bad note.
The following month of September was filled with amazing memories and new challenges. I have been studying French language and culture for 8 years and have always wanted to be fluent in the language. My study abroad program, CIEE Toulouse, insists upon only using homestays as housing meaning each student is assigned to live with a French family. I have already seen a huge improvement in my language skills because of this and it has helped me become more comfortable interacting with other French people.
Toulouse is nicknamed “La ville rose” due to the pink hue on most of the architecture
Despite the challenges and stress, study abroad has been an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait to document more of my memories and experiences on this blog!