Day 55: More wine please…

My alarm may have gone off a few too many times. Today was important so naturally I did not want to get up. But I did need a shower so I had to make sure that I was a little earlier than on time. Today was presentation day, and I was nervous. My stomach was not really having it. I do believe that may have been a combination of things though, one of them being the fact that I was about to walk to Reid Hall for the last time this summer, a place that had been deeply integrated into my routine. Little by little, more truths were occurring around me that reminded me of the fact that this summer experience was coming to a close. Fresh air was good for my nerves as it helped to balance out my anxious bodily reactions. Cute…

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Arriving at Reid Hall on time, I knew it would be a long one. Presentations started at 11h00, we would have a small amount of time for lunch and then the presentations would continue until they were done, a time that ended up being around 17h00. With eighteen people in class, around 10 minutes for each presentation and five minutes for questions. When added up, this is around four and a half hours of presentations plus time for the Lebanese lunch, i.e. hummus, tabouli, and tahini will always have my heart, it makes sense that it ran so long. Everyone worked so hard and truly presented such amazing projects that I was inspired to expand and refine mine in the future. Website, poetry, dance, expression, the list of creation goes on and the hours did not drag, but were instead illuminated by vastly different topics expressed in a multitude of ways.

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While I feel like I could have presented my topic better, or at least could have used a few more minutes (as I am sure everyone felt the same way), I was happy with my green architecture website that is linked here, Paris en Vert. While it is all in French, the photos give some detail as to the information I am trying to get across.

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After sitting down, the release I felt was utterly spectacular. While I did enjoy the information that I discovered and the chances and inspiration I received from this topic, it was something that was always in the back of my head. It was the big summer project and I am a Harvard nerd. Really now, what do you expect from me!?

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This day was far from over. It was an entire class celebration of the end. This was the finish line and we would be damned if we didn’t make it now. The program planned a Bateau Mouche ride for 18h40, a little hour tour from the river, pointing out all these sites that, thanks to the curriculum, we had successfully visited. It was beautifully reaffirming to know that I knew what was what before the tour guide even mentioned it. I mean, the tall metal structure was the Eiffel Tower. Look how much I learned and explored…The ride did make me nostalgic as it felt like I was looking at Paris from a distance, giving me a little taste of what my existence was going to be like in just a few days when I return to the States. Mentally, I have been avoiding coming to terms with the facts. Life here was far from permanent.

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We did not stop at the Bateau Mouche, we had a class dinner at this restaurant called Au Clair de Lune right off of Rue Etienne Marcel. On our way, Loren, one of my professors commented on how creatively cool I was dressed and my day was instantly made. All I wanted was Loren’s approval. I love her. I want to be her. She is hip, genuine, sweet, adventurous, and has the cutest little love in Paris story.

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Au Clair de Lune serves North African cuisine which I found perfectly appropriate to end our séjour in this city. We started the experience with a typically French meal together and we ended on what I learned Paris to be, this melange of cultures and customs that illuminate this city in the arrondissements that used to be seen as regions less associated with Parisien culture. But really what is Parisien culture? As seen from each arrondissement, there is no one way to define it, nor should there be.

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I found the meal to be splendid, and I am not just saying that because I had a few glasses of white and rosé. I think one of the best parts of the evening was when Loren came down and asked if we needed anything, like more wine potentially, and I answered with a solid yes, a little more white would be welcomed. I cannot say I have ever had one of my other professors ask me that question before. To say this experience was transformative would be an understatement, and I am not saying that because my professor offered me wine, but it is the group culture that was created that could allow for that to be a totally normal occurence.

Filling myself way beyond the rim with couscous, veggies, and merguez, I pushed myself a little far past happy camper into uncomfortable camper. I am sure it did not help that we then were served mint tea with traditional sweets and cakes, which, evidently I could not pass up…

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If I am 100% honest, the food was practically coming up my esophagus, but I was content nonetheless. Before heading back to the apartment, we traversed the lively streets with broken down groups for a bit, eventually sneaking Jacob through the metro because he misplaced his Navigo. It was an Anna-Marlena sandwich with Jacob as the middle. The metro ride back was just us laughing uncontrollably at something that I cannot even remember. All I know is that I felt good and that is what I hold with me.

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We could not call this a night yet. We still had to finish packing as we had very specific plans for Friday night that did not include getting our luggage together. Putting on the rest of the fourth Harry Potter film, Anna and I rolled our clothes to fill all the cracks and crevices available in our suitcases, just another wake up call that we really were leaving. But we made sure to make it enjoyable as we watched Cedric Diggory die…