RENNES, FRANCE! :)

Bon soir!
It's 10:30pm here in the world of Rennes, and I was finally able to get on a computer to drop a line about my goings on. Alors, I got to France (le grand ole Paree) on Friday evening. I stayed the night in Paris (toured the important pieces at the Louvre, walked around, and had some great crepes with a glass of white wine at this little cafe on Rue Cler). The next morning, I got up early, hopped on the metro and headed to the airport. My backpack was SUPER heavy and I packed WAY too much, but c'est la vie. I got through it. I met up with the study abroad group at the airport and after some intial difficulty (our professor being late and missing the first train to Rennes) we started our two and a half hour train ride to Rennes. When we got to Rennes, everyone was tired and cranky, but after a couple days of relaxation and good food, we finally all got settled in. Class started Monday, and it's mad hard. MAD hard. I'm probably in a higher level than I should be haha, but oh well. I know that I'm going to learn a whole lot. We went to Mont St. Michel on Wednesday for a while, and then walked a really long distance out on the bay while the tide was out. We had to take our shoes off at one point because the seabed got so mucky and wet that it was almost like walking in quicksand. When we finally reached the water, the tide was starting to rise and was doing so very very quickly. Although we had to walk about 4 km in total to get out to the water and back, it was really awesome and probably something I never would have done on my own. Tomorrow is the last day of class this week, and then it's le week-end! There are probably many other things to say, but I'll leave it at that for now. Au revoir mes amis! :)

A New Chapter

Hello all! So in the last blog I posted, I mentioned that treatment was over with and I was very happy about it. However, there is always a step after finishing treatment that is VERY important. The scan. A PET scan has to be done to check for any remaining cancer. I had my scan on May 13. We talked to my doctors a few days later and the results were as follows... The scan was mostly clear, EXCEPT for a small dot that was right in the zone where they focused the radiation. Therefore, the doctor's are fairly sure that this is a false positive that came about due to not waiting long enough after radiation to do the scan. They went ahead and announced that I'm in remission again (YAY!!!), but they want to see me back in August for blood work and another PET scan. While the new was kind of anti-climactic haha. I am going to look at the positive side and think, "Yay! I'm cancer free! I'm in remission. And I'm moving forward."

Part of this moving forward is my study abroad trip to France this summer. I am beyond excited as I well should be because I leave in less than a week! Around 5pm on Thursday the 23rd of this month I shall be boarding a plane to fly off to my adventures in France! It seems very surreal, but it's happening. I've just barely started packing for the trip, but I also have the task of boxing up and packing up all the things for my apartment this fall. For as soon as I return on July 27th... I will be leaving for San Marcos on July 29th to move in to my new digs! And I don't want the daunting task of packing up my things when I return. I want to be able to relax and spend that last bit of time with family before I head back South.

So now this blog will be turning into a tale of my French adventures whilst studying in Rennes, France. I'll also include the vacation details of my family trip that is occurring after my study in Rennes. Here is the current itinerary as stands:

July 23rd- Leave for Paris
July 24th- After a layover in London (for 5 hours), Arrive in Paris!
          Explore Paris a bit and spend the night there
July 25th- Meet the study abroad group at the airport to take a train to Rennes!
          Arrive in Rennes, move in, explore the town, get to know the rest of the group
July 27th- Classes Start
July 28th-July 16th- STUDY EAT STUDY PARTY STUDY EXPLORE STUDY DRINK STUDY LEARN! (I'm sure there will be tons of interesting stories to tell that occur during this time)
July 17th- Meet my parents and brother (Owen) for our well deserved family vacation in Paris
          Stay 3 Nights in Paris
July 20th- Leave grand ol' Paris
          Visit Chartres on our way out of Paris
          Head to the coast to see Mont St. Michel and St. Malo
          Then drive down to Rennes and stay 1 night
July 21st- Leave Rennes for the Chateau Region
          Explore the Chateaus in the area and the spend 1 night in Tours
July 22nd- Fly out of Tours to Dublin, Ireland
          Spend 2 Nights in Dublin
July 24th-July 26th- Drive to Kilkenny and EXPLORE!
                      Spend 3 Nights somewhere in the area
July 27th- Head back to Dublin and fly back to the Americas :( I'm sure I'll miss Europe!


So that's the basic plan so far. Stay tuned for interesting tales and wonderful pictures from my trip. I will post my new address when I get there if you feel inclined to send me post. Loved ones, please expect post cards! I will send them as I think of you, so don't be offended if you don't receive one. Either I didn't have your address or I didn't see something whilst there that inspired me to write to you. :) Wish me luck on my foreign adventures! I could not be more excited! Now, time to pack :/