Almost.

Hey there again,

It is truly almost the end. It's hard to fully comprehend and wrap my head around.

This final school week has gone by both extremely quickly and yet super slowly. I feel this is how time always passes when you are both equally wanting to leave and wanting to stay.

On Monday, the girls began their last week of school, but since exams are finished, they really don't have any real work to do, just games and crafts, which is fun for them. But it doesn't make much sense for me that they have to continue school right up until the last day of June...so after a long night in Luxembourg on Sunday, I slept in on Monday. After school, Emma went to a friends house and I went to English class at Michelle's house with Elise. We played baseball with her class in a field by Michelle's house. Many of the kids had never played baseball and therefore didn't know the rules. It was super fun to play with them and watch them struggle a bit to get it the first few innings, but they eventually caught on and they were all having fun, and so was I. After the game, we walked back to Michelle's house and she made hot dogs while I played go fish and uno with the kids. A few of them had also never had a hot dog, but they all loved them. It was truly an all American day! After dinner, I skyped with Brent and went to bed.

On Tuesday, I had a busy day. I finished reading The Fault In Our Stars in the morning, and after taking the girls back to school in the afternoon, I rode my bike into town to close my Belgian bank account and then I had lunch with Lora at her house and we talked in the sun out on her porch. After picking the girls up from school, we played the whole afternoon. We did arts and crafts, we played tag and hide and seek and jumped on the trampoline. We took off our shoes and pretended that we were rabbits and the shoes were the wolves, and if they touched is we had only three times before we were dead. Although I was exhausted by the end of the day, I am going to miss them when I leave. After putting them to bed, I skyped Molly and went to bed.

Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school like normal, and so after school two of their friends came over to stay the night. It was a good day, full of playing outside and swimming in the pool and jumping on the trampoline. I drew an oil portrait of Elise and she loved it. However, she then got a nose bleed from hell and I was scared she was going to bleed out through her nostrils. I have literally never seen a nose bleed so bad, and out of nowhere! We were sitting at the table drawing it started draining like a faucet! So of course it got all over her shirt and the table and I made her whip her shirt off so I could wash it immediately so it wouldn't stain. After the bleeding stopped, Elise made me a friendship bracelet and it was so cute I nearly cried. After dinner, I skyped Sara and then I went to bed.

Thursday morning, I met Michelle at our usual spot, Maison Knopes, for breakfast. It was our last Thursday morning tradition together. There have been a lot of last things happening this week. It's sad. After we had breakfast, Michelle left and I stayed in town for a little bit to buy some chocolates and flowers for the family for a thank you gift, and then I walked home and made chili for lunch. After taking the girls back to lunch, I showered and got ready for my reception at the academy of fine arts to receive my French class diploma, since I passed the exam. When the girls came home from school, we had about two hours together before I left and so we played on the trampoline and then made chocolate chip cookies. At 6, I left to go meet Lora and Tania and some of their friends for pizza and a drink before the reception. It was nice to sit outside with them and enjoy the lovely weather. Although at some points I was getting distracted and kept dashing into a nearby bar to check the score of the USA VS Germany soccer game. Although we lost the game, we thankfully moved on due to score differentials between Ghana and Portugal. After eating, we walked to the academy and mingled with some other people from our class and our professor gave us our certificates. It was just an open house for all the classes, nothing super fancy, but it was nice. After an hour there, a bunch of girls from the class went to have a drink together in town. Town was super busy because of the Belgium Vs South Korea soccer game. Afterwords, we walked to Lora's place and her and I had some tea together and talked for a bit before I headed home. I skyped with my family for a while, which was nice, and then I went to sleep.

Friday the girls had a barbecue at school for lunch, so Catherine and I went out to lunch together in town. It was nice to talk in English where I felt like we stood on common ground. It was an enjoyable afternoon. When we came home, I spent the afternoon prepping my suitcase and doing some organizing and packing. After school, I picked up the girls, and we came home and made cookies and put together two puzzles and did some arts and crafts. Then we all did our hair and makeup together for their end of the year party for school. It was very sweet, they asked to use my makeup and of course I let them. They were actually very civilized and respectful about it, and didn't overdo it. At 6, we all went to the schools soccer field together where the school party was being held. Each grade had prepared a dance that was the theme of the World Cup. The youngest kids were super simple but also super cute. The third and fourth graders, Elise and Emma's classes, combined into one dance because their classes are so small. All the girls were cheerleaders and all the boys were soccer players running drills while the girls cheered them on. I thought it was cute, but a little sexist that none of the girls were allowed to play soccer too, they just had to be cute cheerleaders. The sixth grade class made a very cool dance to stromae's hit single "ta fête" which was actually really well choreographed and you could tell they spent a lot of time on it. After the dances were over, everyone went inside to have a barbecue dinner which was really good. Many other school parents commented on how good my French was, and it felt good to be praised and included in the conversations. Catherine also told me she is sad that I am leaving and that she doesn't want me to go. It made me feel good to finally hear out loud that she appreciates me and what I have done for her and her family. After lots of red wine and laughter, we finally left the school around 11pm!

After my last full week here in Arlon, I feel everything. I feel sad, happy, nervous, excited, proud.... Just 4 days left here before I leave for good. It's bittersweet.