Here I am on Bastille Day, drinking tea at a perfect cafe and having a chat with my friends. It is almost unbelievable that two weeks have already passed… It feels like so little, but at the same time it feels so long. Past, present, and future mingle in my mind while I watch people walk down the street, all going in different directions, talking about different things, having different dreams and expectations, but still being together, experiencing Aix-en-Provence at the same time… I look around and smile; it’s that kind of melancholic, though sweet, summer smile.
So far the program has been a mix of new and old for me. It’s kind of funny to think that I had to travel far away from home to go bowling for the second time in my life. I don’t have talent or skill when it comes to bowling… I just have memories, vivid, intense memories, that will remain part of my heart for the rest of my life. Why? Well, let`s say that the first time is always special. In one way or another you always remember firsts; second times, though, are usually random and have no particular importance unless they happen after twelve years on a windy summer night while surrounded by friends that you just met and you already feel like you’ve known for such a long time, maybe even forever.
We are all so desperate to find that perfect moment, that perfect song, that perfect movie, that perfect chocolate cake, that perfect coffee, that perfect love, that perfect city that will make us feel infinite. So we travel; we walk around; we go bowling again after 12 years; we meet people; we fall in love with a city in Southern France; we watch a far-from-perfect zombie movie starring Brad Pitt; we go kayaking for the first time in our life; we listen to french music; we have our own apartment; we make our own rules and break them in less than one day; we dance traditional French dances; we sit down in a coffee place and drink tea on Bastille Day; we chat with our friends; we watch people walking down Cours Mirabeau.
And we realize we are infinite… -Monica
More about our programs in France here