A week of lasts

This is a week of lasts. I first had to say goodbye to one of my favorite traditions this past Saturday, the market. If I am in Leiden on a Saturday I always make my way over to the market where I buy fresh fruits and vegetables, a hot stroopwaffle, and occasionally some flowers. I really couldn't believe that this was the last time that I would walk along the canal and see all the booths set up. On Saturday I also visited Amsterdam for the last time, which wasn't hard to say bye to ha! The cleaning workers have been on strike for a few weeks so the streets were covered in garbage...it was disgusting. Sarah Shimon, Chels, Will, TJ, and I got to have the "Heineken Experience" and visit the Anne Frank house.

Today I had to say bye to C1000, the grocery store right down the street that I have been going to since the first week I arrived. I remember walking in the first time unaware of where anything was located yet alone what anything said since it was all in Dutch. I had no idea that you were required to bring your own bag to carry your groceries in or that the store doesn't stay open 24 hours. Now it just seems normal; I know where everything is located and what it means, I understand the cashiers when they ask me in Dutch if I want the receipt, and I have even become faster in loading my groceries in my backpack. I also had to say goodbye to the local bakery I go to get fresh bread. I am really going to miss the fresh bread I have become so accustomed to. This evening I had to say goodbye to Jackets, an amazing potato restaurant that we have been going to every Monday night for the past month. It was last month that we found out they give students discounts on Mondays and wish we would have been going a lot longer.

I only have two more days left with Rusty, my faithful bike. Though he has lost the rear tire cover and most of the power to its brakes, it would not have been the same experience without him. I have loved having a bike and am already looking into getting one when I return home. Later on Wednesday we are having our last dinner as a program.

I really can not comprehend that I will be boarding a plane this Thursday. It really does just feel like yesterday that I was getting everything ready to come to Leiden. I was anxious and unaware of what the semester would entail. Now I can not imagine not spending  a semester abroad. I have learned so much about myself and it is bittersweet to leave a place that feels like my second home.