The First Crazy Goodbye

So, last night I said my first reallllly hard goodbye before I head off on July 1. I said a few tough goodbyes about a month ago, but last night I had to say goodbye to Michael, who has been one of my best friends for 8 years. He is moving to Las Vegas on Tuesday, so I won't see him before I leave in a month and a half, and I know we will never again be able to see each other as easily as we have been able to in the past.
I have been really excited about Peace Corps lately, and have been thinking about how I can't wait for a total change in my life. I grew up in Ann Arbor and went to college here, so I have been itching to get out for a while, and that's certainly what I'll be doing! It's hard to think about things like saying goodbye to a best friend when I'm so excited for my upcoming adventure. I'm not letting it get me down too much; it's not like anyone is dying or anything :) In one sense, I'm glad I got this goodbye out if the way so that it doesn't add to the slew of hard goodbyes I will have to say at the end of June!
Speaking of wanting to get out of Ann Arbor (although I absolutely love it there and am very grateful that is where I grew up), I have been thinking a lot lately about moving to France after Peace Corps, and maybe going to graduate school there. My recent trip there made me realize that nothing thrills me more than speaking French with native speakers, and I absolutely love that country. I think having total fluency in another language is so powerful, and I know that between Peace Corps and then moving there I would attain that. Visiting Grenoble, the town where I did my study abroad, made me start researching grad schools there because it is just such a cool place.
My thoughts on this may very well change during my service, though! That is one thing that I'm very happy about right now- I am open to almost anything when I finish in Benin! I would like to go to school, but I'm not sure in what. Probably something involving French; maybe international relations or something like that.
Anyways, those are just some recent thoughts on goodbyes/where my life is going. Moral of the story: goodbyes really suck, but you live.