I Guess I Should Start Packing Now

This Sunday, January 23, 2011, I will be leaving to study in Spain for four months.   As you may have gathered from the title of this blog, I have not begun packing yet.  There are two main reasons for this.  The first is that I am a procrastinator by nature;  procrastination is something I have battled my whole life and will continue to battle, probably forever.  So I have put off packing.  The other reason that I haven’t started packing is because I really don’t feel like the whole trip is actually going to happen.  I can’t believe that I am going to live in a foreign country for four whole months.  I have talked to numerous people about what I am planning on doing, where I am planning on going, but I cannot actually fathom that it will really happen.

There are many reasons I should be frantically packing while having a minor panic attack.  Signs that I am really not going back to Emmanuel College this semester and instead will be studying at the University of Granada include:

1.  Classes at Emmanuel started today, and I was not there

      2.   A round trip plane ticket to Spain has been purchased.

      3.  I applied for, was approved, and have picked up a student visa.

      4.   I know my host mom’s name, address, and pet cat’s name.

The conclusion most people would come to after reviewing the facts presented is that they are in fact studying abroad for four months, and should probably begin to truly prepare for this adventure.  I’m sure I will get to it.

At the beginning of each semester, one of my friends makes me tell her my top five goals for the upcoming semester.  So, in yet another attempt to confirm my upcoming experience and also provide myself with concrete goals, I have decided to share my goals with anybody who is reading this.  Writing them down makes them real, and holds me accountable to them.  Here goes nothing, my five biggest goals for my semester abroad:

1.  To not be afraid of meeting new people.  I had a really rough adjustment to college life last year because I was painfully shy.  I hope to shed a little bit of this, and really put myself out there.  I feel as though I would not taking full advantage of this opportunity if I did not meet as many people from as many different cultures I could throughout the next four months.

      2. To not stress.  I tend to get very stressed, very fast.  I do not want to spend four months completely stressed out because I am homesick, or feel my classes are too difficult.  I want to be able to always remember why I am in Spain, and enjoy the opportunity I have been presented with.  When I look back on this experience, I want to smile and be able to say that I genuinely had a fantastic time.

     3.  To try new foods.  Even if they look really, really gross.  I am unbelievably picky, and my biggest problem is that I tend to judge a food by the way it looks.  I would love to use this experience to break this awful habit of mine.  Although this may not seem like it should be one of my top five goals to some of you, trust me, this is going to take  A LOT of work. 

      4. To see as many places as possible.  I guess this isn’t a concrete goal.  I am not going to make a list of all the places I have to see or set a goal number of places I have to visit.  I just want to remember that in all likelihood this is a once in a lifetime experience, and if I am presented with the opportunity to see somewhere new, I should embrace it.     

            5. To embrace and immerse myself in the Spanish culture.  It seems like an obvious goal, but that is my biggest hope.  I have been taking Spanish since I was 12 years old, but there is only so much you can learn in a classroom.  I want to have the courage to leave behind the traditions and habits that I know and adapt a completely new and foreign lifestyle. 

I know that as with any other set of goals, I will surely falter during my experience.  I am bound to cave in and look for that McDonalds so I can just enjoy a comforting cheeseburger and fries, or desperately try and find somebody who speaks English, or hide in my room and skype with every friend or acquaintance who is willing.  But I hope that those are obstacles that I will overcome, obstacles that I will not let define or overtake my experience.  I would like to thank everybody who is reading this.  It means that I can go through this journey with the support of friends and family who are willing to experience it with me.  That alone provides me with the comfort and courage to do this.  My next post will be from Spain! Adios for now...