Lucky 13

A mere 13 days stand between Spain and me. Sarah left yesterday for Belgium and was the only person who understood exactly everything I am going through and lived closer than two hours away. We sat down and made pins two weeks ago (which took us FOUR hours might I add.) After a while, we stared at each other and asked the dreaded question: what are we doing with our lives?! Most people in their right mind wouldn't begin to entertain the thought of uprooting themselves from their lovely lives and moving somewhere else, but only for a year, and no ability to return home. Perhaps I should correct myself, I could come home if I wanted to and complained enough, but who would I be then?

Sarah left. I had my last day of work (for those who don't know, I worked full-time 40 hours/week this summer.) My friends are leaving or left already. And here I am to endure 13 more days. I would like to ask: if you aren't in school or working, what on Earth do people do with so much free time? I made a list of things I plan on doing during my time off before Spain and #1 on the list is mentally preparing for this trip. Sarah said it so well to me when we made pins: I am not afraid to go, I am afraid to leave. I can handle going to Spain and being adventurous, but I am stressed about leaving my family, my friends, little old Excelsior, taking late night walks with my best friends, watching movies with my sister, all of my normalacy. My friends will get to see each other over holiday breaks, early in the summer, or even if they visit each other because their colleges are so close. Anyone want to take a plane over to Spain to see me by chance? Maybe I should ask if anyone is able to come see me considering most college kids have little money to spend, let alone on a plane ticket across the ocean.

Who am I kidding? Moping around and being anxious, THIS WILL BE THE TIME OF MY LIFE! The phrase "go big or go home" has never been so fitting. Yeah, I'm freaked out, but that's the thrill! When you get on a roller coaster, your body is scared, but when you're done, most would say, "Let's go again!" So, Spain, come at me. I'll never be fully ready and the feeling of anxiety might not leave completely, but I'm ready, and I'm ready now.

Packing wise? Not ready now... So thank goodness for the next 13 days. Any and all suggestions on how to pack your life up for a year into 2 or 3 suitcases and a backpack would be gladly appreciated! Many Youtube videos of how to roll clothing or seeing how some guy fits two weeks of clothing into a small duffel bag have frequented my history.

Another good note: my family and I have emailed many, many times now! Best part? It's all in Spanish. Reading Spanish? Check. Speaking Spanish? Well... I haven't exactly practiced that since school got out and in one car ride with my best friend for an hour... Needless to say, I should probably brush up on my vocabulary and how to conjugate verbs in the imperfect subjunctive. My Galician? I can say, "The red motorcyle is not cheap" ... "O motocicleta vermello non é barrato" and "My mother is French" ... "A miña nai é francesa." Do these phrases help me at all? Of course not! My mother, nor my host mother, are French and motorcyles aren't very common in Minnesota or my region of Spain. BUT! These random phrases I learnt from my language website (http://www.memrise.com/ <-I would strongly recommend checking it out to learn basics of many languages in the world) help me to recognize patterns in Galician and basic verb conjugations so when I hear them, I somewha, hopefully understand. Back to my original thought: I have been emailing my family a lot, and they seem so charming and great! They have blonde/light brown hair which means I won't stick out too much in my appearance. The last email they sent me was signed "besos de toda la familia para ti" which means "kisses from the whole family to you." I may or may not have squealed in excitement when I read that. Most of the time they sign their emails with "Saludos" or "Gracias," so this was a little different and I think that we will get alone well!

There are certain songs that give me chills and I can feel God's love enveloping me; the song "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" is the new song I have encountered that does just this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QR2KGmL50k
"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders" is my exact prayer until I leave my country borders and comfort borders.

~Ashlyn