Hindsight is 20/20. Hopefully my mistakes, oversights, and later moments of clarity can benefit you in some way.
If you leave the country for an extended period and you are taking any sort of prescription medication you will need to talk to your doctor about how you will handle getting the medication while abroad. My advice to you is don't wait until three weeks before you leave to schedule your appointment.
My doctor's next available appointment is on January 19th. Instead of seeing him, I will be going to a physician's assistant tomorrow (less than 24 hours notice) because there was one lucky cancellation. If you know well in advance you will be taking a trip, call your doctor well in advance and avoid having to rearrange your life for his busy schedule.
17 December 2009
16 December 2009
So It Begins
I am less than one month away from a semester in Spain.
It has been hard to live outside the current semester and see the next one as a reality until this point. Finals are over, friends are going home for Christmas, and I'm packing up and moving off Belmont's campus for the first time since August of 2007. My apartment is emptying out, with my roommate being the first thing to leave, soon to be followed by all the junk I've accumulated. It is definitely a bittersweet experience to say goodbye until August.
The sweetness in the bitterness is the adventure that lies ahead. In 24 days I will fly across the ocean to a brand new city and a brand new group of people. I am excited, terrified, hopeful, anxious, and everything in between. I have no concept of what life will be like from January to May, but I am expecting great things. That's vague, but so is my idea of life outside of what it's been so far.
For now, life is full of questions:
+ When will my visa be ready?
+ How in the world do you pack everything you need for 5 months into a couple of bags?
+ What am I going to do for 9 plus hours in the Newark airport?
+ How bad is my Spanish going to be when put to the test?
+ What am I going to learn?
+ What am I going to forget to pack?
+ How much Spanish coffee can I drink in a semester?
We'll see how it goes.
It has been hard to live outside the current semester and see the next one as a reality until this point. Finals are over, friends are going home for Christmas, and I'm packing up and moving off Belmont's campus for the first time since August of 2007. My apartment is emptying out, with my roommate being the first thing to leave, soon to be followed by all the junk I've accumulated. It is definitely a bittersweet experience to say goodbye until August.
The sweetness in the bitterness is the adventure that lies ahead. In 24 days I will fly across the ocean to a brand new city and a brand new group of people. I am excited, terrified, hopeful, anxious, and everything in between. I have no concept of what life will be like from January to May, but I am expecting great things. That's vague, but so is my idea of life outside of what it's been so far.
For now, life is full of questions:
+ When will my visa be ready?
+ How in the world do you pack everything you need for 5 months into a couple of bags?
+ What am I going to do for 9 plus hours in the Newark airport?
+ How bad is my Spanish going to be when put to the test?
+ What am I going to learn?
+ What am I going to forget to pack?
+ How much Spanish coffee can I drink in a semester?
We'll see how it goes.
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