oh boy…

So I am sitting in the Brussels Airport, which I won’t be at once I post this because I can’t find the free wifi here that was advertised boooo :(. (Edit: Ok I broke down and bought access at the hotspot near my gate for an hour. Ugh.) It’s pretty cool here otherwise, though, and full of beer and chocolate which really makes me miss Chris but anyway: I am having a ROUGH time right now, guys.

It finally hit me on the plane here (DC to Brussels, blargggg don’t do it!) that I AM LEAVING THE U.S. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER FOR 3.5 MONTHS. I DO NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE. I DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH. It was SCARY (and still is, but the freak out I mean), and I basically wanted nothing else than for the plane to turn around towards home. Maybe for engine trouble or something. I would cry with relief.

Most of it stems from the unfamiliar: I have no idea what I’m getting into, only what (and who) I’ll be missing from home. I have never been to Europe, I don’t speak most of the languages here, I’m used to everything being American and in English and accessible to me. I’m comfortable with my apartment, and RPI, and driving and getting around NY and the general northeast area. I’m used to seeing my friends and family every day, seeing Chris regularly and talking to him once a day (texting multiple times), and talking to my mom AT LEAST twice a day.

None of this will be the same in Spain, and knowing this fact is really throwing me off. Not to mention the fact that I am currently going through this experience alone, with none of my loved ones to share this with. Everything I see is something that reminds me of someone from home, and I want to have that experience WITH someone. Of course, I’m sure once I get to Spain and the hotel for orientation I’ll immediately start meeting people and going through everything with them. This transition is really rough though – especially for a girl who is used to being connected with her friends/family 24/7, no questions.

Anyway, please comment with any tips and things like that for me. Anything at all would help, I think. I know everyone keeps telling me I’ll have a blast once I adjust and all, but it is a really rough adjustment for me right now just traveling alone out of the country – that’s the part I’m having the hardest time with right now, being alone. :( Booooo. Comment please!!

holy moly, i’m a-travelin’!!

SO!!!! I am at BDL sitting in the boarding area for MY FIRST FLIGHT ON THE WAY TO SPAIN!!!!!!! AHHH!!!! Apparently I am EXCITED!! Craziness. I was so depressed last night!! My flight boards in 20 minutes so this has to be fast, but it’s looking like I have decent seats (window, aisle, window, ??). Of course the aisle seat is on the freaking overnight flight, but I’m hoping to get it changed. It worked once so far!!! (out of like 10 times but shhhh!)

I really want to stay positive about this trip, so I haven’t let myself cry yet. I have cried lots this week for lots of (legit) reasons and I just really want to view this as a positive opportunity rather than a sad departure. So here is a list of reasons to be excited (for me to remember!!) and things I will look forward to at home!!

REASONS TO BE EXCITED!

• THE FOOD! Sevilla is the origin of the tapas, yum!

• The people! Southern Spain is supposed to be the most hospitable and friendly area of the (already-friendly) country!
• Learning the language (a challenge): I love challenges, and pushing myself, and my Spanish is nothing if not really rusty. Plus, this is an AUTHENTIC Spanish experience – I’ll really be learning the language from the natives!
• EUROPE! I will have an amazing chance to visit any part of Europe I pretty much want to – and I intend on taking full advantage of this.
• Scoping out the joint for future outings! Aka, getting a feel for all of the countries I hope to travel to in addition to Spain, and planning my next trip to Europe!
• An amazing sociological experience. Let’s face it, I really need to find a topic for my STS Senior Thesis, and I ADORE observing and analyzing people. What better chance than this, a semester abroad?!?!
• The people!! Not just the Spanish people, but the people in my program. They are all Americans and are going through the SAME THING as I will be! How lucky for me :).
• Have I mentioned the food? I love food!
• A semester away from RPI: I really need a break from all of the drama that I have been dealing with vis-a-vis my major (or lack thereof, according to them), my degrees, financial aid, etc etc etc
• Also: the food!

 

all photos from the Sevilla Tapas twitter!

a goodbye, sort of.

So, I wanted to write the One Last Blog before leaving the states. A sort of goodbye post, if you will. I had it all planned out: create a collage of my outfit for tomorrow/the next 28 hours, write out a list of positives to keep in mind for the trip (I am pretty much freaking out about leaving the country for so long right now), and a thank you to all of my family, friends and my boyfriend for being SO supportive and encouraging.

BUT. (The big But in the story, here.) I just got a new netbook for the trip, with the thought in mind that it’d be easier/safer/smaller/faster to carry around while abroad, doing just the bare essentials (not like I’m going to need the Adobe suite in Spain anyway) and having much better performance and battery life than my battered old T60. THANK GOD for this, since my laptop bit the dust MONDAY. No joke. POS.

Anyway, getting a new computer and basically using it for my whole life for the next few months means transferring everything over, remembering my passwords to every site once again so I can reset auto login, downloading programs and browsers and putting in all of my favorites. Thank goodness I’ve had a few days to do this.

All of this to lead up to: I am getting REALLY sick of Opera. I have been going through spurts of using Opera exclusively, then Firefox, then having both running at the same time, and back again, since I met my boyfriend Chris and was convinced to try Opera. I LOVE Opera’s speed and load times, the option to open a tab in the background, mouse gestures, and the magic wand. But man, does it have bugs! I am sick of it constantly hanging up for no reason, and making it impossible to use some sites and bookmarklets that aren’t compatible with Opera (actually I’m mad at the developers of the sites for that, but whatever). After using Firefox exclusively at work for 2 years now, and seeing how the upgrades have consistently gotten better, I’m getting pretty tempted to switch back again.

I’m giving Opera my official warning here.

Anyway, I have FINALLY made this collage that I have been hell bent on creating, after downloading and installing Firefox. Whew. So I give you, my traveling outfit!! Just pretend the shirt and cardigan are the same brand as the ones I actually own.

traveling by talkanatalka featuring Old Navy

Also, let me take the time to brag about our SWEET hotel. I’m really having a great send-off here, when you consider everything. I went out to dinner with my parents and boyfriend in CT (where I’m flying out of tonight) at the Cambridge Brew House. It was pretty awesome. There was a $40 deal called Wine Night going on – 2 house salads, bread, a bottle of wine (your choice, and you can bring it home if you don’t finish), 2 entrees, and 2 desserts for $40. NOT BAD! I had a delicioussss steak with garlic mashed potatoes (my fave), White Zinfandel, and an amazing piece of cheesecake. Excellent!

What else?

OH! The hotel. Jeez. I forgot. Ok, so we’re staying in the Springhill Suites by Bradley International Airport, and I HIGHLY recommend it. So cool!!

Just pretend there’s a king bed in that second picture. Anyway, this hotel was built in January, so it’s VERY new. Aka, awesome! The bathrooms are really cool (yes, bathroomS). I wish they had pics of it on the site. I’m sure my mom will have pictures soon enough though, and I will share eventually.

I think that’s about it for tonight, I’m exhausted and Chris is meeting us early for breakfast. I’m going to try to do one last post before I leave with some thank yous and reminders for myself to stay positive on the trip. Spain, here I come!!!

xoxo Talka