Fly Me To Madrid

My long day of travel begins in less than 24 hours, and, as it stands, I still have most of my packing ahead of me. My typical procrastinating self has seemed to have gotten the best of me yet again. Tonight, I find my self stumbling all around my house, through the closets and dressers, in a seemingly endless search for that missing sock or that iPod charging cable or that answer again to “what am I getting myself into?!?”.

I am not nervous – at least not to be going to and living in a foreign country. In the past year and a half, I have become a rather worldly traveler in a rather short period of time. Before January 2013, my only time out of the US took place when I visited Niagra Falls. At the end of that month, however, began my three-week-long High School exchange trip to Alcobendas in the north of Madrid. Adrian, my Spanish exchange partner had stayed with my family in the previous September, and it was my turn to stay with his. My time there was unforgettable and I really hope to replicate the experience this semester. Only months later, in the summer of 2013 I took another trip to Europe. This time it was with my older brother and my grandfather. We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and drove over 3000 miles throughout Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, and Austria. That trip too was for three weeks and was equally unforgettable. The only differences between those trips and this trip are: (1) I will be traveling overseas alone. (2) I will be away from home for 3.5 months – by far the longest and the farthest I’ve ever been away from home.

Ok, so what I am trying to say is that I am nervous to be leaving home for so long. As usual, it is the unknown which makes me the most nervous. What will I miss while I am away? Are people going to forget about me? Will my brothers steal and/or destroy all my stuff while I am abroad? I know the answers to these questions might be obvious (my younger brother has already moved all his stuff into my room), but they still make me nervous. Also, if there is one thing I hate doing, it is going to a new school and doing ice-breakers. So I am not looking forward to that aspect of the journey either.

Other than those concerns, I am very excited for my semester abroad in Madrid. This city is a sort of home away from home for me. I am very much looking forward to meeting my new host family at my homestay and visiting my old host family and friends from my previous stay in Spain. I can’t wait to brush up on my Spanish; at the very least, I know that skill will improve.

Until next time. Or should I say…Hasta luego!