Well, here I am, the night before I leave for my program in Christchurch, New Zealand, and in another stunning tribute to my ability to procrastinate, I am finally wrapping up the writing of my predeparture blog post! My procrastinatory habits aside, I think my last minute editing of this speaks a lot to how your study abroad experience can sneak up on you. You would think that with all the preparation I’ve been doing for the last year that actually leaving would purely feel like a “finally” moment, but somehow it also feels like “wow, already?!”. 

This morning I woke up before my alarm and caught a glimpse of the final bit of sunrise. I’ve started sleeping with my window on a crack for various reasons. For one, I love the fresh air and hearing the city at night. Also, I really do not want to get fined for having mold in my apartment. I had a piece of bread with this amazing herb cream cheese-like spread that my German professor introduced us to. I also had two eggs scrambled with cheddar and mixed fruit. 

I returned for my second semester in Amsterdam last Sunday. After disembarking, I was surprised into sentimentality at how everything, the names of the metro stops, the towering high rises in Zuid, the rumble of the Intercity as it flashed by, rendered itself as familiar. I remember how jarring it was last fall to step off the plane and be immediately lost. This time, though, I calmly retrieved my luggage from baggage claim, took myself back to Social Hub West, checked in, and immediately fell asleep in my new room, different view, same hallway as last time.

Whenever I am faced with a profound change in my life, the effect of said change does not kick in immediately. What do I mean by this? I have walked through the Vatican everyday as a shortcut to get to the IES Abroad Center and it feels unnatural each time. It almost does not feel real. Even writing this now in my room a part of me knows that soon enough I will be right back in Ithaca. But no, Rome is my new home for the next few months. The moment where it finally set in that this unfamiliar environment was to be my new home was only today.

Getting to Spain

It’s been two weeks since I arrived in Salamanca and there is so much to say, but first: traveling! The journey to Spain was not as chaotic as I thought it would be. Since I was flying by myself across the country and then overseas, I was a little worried, but the calm airports and meeting IES Abroad people on my connecting flight and in the Madrid airport made it a lot easier. Fun fact: we met other study-abroad students flying to Sevilla for their program! 

As I peered out the window as we started our descent, the image below was like nothing I’d ever seen. Boxy white houses with square windows littered the landscape like lego pieces, all in stark contrast to the ocean's cool blue glow cutting its way across my window. As the plane's wheels graced the small runway I knew Rabat would be nothing like what I’d ever experienced before.