Blog #2: In the US but almost ready!

Today was a very productive day except for being sick. But at least my fever is gone and I think that I have my nose under control. However, lets get to a more interesting topic. I am almost fully packed! Except for a little bit of laundry and the everyday essentials, I am packed and ready to go. Which is quite incredible. And it only took me a few hours today. I am not good at procrastinating. So, I just sat down and did it. I am darn glad that it is done. My biggest find as far as my travel buying is these wonderful space bags but these ones are better than the usual kind that you have to use a vacuum for. These ones all that I have to do is roll them up or push the air out of the bags and they compact really nicely. And those have saved me lots of space in my suitcases, which I am very happy about. But anyway...lets get to how I am feeling about my trip.

I'd have the say that right now that my main emotion about my trip is nervousness. I am most worried about the flight and getting there. I am not sure why...but customs and security scare me. I think it is because I have watched too much of the show, "Locked Up Abroad". I know that my fears about these things are unwarranted, but I cant help it. My others feelings are worry, and I am actually somewhat scared. I say that I just have "fear of the unknown", but it is still fear. And my worries mostly pertain to how things will be when I get there. I am worried about missing my family, friends, and especially Keith. I don't think that anyone can blame me for being worried about that. I have never left my family for such a long period of time. I know that this is a terrific opportunity and I want to make the best of it in every way. However, I cant help but think about what I am leaving at home as well. I am going to miss Keith so much. It is hard to explain what he is to me and all of what he does to me. I guess the best way to put it is, I love him. I love him and I care for him more than anyone else that I ever have before. So, Im sorry if this may get a little sappy for some of you, but I feel as though that phrase, "I miss Keith" will be in this blog a lot. And I hope that none of you blame me for that. But on the brighter side, I am pretty sure that Keith and I have found his flight and are going to book his ticket tomorrow. For all of you that don't know, Keith is coming to visit me in late March during both of our spring breaks. He is meeting me in England and we are going to spend the week traveling and exploring England and Ireland. Also, my momma and her boyfriend, Jason, are going to be coming to visit me in Europe as well. They arrive the week following Keith and the 3 of us are going to Germany and possibly Italy. I am very excited for all of them to come to Europe. I know that they are going to enjoy themselves. My final emotions that I have right now are happiest and excitement. I am quite excited about this opportunity. I have always loved traveling and I cant wait to see another part of the world. I am also happy that I get to start a new adventure in a new place. I am looking forward to getting away from Oshkosh for a little while. Even though I will miss everyone that I am leaving behind, I know that it will be very worth it.

So, I guess that this is my blog for the day. I hope that it gives you some more insight to my trip and gives you a chance to see how I am feeling. Also, I have decided that I wont start writing my blogs in Spanish as well as English until I get to Spain. So, they will begin in Spanish on the 2nd or 3rd of January. Until next time!

5 days left...

Blog #1: Still in the US

So today I have 5 days left until I leave. I have decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons. First of which is to see how my Spanish improves during my trip. Due to this, I will do my best to write my blogs in Spanish and in English. If you speak Spanish, please take the time to try and read it in Spanish first. Then let me know how you think my Spanish is. My second reason for people including my family, friends, and of course Keith to be able to see how I am doing and feeling but also what I am experiencing on my journey. My last reason for doing this blog, is to be able to have my experiences in writing for the future. I want to be able to look back and see how I was doing, what I was feeling, and what I was experiencing during my trip. I really want to always have memories of this trip and I know that by writing it down, I will always have the memories. I will also be doing a hand written journal to have a hand written account of my trip. 

Now I will start with the details of my trip...

I leave from Oshkosh on a bus to the Chicago O'hare airport at 10:45 am on Saturday January, 1. I will be taking the bus down to Chicago with my group of 6 from UW-Oshkosh. My flight leaves from O'hare at 4:45pm. I fly into the Madrid Barajas airport at 7:40am on January 2. I will be picked up at the airport by the director of my program and my group and I will spend the next day and a half in Madrid. We leave for Salamanca from Madrid on the afternoon of the 3rd. I will meet my host family that night. I found out this past week that my host family is a woman named Agustina and her 18 year old son as well as Agustina's sister. I have been told that they are young and vibrant and a very good family.  I am excited to meet them and I hope that I fit in well with them. On the 4th, we have our orientation for our classes and then on the 5th we begin classes. I will be attending classes at the University of Salamanca and I am told that it is beautiful and very historic so that excites me. I will be taking 5 classes for 16 credits while I am abroad. I will be taking 3 classes from January to March during their trimester and then 2 classes during April for what is similar to an interim. During my free weekends, in which I have 13 or 14, I plan on doing as much traveling as possible to many different foreign countries. I definitely want to go to Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, England, and Ireland. We will have to wait and see how many I get to. I return on May 2nd. 

I guess this is where I will end this post...I have not started packing yet...maybe I will start tomorrow. Also, I will go into my emotions about my feelings for the trip tomorrow as well... :-)