COUNTINGDOWNTO.COM

The official countdown to my trip yay!

Making a List and Checking It Twice

This past weekend, I took a break and went home to visit my family. I sat down with my mom and reviewed the recommended packing list the program recommends. We went to three different stores to look at a tablet for me to purchase. By the way, the Asus Transformer TF-300 is awesome! And the warrenty plan with Office Max is the best that I've seen, not to mention they girl at Office Max was quite a bit more attentive than the little Best Buy people. :) I have figured out what I need to buy and what I don't. I'm ready to start packing and deciding which clothes and shoes to take and which to leave behind...which is going to be a much harder task than you may think. I love my clothes and shoes! *sigh* but alas I will only be able to take a limited amount of stuff. I'm well on my way to having enough money for my tuition and then everything will be all set. :)

Until next time.

Rather Interesting 2 months

It's been a bit since I the last time I had a post. My silence is due to a rather uneventful two months of getting organized and working hard to be financially ready for this trip. I had to cancel and repurchase my ticket because the date I had originally purchased was wrong. Hurray for out-of-date information on the program website...not! Now I have a round trip ticket. I leave on September 16 at 6 pm from Reagan National Airport in DC. I have a short layover in Atlanta and then it's Bon voyage for Buenos Aires. I'll be in Argentina until May 27, 2013. This is going to be a great experience and I'm so excited!! This is really happening!! :) It's time to start making to-do lists and shopping lists and packing lists. *sigh* so much to do and so little time! The next 1.5 months is going to fly by! Until next time.

Ticket in Hand, Count Down for Real

It has been one year since I started this blog. In that year, I did not make it to Argentina. I did, however, meet some amazing people that encouraged me as I continued to push towards my dream. As of about 2 hours ago, I finally purchased my ticket. I am leaving on September 11th, 2012 and I will be gone until May of 2013. It has been a year of frustration, blood, sweat, and tears as I worked and worked to raise the money for this trip. I will be spending nine months in Argentina studying Spanish at the Universidad del Plata. There won't be too many updates between now and when I leave, but I will be posting regularly while I'm gone, including pictures. I'll also post a link to my Photobucket so any pictures that don't get posted here will be available to you. Thank you for your praise as I step out on this journey. It has been a struggle to get where I am. I'm going a year after I planned, technically my senior year at college. I won't be graduating on time, but I don't care. I'm going! I'm finally going to Argentina!!! Praise God! 19 weeks and 3 days till departure!

And the Count Down Begins!

Hello world! And welcome to the beginings of an adventure! I'm a Junior History and English double major with a minor in Spanish. I may never graduate, but since I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, I'm not worried about it.

The world is a big place; people forget that because of a ridiculous amoung of globalization and shrinking due to the internet, cell phones, cable tv. Because of all the technology we have available to us, in a way, the world is getting smaller. We can skype with our friends across the country or around the world. We don't have to wait for a letter to come in the mail, e-mail delivers mail almost instantantly. Text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, they have brought us closer together and yet further apart.

In four months..yes four months, I will have enough stuff (needed and unneeded) to live for 8 months in Argentina. I will be somewhere between home and Buenos Aires, most likely in the Miami airport. AHHHH!! I'm so excited! It's going to be one of the most intense, frightening, and awesome school year of my life.Of course, I'm going to Argentina to learn Spanish. But I hope that on this trip I will be able to break out of the steriotypical "American" way of life and become more aware of the people around me and understand the world from a global stand point, not just from my narrow "Americanized" view.

Pretty soon I'm going to be speaking Spanish like it was nothing. I've still got a few kinks to work out, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm going and I'm going to have a blast! I'm so thankful to be in a position and going to a University that allows me to study abroad. It's costing me more to go abroad, but I don't care! This opportunity isn't something I'm going to be able to do later in life. I have time now, so I need to take it!

At the end of this month I'm going to find out if I received the Gilman International Scholarship. If you haven't heard of this scholarship and you're considering studying abroad (college students) check them out! It's not hard to apply and you can get a pretty decent amount of funds for your trip. Anyway, I find out soon if I received the scholarship which will help me greatly in covering the costs. Keeping my fingers crossed and praying that I get it!

Keep me in your prayers as I prepare for this trip. I'm soooo excited!!

Until next time!