Adios!

T-minus four hours until I leave for the airport, and I have just finished rearranging my gear for the last time. Trying to pack for a 14 week trip has really served to highlight exactly how materialistic I am.

In fact, I turned into a total hoarder.

Thankfully, my friend Jan helped me with some perspective last night. I had, among other things, several Dopp kits CRAMMED full of toiletries that I don't even use. She kept asking me what I was bringing them along for, and my stock answer was, "In case..." In case what? An emergency arises that calls for 12 sample size Neutrogena face washes? This went on for a while and it was, frankly, embarrassing to realize how much junk I believed I needed. Where does it come from? This compulsion to bring so much crap with me that I haven't used once all year long. I can live without witch hazel. I do it every day.

But now we've pared it all down to the contents of a carry on and a daypack.

And this is nothing short of miraculous for me, the person who can't leave the house without an adult version of a diaper bag so that I will never be without something I might need. Several years ago my sister Laura and I went to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday party. We weren't even going to be there 72 hours, and still managed the fill the ENTIRE back of her Xterra with bags, sacks, suitcases, backpacks, pillows, etc. Our luggage trolley at the Hard Rock was almost too heavy to maneuver. So the fact that I am living for 3.5 months out of a carry on bag, and that I've had to pack for: beaches, volcanoes, rainy season, sunny weather, cold weather, hiking gear, clinic clothes, plus all the books I need for Spanish and Medical Spanish, is kind of totally amazing. But it didn't come easy. I've spent the last 4 days wondering what I've needed, buying what I think I'll need, getting home, reevaluating, packing, unpacking, repacking, making returns, buying more stuff and on and on and on. When what I should have done was pack a few outfits and some cash and bought what I needed when I got there.

But enough about packing. It's done.

The last time I was out of the country was the summer of 2003, which I spent in Prague, completing my Bachelor's degree. Once we'd been accepted into the Prague program, we were required to read 6 books off a reading list about Prague's history and culture, keep a journal of our reading, and write an essay about each choice. I was a little put out initially, but it turned out to be an incredibly wonderful opportunity to learn more about a place that's intrigued me for as long as I can remember. So when I arrived in Prague, I felt acquainted to the city in a way I never would have otherwise, and I loved that. And I am really regretting not having that same feeling going into this trip. I feel unprepared, intellectually and emotionally. Happily, I will have Miriam to answer my questions, but I feel like I haven't done my homework, which is one of the worst possible ways to feel in my little obsessive compulsive personality disorder universe. I purchased some of Rene Castillo Otto's poetry collections and I read a lovely novel called Hummingbird House, but I still feel really green about Guatemala and Guatemalans.

Regardless, I am happy-anxious and ready for the summer to begin. I've been slogging through school and working more hours than I should have and saving saving saving my money for months and I'm ready for it to begin.

Also, I am really excited about the school I am going to! It's named after Guatemalan Nobel-prize winning poet, Miguel Angel Asturias, and it's one of the most highly recommended schools specializing in Medical Spanish. I feel like both sides of me, the one who has a Bachelor's in Literature and Anthropology and the one who is currently in nursing school will feel at home there and that makes me very happy.

And if I may be so bold, I feel a little like Harry Potter right now. I'm setting off on an adventure, going to live in a town I never knew existed until just recently, in a place where they speak a language I don't know. And while Platform Nine and Three Quarters is a much cooler way to begin a journey than Nashville International Airport, I have a suspicion that The Land of Eternal Spring might be just as lovely a place to be as Hogwarts.