Who knew it would cost so much to expedite a passport?! As I was filling out paperwork to spend more in a day than I make in two weeks, the voice of my eighth grade English teacher, Mrs. Wing, popped into my head -- "Prior Preparation Prevents Possible Problems" -- wish she had popped into my head this summer when my passport went AWOL and i decided not to
worry about it. Oh well, live and learn.
After recovering from the sticker shock of my own sheer stupidity I faced many other quick, yet important decisions -- single room? double room? homestay? ... Internship? Film Class? Scholarships? ... and the list continues.
Not that I'm not a big girl and haven't made tougher decisions, but being under a time crunch always stresses me out. I tried to turn to my sister, but she was in bed. My boyfriend? Asleep. -- I didn't even bother calling my parents because I've already been given the irresponsibility speech once this week, I don't need it again at midnight when my phone call would surely wake them from a slumber!
<---- campus building at the Universidad de Alcala
My decisions? If I converted Euros to US Dollars right -- which we can only hope -- living in a single dorm room is still more affordable than living at UMD, so dad will be happy with that. I don't want a home-stay because as noted on the paperwork many Spanish families smoke and my little asthmatic lungs are no match for cloud of second hand smoke!
I emailed my journalism adviser regarding which classes will fulfill my concentration in Spanish, and I really hope I don't need to take an internship in a country where I'm not presently fluent in the language! and the less time commitment I have to courses, the more time I have for travel!
I can't wait for tomorrow's orientation when I get to meet the other students in the program, and get my laundry list of questions squared away so the excitement can begin!
Hasta luego!
