My flight is booked. I am going to Nicaragua from Sept 30, 2014-June 30, 2015. I am very, very excited.....What an adventure.
This whole experience is just one first after another, although I expect they are not the firsts you are expecting. It will be the first time I have been unemployed for more than one month since I started working at 14 and the first time travelling in a Spanish speaking country. I have been working diligently since last December to prepare for this trip which in itself is another first since I am usually a bit of a procrastinator. I am not even sure what other firsts await me but I am looking forward to all of them.
I have been studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone and I am more than halfway, although I am not sure I will finish the course before I leave. People tell me it is best to be immersed in the language since the vocabulary is different, so a basic understanding is what I have been going for.
I have also had to go through everything I own which is 40 years of gifts, things I have collected and household items. This has been the toughest part so far, realizing the memories that so many of my belongings have and still being able to part with some of them. I completed this task in small time slots since I became overwhelmed, weepy and sentimental during the process. They say when you let go of things, you make room for growth. I have made room and this adventure promises to be one of the biggest growth periods of my life. The neat thing is that I will experience parts of it with the same person I experienced my most memorable growth period in Australia next to. I am very grateful that we are still friends 20 years later.
I still have a list two pages long of things I need to do in the next 50 days so I best stop writing and get moving....slow and steady has been good so far but I think it's time to move this preparation into high gear.
This whole experience is just one first after another, although I expect they are not the firsts you are expecting. It will be the first time I have been unemployed for more than one month since I started working at 14 and the first time travelling in a Spanish speaking country. I have been working diligently since last December to prepare for this trip which in itself is another first since I am usually a bit of a procrastinator. I am not even sure what other firsts await me but I am looking forward to all of them.
I have been studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone and I am more than halfway, although I am not sure I will finish the course before I leave. People tell me it is best to be immersed in the language since the vocabulary is different, so a basic understanding is what I have been going for.
I have also had to go through everything I own which is 40 years of gifts, things I have collected and household items. This has been the toughest part so far, realizing the memories that so many of my belongings have and still being able to part with some of them. I completed this task in small time slots since I became overwhelmed, weepy and sentimental during the process. They say when you let go of things, you make room for growth. I have made room and this adventure promises to be one of the biggest growth periods of my life. The neat thing is that I will experience parts of it with the same person I experienced my most memorable growth period in Australia next to. I am very grateful that we are still friends 20 years later.
I still have a list two pages long of things I need to do in the next 50 days so I best stop writing and get moving....slow and steady has been good so far but I think it's time to move this preparation into high gear.