Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Yesterday, I packed up my room at Colby and officially moved out until next year.
Today, I unpacked everything and repacked one giant suitcase to bring with my to Israel for the next two weeks.
Tomorrow, I will be on three planes and in three continents, ending up in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Unless I have a slow moment on my trip, I won't be posting until I get back. See you all then!

Cars, trains and planes, oh my!
Rachel

Why Argentina?

I supposed that I should explain why I'm going to Argentina. I'm a Spanish major and the obvious pick would be Spain, and other than that, I could go to almost any country in Central or South America. So, why Argentina?

I've had a fascination with Argentina since about the 7th grade when, on a plane ride back from Honduras, I watched a travel channel special on the country. The gaucho lifestyle contrasted with urban city living attracted me, and I thought the tango was pretty cool too. Once I started reading Spanish literature, Jorge Luis Borges quickly became my favorite author. And guess what? He's Argentine. Not only did I love his writing for its beauty, but also for its descriptions of Argentine landscapes and people. It seems so romantic, classic and other-worldly. More recently, Argentina's well known steak, leather and wine have also been considerations. Clearly I have a lot to look forward to.

For Chanukah my parents got me a guide book about Argentina, and I realized just how little I knew about the country, and also how much more I would like it once I learned more. Here are some images of Argentina which I found online, feel free to insert my face into each shot.

First, of course, is Buenos Aires. I think this photo is the Avenida 9 de Julio, a huge road in the middle of the city.

Next, this is the Teatro Colon, an opera house with some of the best acoustics in the world. It also hosts ballets, so I hope to go to a performance there at least once.

To the north of Buenos Aires is Iguazu falls, which straddles Argentina and Brazil. It's the largest waterfall in the world. 

And to the west of Buenos Aires, almost in the Andes is Mendoza, which is wine country. I don't know that much about wine (right Dad?) but Argentina is famous for its malbec. I'm sure I'll know a lot more about wines when I come home.

Obviously I can't go to Argentina without heading south to Patagonia. Not just an outerwear brand with an outlet in Freeport, Maine, it's also a huge region in Argentina and a little bit in Chile also with glaciers and mountains and plains and who knows what else--it's that big.

Peninsula Valdes, in Patagonia, is known for its wildlife and especially its whales. According to my guidebook, you don't even need to go on a whale watch to see these cetaceans, they can be seen and heard from the shore. I'm definitely taking Lucas here.

Finally, and I say finally with good reason, is Ushuaia. The capitol of Tierra del Fuego province, this is the southern most city in the world. Unless I'm going to Antarctica (which I am not) this is literally the end of the earth. 

Without even having been, I can say with confidence that Argentina is the coolest country in the world. These pictures are just some of the highlights from Argentina; I plan to hit up some great places in Chile, Peru, and Uruguay also. I'm not much of a nature person, but I'm enthusiastically bringing my hiking boots, and of course, my camera. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm not going to miss it because I need to shower every day.

Lots of leather boots,
Rachel

This Just Got Real

I'm cheating a little bit. Because my program in Argentina starts so late, I have time to do a Birthright trip to Israel. However, this means that I have to leave Colby's one month block a week early. Last night I started packing up my room. The walls are empty and so is my desk. My room hasn't look this barren since I moved in in August. Things are getting real, friends. I have to do two weeks of homework for one class, including writing a final paper, and I've chosen to write about Burma/Myanmar, a subject about which I know little. So I have my work cut out for me. What I'm most worried about, though, is checking out of my room. No one else is leaving to go abroad on Sunday, January 23rd, and the office of campus life is definitely not going to be open. The head of campus life is not known to be the friendliest woman and I'm worried that she'll yell at me and won't let me leave. See, this would be a problem becuase two days later I have to board a transatlantic flight, which I obviously can't miss. I've kind of flown under the radar and I suspect that Colby suspects that I'll just be moving out when JanPlan ends. I haven't alerted anyone official of my premature departure. I'm secretly hoping to continue to fly under the radar and just pack up and leave quietly, maybe drop my key off with my CA (I don't even know who it is, though) and drive away.

Thinking about logistics shows me how close my departure is. Yes, I have stickynotes on my computer about which medicines to get and how many copies of my passport I need, but I haven't really been thinking about that too much. But the truth is that I can't just ignore everything and march out of my room on Sunday. I am forced to go through the motions of moving out and preparing for both of my trips, and by doing this, my departure is becoming more and more real. I need to get everything set up or taken care of, and even though I've been putting these things off until the last minute, the last minute is now! My challenge is that I need to have most things for Argentina taken care of before I leave for Israel, and not being home to do some of these things makes it even harder.

This isn't to say that I don't want to leave or go abroad. Obviously I do. Right now it's hard to be genuinely excited with all of my impending errands. Checking each item off of my list gives me a sense of accomplishment, especially because these are real life issues. My reluctance comes from not knowing how to approach these things because I've never had to do something like this before. I have to figure out how to renew my license, for instance. And yet I figured it out by myself and got it done. I know that I am capable of doing everything I need to before go, and if I'm capable of mundane adults tasks, then I think I'm pretty well prepared for exciting overseas adventures.

And honestly, I'm pretty excited to go buy lots of over the counter drugs at CVS tomorrow.

Actually, really, ready,
Rachel

Here we go!

As I write this, I have 13 days until I fly to Israel, and 42 days until I leave for Argentina. Why Israel and Argentina? Because my study abroad program in Buenos Aires starts to late, I figured this was the perfect time to go on a Birthright trip. Birthright, for those of you who don't know, is a Jewish organization that brings young Jewish adults from the diaspora to discover Israel. I'm going on a completely free 10-day tour of Israel, and ending the trip spending a couple of days with my cousins in Jerusalem. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and promises to be so incredible. We're going on camel rides, meeting young Israelis, going to the Negev desert, tasting wine and olive oil, experiencing the sabbath in Jersualem and so much more.

After this, I'm home for roughly two weeks and then I leave for Argentina until mid July. I don't know everything that will happen while I'm down there (we don't get our host families or pick our classes until we arrive) but I have a general sense of my program. I actually today talked to my friend Kayla who went to BA last semester (view her blog here) and she gave me lots of advice. The best thing she told me: travel as much as possible.

So that is what I am planning to do from now until July. I'm going all over the world and hopefully will have some pretty great stories to share here.

Hasta Luego!
Rachel