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