I'm in my final days here in San Francisco, getting ready to go! I went to Radio Shack today and got a plug adapter, to Walgreens for Airborne, and my suitcase is on my bed, hungrily awaiting Spainthings. I'm proud to say I managed to whittle it down to 3 pairs of shoes, 4 books, and one Captain Kirk doll.
I had my last day of work on Friday the 26th and now that Christmas and my birthday are over, all I have to look forward to is Spain!
I've started saying my goodbyes to people-tears have been shed, and I know I will miss everyone! I'm bringing lots of stationary with me, so everyone email me your snail mail address and I promise you will get a postcard from me. And all my Origins girls (and Jordan) I promise I will send you a photo of me in front of an Origins in Spain.
Email is emily.wentz@gmail.com
You can snail mail me at the Accent Center:
ACCENT Madrid
Instituto Internacional
Calle Miguel Angel, 8
28010 Madrid, Spain
I arrive on the 2nd and then we have a bunch of orientation and walking tours of the city to get ourselves acclimated. I guess when we arrive is when Spain has their Epiphany Holiday, so we get like a week off before class starts, which will be nice. I will be in my Spanish classes 5 days a week from 3 to 6 and my art history class Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 to 12:30. Also one of those days we spend just going to museums, which should be pretty awesome.
I found a nice girl named Molly that has the same flight as me so we are going to band together and conquer the airports and hostels. Look out Madrid, here we come!
I might get a "pay as you go" phone while I'm there-I'm going to look into it more when I arrive, but in the meantime, there is Skype! (which I'm still not quite sure how it works, but oh, well.)
Thanks to very generous people in my life, I also have super duper electronics that have been bestowed upon me to make my trip more enjoyable-iPod, electronic translator and a digital camera. Where would I be without people dragging me into the 21st century? Picture-less, Van Morrison-less, and knowing how to say "juice" Spain style-less, that's where.
Wish me a safe journey! I will post the synopsis of my epic plane ride when I land. Bleagh. And, in case it hasn't been made obvious enough yet, I'm going to miss everyone!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Getting Ready to go!
So I know I'm not officially in Spain yet, but I thought I should get into the groove of this "blog" thing now. I've never really blogged before, but I thought this would be better than writing the same email like, 50 times. AND I want to give anyone who wants to see me before I leave official notice.
The logistics:
I leave December 31st.
7 hour layover in Dublin. Ew.
I'll be in the Chamberi neighborhood of Madrid for 3 months, and afterward, Italy, Morocco, and Prague, here I come!
I will be studying (of course) tons of Spanish, and art history.
I don't have an exact return date, but I'm thinking the end of April.
I found a lovely lady named Laura who is going to sublet my place and keep my plants alive.
I can't believe I'm leaving in less than a month. After going to the orientation last night the reality really hit me. However! I still know NOTHING about the family I'll be staying with, which is kind of a drag. Apparently I won't know until I arrive in Madrid. Hopefully they don't have 5 heads or are cannibals. Or worse, really into cheesy American pop culture and assume I am too.
Oh, AND at he orientation last night, they dropped the bomb that the advanced speakers (meaning me) have to go to additional "conferencias" for two weeks. Basically some guy lectures for about two hours (in Spanish) and then I have to write what I got out of it (in Spanish). But all in all, I'm excited for the classes. Usually subjects like art and Spanish come pretty easily to me and are interesting so I hope that continues to be true.
Now I just have to do all the tedious crap, like packing (blarg), making copies of my passport in case it gets lost and blah blah blah.
And this month before I leave is going to be bus-AY. Finals in two weeks Eek! I can't WAIT for classes to be over. This semester was way hard. Biology is evil. Then it's my birthday, then Christmas. . . . did I mention I work retail? Then I board a plane New Year's Eve. Maybe there will be a cute flight attendant to kiss. Who am I kidding, being good looking is some sort of requirement if you want to be a flight attendant. They'll all be cute. But I digress.
I'm worried about missing everone and everything. . . . I do so love San Francisco and my friends and family and Nerf Beast and job and apartment, but hopefully I will be so busy in Spain I won't have time to get homesick. So call me or email me if you want to see me before I leave!
The logistics:
I leave December 31st.
7 hour layover in Dublin. Ew.
I'll be in the Chamberi neighborhood of Madrid for 3 months, and afterward, Italy, Morocco, and Prague, here I come!
I will be studying (of course) tons of Spanish, and art history.
I don't have an exact return date, but I'm thinking the end of April.
I found a lovely lady named Laura who is going to sublet my place and keep my plants alive.
I can't believe I'm leaving in less than a month. After going to the orientation last night the reality really hit me. However! I still know NOTHING about the family I'll be staying with, which is kind of a drag. Apparently I won't know until I arrive in Madrid. Hopefully they don't have 5 heads or are cannibals. Or worse, really into cheesy American pop culture and assume I am too.
Oh, AND at he orientation last night, they dropped the bomb that the advanced speakers (meaning me) have to go to additional "conferencias" for two weeks. Basically some guy lectures for about two hours (in Spanish) and then I have to write what I got out of it (in Spanish). But all in all, I'm excited for the classes. Usually subjects like art and Spanish come pretty easily to me and are interesting so I hope that continues to be true.
Now I just have to do all the tedious crap, like packing (blarg), making copies of my passport in case it gets lost and blah blah blah.
And this month before I leave is going to be bus-AY. Finals in two weeks Eek! I can't WAIT for classes to be over. This semester was way hard. Biology is evil. Then it's my birthday, then Christmas. . . . did I mention I work retail? Then I board a plane New Year's Eve. Maybe there will be a cute flight attendant to kiss. Who am I kidding, being good looking is some sort of requirement if you want to be a flight attendant. They'll all be cute. But I digress.
I'm worried about missing everone and everything. . . . I do so love San Francisco and my friends and family and Nerf Beast and job and apartment, but hopefully I will be so busy in Spain I won't have time to get homesick. So call me or email me if you want to see me before I leave!
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