An impending journey

In six days I will be leaving the States for almost seven months (194 days, to be exact). I have been home in Miami for the past 3.5 weeks now-which is the longest I have been home since I started college-and I can't believe it's already coming to an end. From the beach to boating to cooking with my parents, I really love home. My boyfriend, Glen, just left yesterday after visiting and it was so great to be able to introduce to him to my beloved city, family, and friends. But, my time at home is soon reaching it's end.

Crandon Park: my favorite beach back home

On Monday night I leave Miami for Geneva, where I will be researching particle physics at CERN for 10 weeks. I am extremely excited to live in Switzerland and be able to travel Europe during my stay. And, of course, I am looking forward to the research and in realizing where my interests in physics do or do not lay. After my researching, my parents are meeting me in Geneva and the three of us will spend the next two weeks touring Switzerland and Spain. We will end our trip in Madrid, where I will stay to continue my studies for the fall semester at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Today, my leaving finally started to feel real. Up until now I had been excited about this "once in a life-time" trip, but now it is actually coming together. I've started to get stressed about small logistics-I still must pack, call credit card companies, set up phones, etc. But much more, I'm very sad about leaving friends and family. Thankfully, we live in such a technologically savvy world that Skype, emails, phone calls, and facebook make everything much easier. Still, it's not quite the same. I am definitely looking forward to the travel experience and the immersion into new cultures (after all, that is why I decided to study abroad), but am aware that I will be leaving my comfort zone, which is a bit frightening. Ultimately, I know that while it may be a challenge, this trip will be a life changing experience for the better.

I woke up this morning to an email confirming that there will be a bike available for me when I get to CERN. I had sent an email to check the availability during my stay over a week ago and the email was never responded to; however, after a follow up email yesterday, I received a response today that one is indeed available. yay! An hour later I received a phone call from the Spanish Embassy in Miami telling me that my Visa had been approved and that I can pick it up tomorrow. While this may seem insignificant, I cannot even explain the amount of anxiety this visa has put me through. I was initially told by the Spanish consulate that I would have to mail my passport back to the US while I was in Geneva for them to complete the visa (a risky thing to do if caught). Then, I was informed that the system to issue visas was down in Madrid, so I could not schedule an appointment before I left the country. At this point, I was contemplating whether I would even study abroad next semester or not. I had mentally drafted a few emails to my Dean asking to re-enroll in Yale for fall semester. When this was resolved and I managed to get an appointment, the consulate explained that while I could now apply, the visas take at least 4-6 weeks to be approved in Madrid, and then I must pick it up in person or else they would not issue it-a slight problem, seeing as I'd be on another continent. However, today's phone call told me that some how by God's grace the 4-6 week waiting period had been overseen and my visa was ready. I do not have to fly back for a weekend to pick it up this summer; instead, I am able to leave for Geneva knowing that everything is in order. That is enough to calm some (or many) nerves and to remind me that life is not ultimately in my hands.

I am going to take today's events as a great and positive sign for this impending journey.