And away we go!
In 10 days, I will begin my semester abroad in Sevilla! My emotions range from terrified, to excited, and back to terrified again. Luckily, I won't be completely alone as about 6 or 7 other girls from my college will be there, including my AWESOME roommate Laura.
In order to get to Spain in the first place, I had to obtain a student visa from the Spanish Consulate in Boston. Worcester (where I go to college) is about an hour away, but Laura and I agreed to schedule our appointments together, so we could drive in to Boston at the same time. Originally, we agreed that Laura would do the driving, since she's from Massachusetts and is more familiar with Boston than I am. The day before though, we decided to switch drivers because Laura was uncomfortable with driving in the city. I learned how to drive in Dallas, so I figured it couldn't be too bad in Boston. We got up early in the morning the next day and started the trek to the consulate.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a planner, so the night before I had found a parking garage near to the consulate and printed out a coupon so we wouldn't have to pay ridiculous amounts of money for parking. It was pouring down rain, and as a result, we got into Boston closer to the time of our appointments than we would have liked. In the hubbub of getting together all my paperwork and leaving that morning, I had forgotten my iPhone in our dorm. After driving in the pouring rain on the Mass Pike (for my Texans, it's a big highway with lots of crazy traffic, think 635 but worse), we got to the parking garage just a few minutes before Laura's appointment. It was full. Crap. So now not only am I trying to navigate the crazy, one-way, non-sensical streets of Boston, but it's pouring down rain, we're late, and we have nowhere to park.
Eventually, after driving around for several minutes we found a parallel parking space (something I'm not used to because I don't have to do it very often in Dallas!) about 3 blocks from the consulate. We shove quarters into the meter and take off running. By this point, we also realize that we've left the address of the consulate in our dorm along with my iPhone, and Laura doesn't have a smart phone so we can't look it up. Luckily, I remembered the name of the street. We ran 3 blocks in the pouring rain in our nice clothes to the street the consulate is on. We have absolutely no idea which direction it's in, or even what side of the street. Eventually, we just start hysterically half-yelling to random people on the sidewalk, "Do you know where the Spanish Consulate is?" in both English and Spanish hoping someone will understand! Luckily, a man knew and pointed it out to us (it was in an office building that wasn't marked on the outside, so there's almost no way we would have found it on our own!). He was pretty much my new favorite person.
We got to the consulate soaking wet and waited for our appointments. After handing in some preliminary paperwork, we were told to wait in the waiting area until someone could come speak with us. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. By now, the meter was almost out on my car and I DID NOT want to have to navigate through Boston looking for a tow yard and an ATM so I could pay to get my car back. Laura and I agreed that whoever was done with their appointment first would take the keys and go back to the car to fill up the meter. This seemed like a good idea until Laura told me that she didn't remember where we parked. I'm frantically trying to draw her a map on a tissue I found in my purse when they call my name. After my appointment ends, I wish Laura luck and run the three blocks back to my car. Luckily, it was still there. I put in some more quarters and sat down to wait for Laura. While I wait, every scenario imaginable goes through my head. We have no way of communicating with each other. What if she can't find the car and I have to go driving around looking for her? How long should I wait for her? What if I have to leave her stranded here in Boston? Would she hate me? I should have had more faith in her though, because she found it with no problem. (She's actually fantastic. She picked up my passport with my student visa attached at the consulate which is an hour away from her house and mailed it to me. And she's just an awesome person.)
I'm used to traveling by myself back and forth across the country, with Clark University in Worcester, MA being about 2,000 miles from my house in Dallas, but I've never navigated customs by myself! I don't know a whole lot about the specifics yet, but I do know that Laura and I will live in the same apartment with an older woman in the Triana district of Sevilla. We will take classes at the CIEE Learning Center in downtown Sevilla, about 30 minutes by bus.
I first fly from Dallas to Boston and then Boston to Madrid and Madrid to Sevilla. I'm putting my life in the States on hold and heading off to another continent. I'm leaving behind some of my friends, my extremely supportive boyfriend, and my wonderful family. But I know I'll be having some awesome adventures in return!
Until then, ADIOS!
Carly
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