Packing, Preparing, and Praying

Countdown is now up to 8 days!

I can not believe how fast time is going. My reality is being thrown upside down. I am about to leave the country for the first time on my own. I am in pure shock. Lately, I have been coming to terms that I need to stop procrastinating and start packing! So much has been going on it is quite overwhelming.

I checked off the bank on my last to-do list! I warned them of excursions down south and applied for my very first credit card! I am still awaiting the arrival, I hope it gets here on time! I attempted to be ambitious and order pesos from my bank. Unfortunately, I got Mexican pesos instead of Argentine pesos.... drat. Now I must resort to doing currency exchange at the Atlanta airport ( I have a three hour lay-over anyways, why not do something). That was that.

Next, I began to pack. It is so hard to decide what clothes to bring. I was a complete dork and tried on most of the clothes that I was iffy about to see if I would wear it in Argentina. That was interesting, I think I changed my outfit like 7 times... that is a new record! I have been using the rolling method of packing by rolling all of my clothes super tight and stuffing them together... so much more room for other stuff.... Oh boy. Packing is always the toughest for me. I get distracted all the time because I want to leave it until I absolutely have too. Not this time!

I finally got walking shoes for Argentina. I made a journey to Oakbrook's REI and bought REAL shoes that will LAST. I bought my first pair of Merrels! They are heaven on my feet! Also I bought my first pair of Chaco sandals. They are my favorite pair of sandals. So much arch support and perfect for the amount of walking that is ahead of me. I think my favorite purchase of the day was the "Bra Money Pouch". It is this silk pocket like thing, perfect size for ids and cash and it fits right into your bra! No one would even dare to look there! Genius! My new form of money transportation! Plus, I would DEFINITELY notice if someone tried pick-bra (pocket) me. For real, no one could miss that! Best invention ever!

I have been reading and refreshing my spanish lately. I still can't wrap my head around all the Spanish I will be exposed to when I arrive there. We had an online orientation through a live chat conference call where a coordinator from CIEE talked to us and showed us a powerpoint of important things we need to know. It was refreshing to hear some Spanish and hear the accent. I just hope I can show them my competence in Spanish... Espero que si.

Lately, I have been praying for communities. Argentina community, CIEE community, Hope community, Naperville community. I believe that when we band together and make this bond of community, we can get through anything.  What keeps a community together you may ask? Love. If we all pitched in and loved one another; I think we could take on the whole world.

Quiero amar, Quiero esperar. Quiero soñar.


The days are passing quickly. Must cherish all of this time I have with the community that raised me.


"I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."


Chau!