After two months in rainy wintery Oregon, I’m finally ready to head to Argentina. It seems like only yesterday I made the plunge and rushed in the application, and here we are! The packing is done, and all that stands between me and a semester in Buenos Aires is… well, 24 hours of airport travel. I guess that’s the nature of heading to a foreign country, especially from the west coast.

 Awful commute.

Anyway, I’m optimistic that the travel will fly by– I’ve packed some yarn, Los funerales de mama grande (Garcia Marquez), Diary (Chuck Palahniuk), and a few of episodes of 30 Rock on my iPod. Those actually sound like ingredients to a fun day, minus the limited leg room and most of the airport stuff.

Admittedly, I’m a bit nervous about my Spanish– it’s so easy to talk in the US and I’ve never worried about communication. The language is a really big part of the reason I’m going, though (at least, why I’m heading to a Spanish speaking country), and I plan on giving it my best shot. I’d hate to be a Spanish major who forgets the whole language ten years from now, and I think total immersion is going to do the trick.

I’ve been a bit of an insomniac lately, and I doubt tonight will be much different. Oh well. I’ve got a long flight to Atlanta and then an overnighter to BsAs to try to fit in some shut eye. A red eye from Portland to DC a few years back made me one of those pretentious travelers with a “U” shaped pillow on hand, and while I have to admit that it makes me a bit embarrassed to pull it out, I love my green airplane pillow.

We have orientation from the 21-23, then I’ll go and start living with my host family. I’m excited to meet everyone in the program– I think the two day transition period is going to be a nice way to get used to the city and the time change before “real life” begins. My guess is that class doesn’t start til next week, so maybe I’ll get to start exploring the city and whatnot in the meantime….

So that’s where I am now… Estoy lista, which means “I’m ready” in Spanish… since there isn’t a direct translation for “I’m excited” and “Estoy nerviosa” (I’m nervous”) and “Estoy feliz” (I’m happy”) don’t quite communicate my point, I think “lista” is the right word to use.

Ready, with a hint of excitement.