Today is the day! I have literally been thinking about this day since I was in high school. While I have been to Europe on two separate occasions in the past I have never gotten the chance to live in another country for six months. However, as I was sitting in the Des Moines airport this morning my nervousness definitely outweighed my excitement. There were several things that were on my mind. First and foremost was the death of the Luther senior, Nabby who was a great person and a great friend. While the shock having someone pass away who was not only a friend but someone who was so close to my own age was overwhelming at first, sitting here in the Newark airport, I have come to realize that life is much too short and much too precious and I am very grateful for this opportunity that I have been given to study for a semester in Dublin. I am thrilled for the opportunity to submerse myself in another culture and to meet new people. In fact, I have just had a lovely conversation with a woman from Australia. She was so nice and sweet and we had a good conversation about traveling, which is something that I really needed because as I have traveled from Des Moines to Chicago and now I am in Newark I am learning that traveling by yourself is definitely not as much fun as traveling with family and friends. While traveling alone is a little lonely I am also very proud of myself because I have been able to successfully navigate through three different airports (which as many of you know I was incredibly nervous about flying by myself.) As I am sure I have rambled to many of you the main reason why I am studying abroad is to gain some independence and real-life experience so that when I graduate in a year and a half (yikes!) I will have some life perspective and attempt to decrease the feeling of being a deer-in-the-headlights (which who are we kidding might happen anyway). But this experience of flying by myself and navigating airports alone is already the experience that I was hoping for. I am slowly but surely realizing that I can do this. I can leave all of my support systems and live somewhere new and foreign for almost six months. I am not going to lie, I am still a little terrified but contrary to this morning there is definitely more excitement than panic! So I believe that’s all for now! I have not decided how often I will blog…it probably depends on how often exciting things happen, but I will definitely keep you all updated because not only is this my way of letting people know what is going on in my life, it is also going to double as my own personal journal for my stay in Dublin!
Cheers!
Alicia! I knew you could do it! I'm glad you've made it safely to Dublin! I miss you so much already but am so excited for the experiences you're going to have in Ireland! Enjoy every second because it flies by!
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm so glad you made it safely! I just wanted to tell you that what you said about Nabby was really touching. He was part of my RA family and like that brother that you love no matter what he does. We were talking yesterday in our staff meeting about our memories of him. The moral of all the stories was essentially to live life to the fullest. Nabby always took the time to experience everything around him and he truly enjoyed life. He had such a postive outlook on everything and always took on challenges with a smile. It sounds like you have taken on a "Nabby" attitude in Ireland and I think that is amazing! Don't let anything hold you back and never be afraid to experience new things. <3 I wish you the best and can't wait to hear more about your experiences!
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