A week from tomorrow, I will be leaving West Virginia for 4 months and 20 days. My bags aren't packed. I don't have my third class yet. I still don't know so many things.
Today I started making lists of all the things I need to take. Lists of electronics which will need converters or adapters, lists of things to buy in Ireland rather than take with me... Tomorrow I'm going sledding with some college friends, and after that I will take a serious look at all the things I need to pack.
It's amazing how distant the trip seemed at first, when I found out that I had been accepted by the BEI Scholars Program. I sensed it coming, but it wasn't something I could touch yet. Only when my classmates arrived back at Wesleyan and classes started up once more did its closeness truly sink in. I am going to Northern Ireland. For an entire semester. As my eye doctor's assistant said, my trip is something I will be telling stories about for the rest of my life.
Although I feel ashamedly unprepared this close to my departure, my excitement will doubtlessly provide the energy I need to get everything organized and packed away during the next couple of days. Tomorrow I will see some friends who will graduate while I am away; we might never see each other again. I have come to realize the depth of their importance in my life; not just of those who will not be here when I return, but all of my friends. Truly I will miss them all.
Ireland is calling to me across the cold sea.
Lady Liberty is saying her temporary goodbyes.
I. Cannot. Wait.
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