Butterflies en el estomago

This Mexico thing is becoming more of a reality each day. Tomorrow is sort of a turning point; it will be only three weeks until I leave, and I will (more than likely) have my visa. Right now, as I'm typing this, I have yet to get visa approval, but I'm going up to St. Paul tomorrow, or rather, today, to get my visa/get interviewed. I don't know what that entails, but I can rule out intense mental and emotional testing, the stuff that astronauts experience, because I think it'll be pretty easy-going. We'll see.

I just got back from vacation. We went to Kenosha, Wis., to visit my sister and her family. The last time I was there was New Year's Eve, a week after my first nephew, Collin, was born. He's grown up fast, and I'll more than likely be blown away as to how much he'll grow while I'm away. He'll be able to talk and walk and hypothesize complex algorithms by the time I get back, that's how much he'll grow.

The whole trip there and back (about 12 hours total) I read nothing but travel guides (Rough Guide's Mexico and Lonely Planet's Central America on a Shoestring). See, it's easy to plan things, to structure my whole trip from the comfort of the car, with only a few books, but when i get down there, things are going to be completely different than I imagine. They always are. Take, for example, my plan two weeks ago to go to the cities to apply for my visa: I printed out directions to the consulate, then to a restaurant. But when we went up there it wasn't so simple; we got lost everytime we wanted to go to a different spot. That's just how things are; theory and practice. That's why I think it's important to study theory, to imagine, to think of the concepts, but more important to actually do things. Like going to Mexico: I could learn Spanish here, just fine and dandy, but how much would I really learn? Is four hours a week enough to really soak in a language? Would I get enough cultural immersion to fully understand it, enough so that I feel as if Spanish is as much a first language as English? I think not. That's my main justification in going to Mexico. Everyone's got their opinions about it ("That's great!" or "Lucky you" or "Can't you just learn Spanish here?" or "You'll get killed down there!") but what really matters is that I'm trying it out. I'm young, unattached, ahead of my career, education-wise; why not? I've never been out of the U.S. (save for a 5-minute bug-spray run to Canada) and my first time on a plane was only five months ago. But I'm going to do it. If I die, or get malaria, or meet a hot Latina woman, or all of the above, it'll all be in the name of practice (rather than theory).

One Month

Most all my paperwork is done now; here's the rundown of what I've done in the past month...
* Applied for my visa yesterday (I'll have to wait about two weeks for that)
--This was the hardest part so far, because I had to get so many documents and deal with quite a bit of run around, especially with the financial solvency part.

* Started taking my typhoid fever vaccine a week ago; done with that now, as well as $40 (for four pills. Yikes.)

I still have a lot to do, however:
* Get names/phones/e-mails of people I'll contact
* Cancel my cell phone, Internet, credit cards, and pay library (gasp) fines
* Check about health insurance coverage
* Buy another plane ticket for the way back
* Convert money to traveler's checks



I can't believe I only have ~9 days more of work. CRAZY! And EXCITING!

Countdown: 32 days (or, 761 hours)

Two months, and....I'm there.

Here's a brief run-down of what I've done/left to do:

Do:

*Get visa....this means waiting for a certificate of good health and a "letter of financial solvency." And a trip to the cities and a five-day waiting period.

*Buy luggage. I'm debating if I should buy the cheapie kind in case it gets lost or stolen (I might decide to ride Greyhound someday) or invest in a Samsonite or equally good quality brand. I'll likely make a compromise: buy used baggage that's of good quality.

* Get a new bank account or ensure mine will work in Mx.

* Cancel my cell phone, AOL, pay my library fines, etc.

* Get addresses, phone numbers of family/friends and store in an address book so I can send gifts/request monetary donations (if need be) :]

*Keep working...my goal: enough money to not have to work while I'm down there. I don't think I can, legally, anyway.

* CLEAN MY ROOM!!!! Dammit, I don't want to come back after a year to a pig sty! It still is a month after spring semester ended.


Done:

* Received my acceptance letter

* Bough plane ticket ($419 for round-trip...the cheapest I could find)

* Doctor check-up, eye exam

* Most of the documents for my visa



Countdown: two months, exactly....Well, technically not anymore, but had I posted two hours earlier, it would've been. I'll put it this way: in two months, I'll be in a foreign place, off American soil for the first time in my life (five minutes in Canada doesn't count), trying to string together bits and phrases of a foreign language and figuring out what I got myself into...a good thing, I hope. Fingers crossed.

First Post

So I created this blog back in April but I keep putting off entries because I'm lazy like that. But I made it so I can detail my adventures in Mexico because I thought you'd like to know. I think Blogspot is more versatile and has a cleaner, more powerful layout than Xanga, which seems kind of amateurish, but it still fun to use.

Anyway, since I'm not really in Mexico yet, I thought I might share some stuff that I have yet to do, as well as what I've done so far to prepare.

To do:

- First and foremost, wait for my acceptance letter. Now, it's a bit late to still be speculating if I'm even accepted into the university, but I've talked to admissions and it sounds like they're accepting me. I sent my application fee ($75) about three weeks ago and they still haven't got it, but the check hasn't fallen into the wrong hands since it hasn't been cashed yet.
* Once I get the acceptance letter, I can:
~ Send a copy to my scholarship providers
~ Send a copy to MSU
~ Apply for my visa
- Buy my plane ticket. The cheapest I've found (Mpls. to Mex. City) is $413, round trip -- I'm leaving Aug. 22 and coming back Sept. 26. If I leave one day earlier it's about $50 more.
- Buy the essentials....more lenses for my camera, a new backpack, luggage, gifts for the host family/students.
- Get a doctor's check up and immunizations. Buy contacts and new glasses. Invest in a case of Pepto Bismal. Make that five.


What I've done:
- Applied. Still waiting to be officially accepted.
- Got my passport. I actually did that nearly three months ago.
- Taken the placement test (I scored at an intermediate level)
- Gotten the classes approved so I can transfer the credits
- Finished the FAFSA (one week ago !!!....but I'm not relying on grants 'cause I got hardly any last year.)
- Finished most of the financial info -- where to transfer the money, all that.
- Started this blog, just for you.

What I'm doing:
-Studying Spanish. Everyday I try to look for some way to practice my Spanish. Sometimes I study from a textbook. I listen to these Spanish lessons on my iPod. I watch Univision and Galavision (Mexicans are CRAZY fun and sometimes I think they use ecstasy by the way they dress/act on some of those talk/comedy shows.). I talk in Spanish on MSN to some Mexican friends. I switch the audio from English to Spanish -- it's funny to watch War of the Worlds like that, Dakota Fanning sounds like a mouse.

- But the thing is, I need more face-to-face interaction. All of the above help in some ways, but it's still mostly just one-ended communication. So I'm trying to find some Hispanics who will help me with my Spanish. If only I knew as many Latinos as I did Nepalis. :|

- Waiting. Not knowing whether I'm accepted, if I'll get grants, if I'll have enough money...that's what kills me.
- Working. Like mad. I'm thinking I'll be working at least 30 hours weekly this summer (add another 15 for the internship), as well as the occasional freelancing. I might also sell my body on the corner...I hear that makes pretty good money. No old geezers though.


Stuff.
I'm not sure how often I'll update this blog during the summer...I s'pose whenever something big happens, like when I get the acceptance letter, or when I realize I've become so fluent in the language that I'll run for president of Mexico (the election is this year, and incumbency is not an option for presidents.)

But one thing I hope to do: update it regularly when I get down to the Mex. With pictures, maybe even short video clips. I don't know how to do that, but I should, right? And this blog will be available to not just you faithful followers (the Xanga crowd) but to family, professors, MSU friends, and your mom.

Anyway, if you think I should add some sort of feature (ie, "Mexican icon of the week" or "Cultural difference of the day" then you should tell me. Hey, there's two ideas right there.)


COUNTDOWN: 91 days

Four months to go

Hello there, folks. I started this blog to detail my study-abroad trip to Xalapa (or Jalapa), Mexico. More postings later.