The summer after my freshman year at uni I worked on Mackinac Island. (Lovely place. No cars are allowed, so everyone travels by bike, foot, or horse and the air is so clean!) It didn't hit me until I was on the boat from the main land to the island that I would be living and working on an island 7 hours from home for the entire summer. But then I met my roomies and everything was fine.
When I spent a semester abroad in New Zealand, the idea of it was so odd I didn't quite believe it was happening until I was about to go through the first security check point at the airport. And for the first few weeks while I was essentially roommate-less, I just wandered around Wellington feeling lost. Until I found the library and NaNoWriMo started and I hooked up with local writers.
But, going to Ethiopia is different. It's going to be a long time away from home, and I find myself stressing out about what I need to do here at home before I leave. I'm trying to figure out what grad schools to apply to for my return, I'm taking the GMAT in early May, I'm taking a calc class at a community college and my exam is at the end of this month, I have a story in the hands of three betas and I'm hopefully going to be publishing it before I leave (because I won't have the ability to submit while abroad, most likely).
I haven't really been able to stop and think about learning Amharic, figuring out what to pack, trying to pick up the skills I'll need for my assignment, or that I'll be away from home for 27 months, living in a country that doesn't speak my language, with no guarantee that I'll have even electricity or running water. It's there, in the back of my mind, but not a priority becuase I can deal with that in Ethiopia while I have so much to deal with here at home before I leave.
Not to mention reassuring most of my friends here that yes, I want to do this, and no, I don't think I'll get sick and die. It's hard to be super excited when most people around me are like 'Gwen, this is a bad idea.' (Or plan to kidnap me so I miss my flight, but I know it's just cuz they'll miss me and are worried.)
But I feel like I need to do this. I don't want to pass on this opportunity and regret it later. And ever since my first trip abroad without my parents (school trip to the Galapagos Islands, man that sunburn was awful) I have had a calling to travel. Living with my parents this past year has increased that feeling. I need to stretch out, breathe in fresh air, do something. And teaching in Ethiopia is certainly something.
I can't wait to begin.
When I spent a semester abroad in New Zealand, the idea of it was so odd I didn't quite believe it was happening until I was about to go through the first security check point at the airport. And for the first few weeks while I was essentially roommate-less, I just wandered around Wellington feeling lost. Until I found the library and NaNoWriMo started and I hooked up with local writers.
But, going to Ethiopia is different. It's going to be a long time away from home, and I find myself stressing out about what I need to do here at home before I leave. I'm trying to figure out what grad schools to apply to for my return, I'm taking the GMAT in early May, I'm taking a calc class at a community college and my exam is at the end of this month, I have a story in the hands of three betas and I'm hopefully going to be publishing it before I leave (because I won't have the ability to submit while abroad, most likely).
I haven't really been able to stop and think about learning Amharic, figuring out what to pack, trying to pick up the skills I'll need for my assignment, or that I'll be away from home for 27 months, living in a country that doesn't speak my language, with no guarantee that I'll have even electricity or running water. It's there, in the back of my mind, but not a priority becuase I can deal with that in Ethiopia while I have so much to deal with here at home before I leave.
Not to mention reassuring most of my friends here that yes, I want to do this, and no, I don't think I'll get sick and die. It's hard to be super excited when most people around me are like 'Gwen, this is a bad idea.' (Or plan to kidnap me so I miss my flight, but I know it's just cuz they'll miss me and are worried.)
But I feel like I need to do this. I don't want to pass on this opportunity and regret it later. And ever since my first trip abroad without my parents (school trip to the Galapagos Islands, man that sunburn was awful) I have had a calling to travel. Living with my parents this past year has increased that feeling. I need to stretch out, breathe in fresh air, do something. And teaching in Ethiopia is certainly something.
I can't wait to begin.
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