Departure Date Set

We have our tickets for Spain...leaving from Chicago the 21st of September and arriving in Bilbao on the 22nd...exciting, yes, but makes this whole thing seem a lot more real.

I've been waiting to do this program for over a year, and to actually have a set date to leave for SPAIN is crazy. After all this preparation (and a lot more to come), I still can't really believe that I'll be moving to another country for 9 months. Matt and I were talking the other day about how we really can't believe that we'll actually be in Spain in a little over 2 months.

Here is a list of things I'm super excited about:

-Living in a city that I've never even been to

-Being reunited with Spanish food...tortilla, jámon, kalimotxo...

-Access to easy travel

-Seeing old European friends

-Meeting new friends

-Living on the coast

-Not having to drive

-A winter that doesn't come anywhere close to Wisconsin's

-Getting away from the "normal" routine here

-No more working retail!!!

-Fútbol

-Zara, Mango, Corte Ingés, and all the other fab Spain shopping

-Seeing buildings that are older than 200 years on a regular basis

-Siesta

-Speaking Spanish again

-Working 12-16 hours a week

-Ryanair flights

-Spanish wine and fiestas

-Socibus and trains

-Bars that are open past 2 am

However, there are a few things that I'm pretty nervous for:

-Finding an apartment...in a new city...in Spanish

-Working in a classroom...even thought I'm not technically the English teacher, I have absolutely no training in teaching kids (I'm a Comm major, for pete's sake!)

-Money...money...money...

-Spanish bureaucracy...I've already come to loathe it, and I can't see it getting any better once I'm actually in Spain

-Speaking Spanish again...while it's not bad by any means, it's been awhile since I had a conversational Spanish class, and my grammar is far from perfect.

The good obviously outweighs the bad, and since I've been looking for a way to get back to Spain ever since I left in 2008, I'm pretty confident that this is the best choice for me. Yes, it's going to be challenging and I'm sure there will be times when I just want to come home, but I also know that if I don't do it, I'll always regret it.

Oh, and Viva España on Sunday for the World Cup!

originally published 7.8.2010