Okay, so I know that I should have began blogging weeks ago, but I am pretty technologically illiterate, and anyone who has ever traveled with me (People to People and May Term) knows how terrible I am at keeping up on journaling. However, This weekend will make three weeks since I left my little corner of Virginia surrounded by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains and sweet tea, so I really need to start (partially for my sake of remembering this magical time of my life, partially for the fact that it is a requirement for my school).
Originally, I thought about making a post August 25, the day I began my journey to Morocco. It would be a great time killer while waiting out my eleven hour layover in JFK, especially since it was an overnight layover, and I was pulling one of those very rare all-nighters because Emily just doesn't sleep anywhere. Sadly, Terminal 1 of JFK doesn't have wi-fi (or decent food options after 11:00 p.m.), so I am catching you up with everything I wanted to write that night, and **WARNING**: It's going to get VERY SAPPY. Also, although I am literally writing the next couple of blog posts (two-four) on my bed in order to procrastinate starting homework for next week, they're all ideas that I've had for blogs since I arrived here in Morocco. So here are my ideas for the blog/what I was feeling the week or so before I left home!
Originally, I had planned on writing a short, reflective essay for the requirement Roanoke has for the study abroad requirement, but as I thought about it, a blog would truly be best. I could share my adventures and thoughts with friends and family from home (if anyone is actually going to attempt listening to me ramble about four months in Morocco) as well as have a more accurate transcript of my time abroad for the next year. Plus, who knows, maybe a producer from the Travel Channel will miraculously find this blog and decided to give me my own show! (#DreamJob) Since I know that I am going to be horrible at this whole keeping up to date with the blog, I have already made a promise to myself (which I've totally already broken), but I found a way to keep myself on track despite how much I am going to hate writing about my feelings and junk, so I am taking an oath right now: I, Emily Kate Bayens, promise to post a blog every time I use Instagram with the hasthtag, #EmilyExploresEarth, considering that I must be doing something relative to culture/study abroad adventures.
For anyone not familiar with #EmilyExploresEarth, I started this hashtag last semester when I was studying and interning in Washington D.C. because simply arriving to my new home in the city was such a culture shock for me. I'd been to D.C. before, but how was I suppose to live in a CITY (not Salem or Roanoke) for FOUR MONTHS? That's when I realized, the plans that I had made for my sophomore/junior years were going to take me way out of my comfort zones. #EmilyExploresEarth isn't just a hashtag, it's a chronicle of my year and a half way outside of my comfort zone. It represents my perspectives changing, my adventures, and the amazing opportunities I am getting to experience thanks to all the opportunities I have been so lucky to be able to take. I mean, how many college students can say that they had the opportunity to go to World Bank and IMF receptions, spend afternoons volunteering at the World War II Monument, walk by the Capitol and Supreme Court everyday to work, see Auschwitz, climb Slovak castles, eat msemen in a Moroccan marche, or live and study in the Capitol of Europe?
Okay, Sappy Part 1: Finished.
Although I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone last semester, moving to Washington D.C., it still isn't the same as moving abroad. In D.C.; I was still by definition, in my own country, no matter how much I felt like I was on a different planet. So, needless to say, I was pretty much a nervous wreck all summer about coming to Morocco as well as trying to figure out visa processes for Belgium (still in process). However, I've known since summer 2011, when I first left the United States, that study abroad was definitely in my future, so there was definitely no backing out. I wan't particularly worried about anything, despite the many, "Wait, why are you going to Africa?" or "Are you not concerned about Ebola?" I was just nervous, but I knew I'd be fine. I was fine in Washington too, despite having the same feelings beforehand.
So, I said my goodbyes to my little cousin and Frozen duet partner (a pretty difficult task since she always holds it against me that I leave around/on her birthday), and planned to stop to see my friends at Roanoke one last time on my way to the airport. As I fell asleep my last night at home, I was able to sleep (quite unlike me before I travel), but didn't think about the journey ahead of me, simply that I wouldn't be sleeping in a bed the next night, but rather an airport bench.
Only two sappy-ish parts in one post? I'm doing pretty well!
I promise the upcoming posts will be more exciting and interesting-hopefully, less sappy too.
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