Money, Money, Money

I just remembered the most amazing thing! So recently I've been going crazy spending money on eating out, clothing for France, and other trip accessories. It has really been stressing me out to see so much money being depleted from my account. The money I've tried very hard to save for France. The money that won't even make it to France because I keep spending it (with reason!). The money that isn't being replenished because I'm barely working at this point. So this morning I went to stash some money away and remembered the fact that I never spent, nor deposited my winnings from my Vegas trip! I now have $400 to ease my money problems and relieve my buyer's remorse! Thank you Vegas gods! You just saved my day!

Fear isn't just a movie staring Mark Wahlberg...

It is 1:04 a.m. and here I am, blogging. I am pretty wound up right now. I have been searching and googling and planning and preparing for my trip, but I think I might just have a panic attack. My whole game plan this entire time was to just take everything one step at a time, and now I think I need to rethink that strategy. It has just recently dawned on me that I might not have enough time to accomplish everything I need to get accomplished before I leave. There are still so many loose ends I need to tie up, and it's getting closer and closer to my departure date. This week already got booked up, next weekend I'll be in Houston, and the weekend after is my last weekend here in Louisiana. It's all starting to hit me, and hard. Not only do I need to finish my pre-departure shopping, I also need to find time to see all of my friends, research where to stay and how to get around once I'm there, prepare my paperwork, go to a couple more doctor's appointments, and then there's that whole mess about getting all of my shit together for everything that needs to be done after I get there. Oh yeah, and there's that tiny thing called housing that I have no idea about.

I am seriously starting to freak. I know everything will get done, but it's really sinking in that once I get there, I'm on my own. Of course the first week and a half will be awesome. Hayley and I will be traveling together, so neither of us will have to feel alone. From New Orleans to D.C. to Copenhagen to Brussels to Valenciennes to Vernon to Sables d'Olonne, but then I leave Hayley and all of that comfort and go back to Valenciennes alone. Hopefully I'll meet some people upon arriving there and make new friends, but the thought of being alone in a strange city is kinda making my chest hurt. I guess what it boils down to is that I'm starting to lose my tough gal exterior and realize that I'm terrified of what's on the other side of this adventure. I've been waiting for this for so long. I can't just let a littel fear and anxiety and possible panic attacks and chest pains stop me now! I must endure. So I plan on trying to wind down, relax, get some sleep, and wake up in the morning with the ferocity to attack these issues head on.

The Clock is Ticking...

Tonight was a nice and relaxing evening. I watched a couple of movies and just relaxed. I finally saw L'Auberge Espanole. For those of you who don't watch a lot of foreign or French films, this is a movie that is kind of a must see when you've been studying French, and not for the French, but more because it's a movie that is about traveling to a foreign country and trying to get a grasp on the language. It's a fun film and I'm actually really glad I waited until now to see it. The main character, Xavier, moves to Spain for a year to study abroad and work on his Spanish. I won't spoil the movie, but it just fits so well with what I hope to do. Hopefully I won't have to share an apartment with six other people, but I do hope to meet lots of people and learn another language.

In other news, my visa appointment was this past Thursday (8/5) and it seems to have gone quite smoothly. While I was waiting I met Maddie, a fellow teaching assistant! And get this, she's also from Baton Rouge! She'll be in Lyon, but hopefully our paths will cross at some point. After we finished at the consulate, she and I chatted for a while. She studied abroad in Aix and she was very insightful about living abroad. I have been asking anyone I know who has lived/traveled abroad what their pieces of advice are. So far it has been very helpful, and I'm hoping to find out more before I leave too. Hayley (my fellow teaching assistant and scholarship recipient) was able to come to Houston and spend the night with me at my grandmother's since her appointment was the following day. She and I are planning on traveling together. We are planning on meeting in Lafayette on Thursday to buy our tickets. We plan to purchase one-way tickets leaving out of New Orleans on September 15 and flying into Brussels. This trip is going to be awesome, but I still have so much planning to do! Only 1 month and 5 days till we leave! ONE MONTH AND FIVE DAYS...holy crap.

Oh, and before I forget, here's the link to our LPB interview. Click on the link that says "La Fondation Louisiane Scholars."