It still has not sunk in that I am leaving to go to Buenos Aires in fourteen days. A bittersweet part of this program is that we do not leave until the end of January, which is both awesome and weird at the same time. I loved that I could stay at Rollins for sorority recruitment, have a proper goodbye with all of my friends, spend as much time as possible with my family and almost pack up my entire life in Florida, but I keep asking myself: will I ever be leaving to go to Argentina? I cannot picture myself taking this twelve-hour plane ride and arriving to live in another country for the next five and a half months. Stepping off of that plane will definitely be the most surreal experience of my life. I have traveled abroad with my family numerous times, but it does not compare to moving to another country for a semester. I do not even think that the nerves have set in that I am studying abroad but at the same time, I keep asking myself if I am at all nervous?
I am so incredibly excited for this experience, to see new places, eat new food (Argentina is known for their great pasta and steak, like how great?), meet new people, learn to tango, and fully immerse myself in Buenos Aires city life. I am so excited to travel around South America, to ski and hike in famous Patagonia, to see Machu Picchu, to visit the great Izuagu Falls, to visit age old churches and monuments, and to really experience Latin America. All the worrying about being in a completely new environment, about all the pre-departure paperwork and errands that still need to be completed, about if my Spanish will even be good enough, or about the fact that we still have not yet gotten our living arrangements and class schedules is eclipsed by my sheer excitement for this amazing experience. Maybe it will finally set in when I make the great debate about how to fit five months of clothing into two medium-sized suitcases?
Here’s to the start of a beautiful new adventure.
xo Molson
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Eliot