On January 6th I will be leaving for a quarter abroad in Quito, Ecuador. I’m sure that if you have gone abroad you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that I am excited beyond belief, mixed with terror. Looking towards the “one month away” mark, these are the four things that I find scariest about going abroad:
1. *calls mom* *cries* Moms, gotta love them. You may have thought that leaving for school was hard, but nothing compares to leaving for a new country. Going to college was just the test run before the real task of studying abroad. Different time zones, different hemispheres, different everything. These factors can make it extremely hard to get the mommy love you need. No more Sunday night phone calls, texts between classes, or visits on the weekends. Not having your best friend in a situation that you may need her most is upsetting. It’s a rough life.
2. No cellphones! AHH! Even if you’re not that dependent on your phone, life nowadays seems to absolutely require a cellphone. Being in a new place with new people is scary enough, but not being able to send mass emoji-ridden texts about your trip is even worse! Granted there is scarce wifi, so communication will probably be somewhat possible, but tromping through a foreign city on the hunt for wifi sounds like an exhausting effort.
3. Hablas ingles? Even though I’ve been studying Spanish for 4+ years, I am terrified to be thrown into it. Of course everyone who has gone abroad has been told that they’ll “pick it right up” but in reality there’s a real chance of being left red-faced and embarrassed. I have pretty much concluded that the first two weeks of my trip are going to be a mess of Spanglish, and answering “no comprendo” to every statement. No matter what background you come from, becoming completely immersed in a language while abroad is a daunting thing.
4. Packing. This is no joke. Packing for three months time trumps all of these concerns combined. Even packing for a week away from home is an ordeal. Now, you have to move an entire 3-month wardrobe to a new home thousands of miles away! Not to mention there are the different culture norms and the issue of looking like a tourist. Chacos, or Vans? Pants, or skirts? I guess you won’t know until you get there. I thought packing for college was stressful, but it was nothing in comparison to this.
Aside from the apprehension, I am so excited for my trip. We all have to put ourselves “out there” at some point in our lives and I think that going abroad is a great way to do it. Everyone talks about how going abroad is one of the coolest experiences of their lives and I am sure this will be true. The countdown to the departure date is dwindling, and these next few weeks are going to be filled with a lot of stress and goodbyes, but I could not be more ready to jump on the plane.
