A phrase keeps running through my mind, which is inspired by a popular you tube video...
"Is this real life?!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs (please watch if you haven't yet been enlightened)
The last couple years the idea of studying in Spain has been in the background. After much deliberation (even a power point presentation) I am finally in the position I am in now... actually going. I can hardly believe this opportunity is here. I feel so incredibly blessed and fortunate. Two dreams for my life have been to learn Spanish and to travel to Europe. After my travels to Guatemala and Mexico, I knew spanish was a gateway into some of the cultures and people who I enjoy and love to be around. The next 5 months encompass both of these goals. I repeat... IS THIS REAL LIFE?!
I invite all of you into this journey. I want to share with you all the adventures as well as the blunders on my travels abroad; maybe even a few things I learn along the way. Please leave your comments or any nuggets of advice you have for me as I venture into this time.
First stop... Ireland. At approximately 5:30am (!) I will arrive in the land of luck, whiskey and the blarney stone. Last spring two roommates (Lindsey and Olivia) and I tossed around the idea of wwoofing. (http://www.wwoof.ie/) If you have never heard of this organization I wouldn't be surprised, as it is rather new to me too. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming. WWOOFing is a large organization that sets workers and farmers up to exchange labor for room and board. The main purpose is to share sustainable ways of living through education in the process of farming.
*NOTE: Some questions may be running through your head (the same ones that are still running through my parents heads), such as "Since when have you been interested in farming?" and "Do you know what you are getting yourself into?". Well, family and friends, I may not have the best answers to the questions... All I know is that I am excited to work hard, experience the small farm life of Ireland, and have fun doing it with my friends.
http://www.slanecastle.ie/
EEEEEKKKKK. Dont get too excited, we will not be staying in the castle, but we will be working around and sleeping on the same grounds in a small cottage.If I was to work on a farm, I can think of no better place to do it or better people to do it with.
This is where I will be spending my first two weeks on this Europe adventure. Come September 1st, I will trek over to Spain, the place of tapas, Don Quijote and flamenco dancing. There I will actually live as a Spaniard, experience the metropolitan city of Madrid while attending school. So hop on, join in, sit back and enjoy this farming adventure with me.
Every once in a while, perhaps once a week or so, take a moment and pause. Take in the surroundings and just admire the place you are in, where ever it is.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't need to be fancy. In fact, I think the best ones are sort one might consider mundane...the corner of a street, a cafe, riding in a bus. Take a mental note (and a mental photo to go along with that note) that you were there! All the work it took to get to that very spot half a world a way, all things you have learned while you were there.
Then smile! Seriously, really smile at that very moment and then enjoy the moment for sake of the moment.
Thanks Andrew. This is great advice. I often stop and think to myself... I am in Ireland. You are great, hope you are doing well!
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