Take a Walk Around

I still feel like no one but myself will ever read these posts, but I don’t care. Writing is fun and I know that I will enjoy reading these posts when summer is over. I don’t want to forget a single detail.
The flight from Orlando to Atlanta was pretty uneventful: I sat next to an attractive young couple who were speaking a foreign language the whole time and I couldn’t quite place it so finally I asked them where they were from. Their response: “Ve are from Germany.” Oh, cool.
The layover in Atlanta was chill, nothing to report there. Finally I got on the plane for Madrid where I sat next to a 7-ish year old girl and her mother, who was a graduate student traveling to Spain for graduate classes of some sort. Unfortunately I am incapable of sleeping on planes, so I was awake for what felt like days. The only thing that kept me alive was the constant stream of caffeinated soda and coffee provided by Delta. 
The good news is that I had a chance to watch Horrible Bosses again, as well as Black Swan which I had been meaning to watch for the longest time. I also read 2 chapters out of my management textbook, so I’m no longer behind in class.
Finally I made it to Spain and waited at baggage claim, blah, blah. Once I got outside there was a guy in a suit holding a card with my name on it and I felt VIP for once - I mean, he was wearing a SUIT! He was also very attractive and I found out quickly that he didn’t speak much Spanish. Fine by me, I need the practice! The drive from the airport to the apartment took about 20 minutes, and we were conversing the whole time in Spanish! I see the light!! Ten weeks from now hopefully I will be fluent. We talked about the city, sights to see, jobs, driving, weather, and so on. 
When we arrived at Calle de Génova 7 there was a random guy wearing sunglasses just chillin’ outside my building and my first impression was that he looked sketch (despite the fact that he was also very good-looking). But then I found out that he was the representative from Madrid Easy who was there to introduce me to the building and my room. I said goodbye to Miguel (the driver) and went up to my room to unpack and see who else was there. I went out with two other UF students to explore the surrounding area and we bought these yummy croissants with bacon and cheese. We were only out for about an hour because we were all super tired. So I totally crashed for 3 hours when I finally got to my bed. When I woke up I came out and went to the common area. There was another girl from UF that I hadn’t met yet so I introduced myself to her and she said  ”Oh you’re Carly? The driver wanted me to give you something.” So she went to her room and gave me Miguel’s business card with his contact info (email and phone) written on the back. He seemed nice, I would totally be down for him giving me a tour of the city. I think I’ll email him tomorrow. He’s cute. He knows the city. Why not??
Anyway, so tonight we invited a bunch of UF people from other apartments and homestays to come out to dinner and a bar with us. Can’t wait to order my first beer EVER!! Not to mention Spanish beer. Lezzdoit!

I woke up this morning feeling philosophical and optimistic. I wish I could take the day off from work and write about my feelings all day because I could literally go on forever with all the thoughts bouncing around in my mind. But I have to leave in 10 minutes so I’ll make it brief. I started thinking about how my life has been the past 20 years. A lot of it has been spent wishing I was older - like when I was 15 all I wanted to do was turn 16 so I could drive. A lot of it has also been spent thinking about all the unknowns in my life - where I will live, what job I will have, what kind of lifestyle I will have, will I ever meet the right person, will I have kids, will I travel, and so on. This morning I was pondering all these things when it occurred to me: Why? Why stress over these things? Sure, it sucks when you fail a test or don’t get a job (I’ve been job-rejected tons of times!). It sucks even more when you get dumped or lose a friend. However, I have come to the realization that my biggest problem is impatience: I want to KNOW my future now so that when these life disappointments arise I can say to myself “oh well, at least I know in 5 years I’ll be _____.” But life isn’t like that. We don’t know where we will be, who we will be with. But I know that life has a way of working itself out. Time really does heal all wounds. I have faith in the fact that one day I will be with the person I am meant to be with. Maybe I won’t have every single tiny thing I want, but I think the bigger picture will reveal itself to be pretty close to what I imagine. It just takes time. Instead of being impatient waiting for it, just enjoy the ride along the way. 

Summer, that is. In all honesty, it began a looong time ago. Since too much has happened since August to even begin to describe, I will have to lock those things into memory and instead focus my energies on the next few weeks. I’ve never had a blog before, and I only have one follower at this point (thanks Cory!) However, I want to take this blog and turn it into a personal journal of my thoughts and quests during summer 2012. I don’t want to lose track of time and then wonder why I didn’t keep up to remind myself of the details of my summer. My initial impression of this summer is hard to pinpoint: I feel a mix of emotions. I’m sad that the most amazing academic year of my life came to an end and many of my friends have left. I feel successful in the sense that I start working for pay starting on Monday, so career-wise, I feel good about myself. I’m anxious for various reasons about my upcoming trip to Madrid, but at the same time I’m welcoming the anxiety because each day that I grow more apprehensive is another day closer to a journey that will do me more good than getting paid ever will. My biggest fear about Madrid isn’t the fear of getting lost or taken (like in the movie). It’s not the fear of being unable to understand the people there— in fact, that’s a given: I WON’T be able to understand for a while, unless I tell them to “habla lento, por favor.” In a way, the language barrier represents a challenge that I have always wanted to face. What I am afraid of is almost too hard to explain. So I’ll save that one for a rainy day. :)