Saying Goodbyes

Goodbyes are always a tricky thing. They may be the last time you see someone for a while, a long while, or ever. Richard Bach (whoever that is) once said, "Don't be dismayed at goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.  And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends." I usually don't try to place too much emphasis on goodbyes. The time you have spent with a person, the memories you share, the conversations you've had, that's what truly matters and that is most often what you'll truly remember while you're away from and missing that person. That last hug or shared conversation is meaningful in the moment, but then it is gone and what holds you tied to that person is your love and care for one another.


I've never really had to say goodbye to people like I have had to this past week and will have to in the week or so before I leave. It's almost like a mourning process. I will not be living in the dorms next semester with all of my friends. 114 Gilchrist Hall will no longer be mine. That will not be my place because I will have left it. And while I will be returning next year, things will never be the exact same as they were when I left. Something that seems so trivial, a last shower in the dorms, is really so important because it represents how at home and happy and blessed I have felt during my time thus far at MSU. And this home is what I will most be missing during my time abroad; the feeling that everywhere I turn there are people to take care of me and love me and laugh with me and eat with me and share with me and care about me and talk to and listen to. It is this experience of shared living that I love so much about my GFG family. While I will not be returning to the dorms as a resident, there are new and exciting things to look forward to about next year. A HOUSE! Living off campus is something I have been looking forward to ever since we started house-hunting in September. Caitlin, Colleen, Andrew, & I are going to have a blast figuring out how to live in and take care of a house together and I am so excited to do that. I'm excited to have my own room and dishes and just so much more personal space than in the dorms. I'm so excited to be able to return to State of Fifths. This semester they will be competing at ICCA without me, which is sad, but I am overjoyed to be able to hear of their successes and cheer them on from afar as they face their competition. They are another family for me that makes me feel loved and cherished and important, and I am excited to return to sing with them and audition new family members.


Leaving MSU for a semester is a very hard thing for me to do because of how in love I am with it, but I am confident that this semester will be more than worth it.


-EM


P.S. Check out this virtual tour of the USFQ campus: Virtual Tour

Classes

I am now registered in classes and have them approved by advisors here at MSU!

I'm enrolled in 6 classes, but will be taking only 4 or 5 (12-15 credits). I'll drop 1 or 2 after seeing how they are. These classes are...

HIS 211--Historia Del Ecuador Republicano (Transferring back as SPN 452)

HIS 234--Historia Contemporanea (Transferring back as IAH 221C)

EPE 307--Español Avanzado (Transferring back as SPN 320)

EPE 302--Introducción a la Cultura Ecuatoriana (Transferring back as SPN 412)

SIC 203--Siciologia Del Desarrollo (Transferring back as PSY 244 for my Gen Ed replacement)

POL 310--Política Ecuatoriana y Su Pensamiento (Transferring back as PLS GCU for my Gen Ed replacement or SPN 412 or SPN 452)

It's all seeming very real! AH!

Visa-Obtaining Excitement

On Tuesday, November 30 the delightful Kaylee Storey and I headed out to the great state of Illinois in the hopes of obtaining my visa from the Ecuadorian Consulate. Spoiler Alert: We got it. :)

We headed out of East Lansing early in the morning, after obtaining our coffee from Bigby and chatting up one of the customers, forgetting only the chapstick. With our road trip CD blaring and the dreary Michigan paisaje (landscape) passing us by, we made it to Chicago. We never even freaked out. Except when I was driving over the bridge. Because I hate bridges. Especially driving over them. We found the consulate no problem and while it was frankly a bitch to figure out parking, we did it. I dropped off my paperwork while Kaylee drove around the block, then we parked the car, found our way back to Michigan St, passed by the Bean (which I had never been to before and was just as touristy and nifty as I thought it would be), got some sammies at Cosi, went back to the Consulate to get my passport and visa papers, went back to the car, and then drove home. WE NEVER GOT LOST ONCE! Yay for us! Also, Ecuador thinks I'm good enough to be in their country for over 90 days so that's definitely a positive. :)













All in all, collecting the right documents and forms and photos and such for obtaining my visa was quite cumbersome, but the OSA staff and USFQ staff were quite terrific and I didn't really have any troubles with it.

Here in East Lansing it snowed for the first real time on December 1st! It was exciting, but it really made me realize how near I am to the end of my time in the dorms. Living in Gilchrist has been a ridiculously important aspect of my life and my growth into the person I am today, and in 2 and a half short weeks I will be moving out forever. This is sad. I will really miss living in the same building as all of my friends, not ever having to worry about cooking food or receiving packages or the heating bill. Ground/First Floor Gilchrist is a very unique place and it will always take up space in my heart.

It feels like I'm running out of time here. While I feel very comfortable with the idea of leaving in about a month, I am not so comfortable with being done here at MSU in about 2 weeks. I'm sure the idea will grow on me and I'll become more accustomed to it, but right now I feel rushed and stressed out about it. I need to work on projects and study for finals and do homework for classes and all I really want to do is soak up my last few days living in 114 Gilchrist Hall. I love all of the people here and so many things about MSU and I will miss them greatly, but I'm also really excited to find out what I'm going to love about USFQ and the people in Ecuador.

:)

-Em

A Mental Setback

Today I had to take a Spanish Placement Exam for USFQ. You get a certain score on the exam and that number corresponds to a difficulty level of Spanish. Many classes have a certain score you have to get on the exam to be able to take the class, because the language barrier will cause problems with your ability to learn in the class. Before today I had a big list of classes that I was considering taking while at the university. I thought that most of my classes would transfer back as Spanish credit which would be used for my Spanish minor. I am only currently at a "intermediate" level of Spanish, not the "advanced" level that is required for many of the classes I wanted to take. This was a big mental setback for me. I felt inadequate and stupid and got really concerned about my ability to learn while in Ecuador. I was in a funk all day. So I looked for other classes. I toggled back and forth between documents and webpages for about three hours until I had a list of at least 6 classes that I think would fit well into my academic program. I now plan on utilizing my study abroad experience to take both Spanish classes, as well as an ISS-replacement class I still need, in addition to an IAH-replacement class I still need. While I know that everything doesn't always work out the way I want it to, I know that absolutely everything happens for a reason. I don't think I know the reason, but I believe this to be true. While I still feel slightly inadequate and worried about my language ability and my classes in Ecuador, I am less worried than I was early today and I think I will gain confidence as I take charge of the idea that I am going no matter what and I will just have to try harder and feel more challenged if it is extremely difficult at first. Quizás (Maybe) I'll have to only take 12 credits instead of 15, quizás I'll have to study twice as much as I do at MSU, but whatever the case ends up being, I will learn so much.

Estoy emocionado aprender mucho.

-EM

The Spanish-English Dictionary

This is my Spanish-English Dictionary...

It is one of the many items I have had to procure in my preparations for travel to Ecuador. This semester I am taking two Spanish classes at MSU, one which is quite beyond my level of knowledge, but has really helped me practice Spanish. I know that taking classes completely taught in Spanish, with students who are almost all native speakers of the language will be incredibly difficult, but I feel that upon returning to Los Estados Unidos (The United States) I will be leaps and bounds better with the language.


There are so many things I have had to do to prepare for this journey, including, but not limited to...
-Finding an appropriate study abroad program (The MSU Office of Study Abroad website is an incredibly useful tool for this)
-Applying for a passport
-Applying to the program
-Having a meeting with an advisor and my professor to convince them that although I will be missing an important class (The Spring semester second-year sequence class for my major in the James Madison college), going to Ecuador in the Spring of 2011 is a good idea [this was an incredibly terrifying part of the process because I thought I might not be able to go]
-Finally being accepted to the program and rejoicing!
-Getting a physical so a doctor could write a note saying I was in good health and did not have any communicable diseases...and getting a copy notarized
-Applying to the actual university in Ecuador
-Sending in a housing questionnaire
-Getting vaccines for Typhoid and Yellow Fever and getting prescriptions for Malaria and Traveler's Diarrhea
-Buying a plane ticket
-Trying to figure out what classes I can take at USFQ that will properly transfer back to MSU, which involves translating course descriptions from USFQ into English...
AND FINALLY...
-Taking a Spanish placement exam to determine which classes would be too difficult for me due to the language barriers I face (which I still have to do) AND...
-I have yet to apply for a Cultural Exchange Visa...this involves collecting and printing out many documents and taking them to the Consulate in Chicago, IL with my passport to receive my Visa. I am not looking forward to this seeing as it will involve waking up insanely early and driving to Chicago and then waiting around for a day (and maybe more) to receive my Visa.


While all of this is a little bit obnoxious, it has really taught me a lot about what is involved in international travel. I have only ever been to Mexico and Canada, and that was before you even needed a passport to get into these countries, so all of this has been a bit overwhelming. I think this also shows that study abroad, before you even leave your home country, is a learning experience and helps you grow up. It is nice to have the Office of Study Abroad to help the first time you're going through all of these new and bureaucratic experiences, but I still feel more like an adult now that I understand all that goes into international travel.


I have almost no idea what to expect for the four and a half months I will be in Ecuador (January 4-May 16, 2011), but I know I will be as prepared and as ready as possible when my plane leaves Chicago on January 4th. And I have people to rely on both at USFQ and back home in the States. I am so joyful that God has blessed me with a passionate personality and a drive to be different and accomplish what I want to accomplish.


As an unknown author once said, "Failure is taking the path that everyone else does, success is making your own path."


I plan on making my own path.


-EM