Stressful day, sleepless night

Despite years of tentative planning and about a year of serious planning, I don't think the reality of studying abroad hit me untill today. The experience seemed intangible, untill it came time to fill out my luggage tags. The first line was easy- Kathleen Doyle. Then, I realized that I would have to put the address and phone number of my host family and not the familiar and comforting home address that I've had memorized since I could speak. I am the only constant in the equation. Every thing else- my contact information, culture and language is about to switch from everything I have ever known...and I couldn't be more excited.

I woke up this morning (afternoon, really but who's counting) to a text from Alex saying that I should check my flight from Dulles to confirm if it was still departing on schedule. I flicked into panic mode. My original flight plan was to fly from Richmond to Dulles then connect to Dulles to Buenos Aires directly with three other students from my program. However, apparently rolling blackouts from the uncharacteristically intense virginia winter made flights from Dulles backed up and they ended up cancelling alot of flights. Like mine. It's a good thing my dad handles crisis situations alot better than I do, because he managed to react quickly and book me in one of the last remaining seats on a flight tomorrow. The new route is a bit more complicated. I'm leaving from Richmond airport at 5:15 tomorrow. I'll fly into Atlanta, GA then Santiago, Chile and lastly Buenos Aires Argentina. For those who aren't familiar, B.A. is about the size of New York City, but where I'll be spending the majority of my time in Argentina is about an hour South of that in La Plata which isn't quite as big of a city but should still be MUCH more interesting than colonial williamsburg.

I actually feel alot more prepared right now than I would, which is why I'm spending my last insomniac Charlottesville night blogging, watching Millionaire Matchmaker and dying my hair (my roomate did it last time and she is...not a detail oriented person...love you megan). There were DEFINITELY moments that I thought the trip was all going to fall apart. I certainly couldn't have done it without the help of my best friend and facebook spouse Doug, who helped me when I was, to quote an almodovar flick "mujer al borde de un ataque nervios" (woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown). He helped me rush around to collect my reccommendation letters, scan copies of my passport, and get an official copy of my transcript literally hours before the application was due. Anyone who knows me, has seen my schoolwork or been in my car knows that organization is not a strong point (or any point) of mine so my Mom's (sometimes neurotic, but always beneficial)organization made it all possible. In one of the more memorable moments in the later stages of trip planning we found out that some of my travelling might lead me to a place that would require the Yellow Fever and Typhoid vaccines. My mother found out that the health center giving out vaccines only had one Yellow Fever shot left, and the clinic started at 830 on a Thursday morning, but the doors opened at 8am. True to form, Mama D managed to get me out of bed and we were in the parking lot at 7:45am. "Kathleen, why don't you go stand at the door so the second they open it you can be first on the list" I rolled my eyes at the time, but her tactics worked and I left an hour later with several more live viruses in my body. By the way, if you ever have to get a yellow fever vaccine for any reason, get it way more than a week in advanced. There are some rather quirky side effects that affect alot of people and range from flu like symptoms to rashes and can last up to 10 days. My arm was rather sore and just developed a really itchy painful lump about the size of a Pringles top.

My dad was also a godsend in helping us figure out alot of the technological stuff for the trip. Not only did he help me rewire my school email address to gmail, but he helped install skype (kpdoyle89, add me if you want!), figured out how to use zap tell phone cards, AND figured out how to trick hulu into thinking I'm still in America so that I can watch the last season of LOST :-). Both of my big brothers and their wives and girlfriends respectively came home this weekend which was really special to me. My in-laws the Tuckers, my grandfather and cousin Peter all helped me out with finances and words of wisdom. I want everyone who's helped me along the way to know how much I appreciate your support and that I intend to make the absolute most of this experience.

Love to All,
I'll get the word out when I land safely.