Home and new fun!

An enormous thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for my early birthday/going-away present!

...a Nikon D3000!

Right now I'm the process of learning how to use it, which is just really overwhelming. I'm about 9 pages into the manual and I'm not doing so hot. I'd really like to use more than just the auto function.

Looks like I've a got a huge project for the next few weeks. You know, besides packing.



"If I knew how to take a good photograph, I'd do it every time." - Robert Doisneau

Saying Goodbye to Ol' Columbus Town

Today, Friday, I am leaving Columbus for the last time before I head for Paris. This means that I won't be returning to the good ol' 614 until at least next June.

This week was full of a lot of sad goodbyes. I know that I should be excited for the adventure ahead of me, but right now it still doesn't feel real. What does feel real is that fact that I won't see so many of my great friends for such a long time. This summer has certainly been one to remember. I got a great new job and made a lot of great memories - most of which I did not have to have relayed to me the next morning.

So far, leaving Columbus is reminding me of a few things. The first is that I'm going to miss out on a lot this year. Everyone and their brother is turning 21, and I won't be here to celebrate any of it. I'll also miss what is sure to be an incredible football season. Probably more upsetting is that I'm going to miss so many people graduating this year. Wish I could be here to enjoy that time as well. Second, is that Columbus has been so good to me. I love this school more than anything, and I'm so glad the path of life has brought me here. But for Ohio State, I would not have all of these many and incredible opportunities. Finally, I'm reminded of all the great people I have in my life. Without the people, this place wouldn't feel like home. I'll always remember long, lazy days at the pool and that night that we almost died coming back from downtown, but still blasted Defying Gravity the whole way.

So, here come a couple of teary thank yous:

• Thank you to all my new co-workers and my new friends. You've made this summer one to remember, from all the hours we spent at the Union, way too much Chipotle, and so many great stories.

• Thanks to all the girls (and Kyle) of apartment 50D for letting me crash for a few days. I wish I could have just moved in with you; you guys are fantastic. 

• Endless thanks for Kat and Bethany who let me crash in the Nosk for two and half weeks! I know you didn't plan on living in a triple, but I really appreciate everything! Without you I wouldn't have been able to work until the last minute, see all of my friends, and mostly just enjoy your company! Basically, I would have missed out on a lot. You guys are the best and I owe you big time. 

So right now, I'm sitting in the terminal waiting to board. A quick 50 minute flight and I'll be back in Virginia. If I'm lucky, the plane will take off to the West and we'll do a huge turnaround over the city and have to fly over campus. It would be a great final send-off.

À bientôt, Columbus

I want to go back to Ohio State

To old Columbus town,

I wanna go back,

I gotta go back,

To O-hi-o.

Dreams about Paris

Good news! My Visa came through! This means that I need to head back to D.C. (once I'm home) to get my passport stamped.

That being said, I did have a dream last night about going back to the consulate - well, nightmare is more like it. I dreamt that my mom and I went back into D.C. and were going back to the embassy compound, but I hadn't made an appointment - so I wasn't going to be let in. Also, we were going in at around 6pm in the evening, which it long past the visa office's closing. Overall it was a really stressful dream, and I woke up sweating.

This is not my first dream about going to Paris though. In the first one I had, I was at home in Virginia and there was an hour and half before my flight was to leave and I had not finished packing. In the second dream I had, my flight landed in an African country for my layover. I don't remember the country, but all the restaurants were Arabic, which means I couldn't read a damn thing. I called a friend back home, who had been to this airport and asked her what I should eat. Then another friend of mine drove up in an enormous iced truck, that wasn't actually cold inside but was more like an RV.

If you couldn't tell, I'm kind of worried about the process of actually getting to Paris.

Visa day (yikes)

My mom and I headed into D.C. this past Wednesday to apply for my French visa. Normally Americans don't need visas to enter the country, but I was required to apply for one since I'll be there for longer than 90 days. The day would have gone off quite well if I hadn't forgotten some important things.

1. No one can come into the embassy but the person who has the visa appointment. So my mom had to wait outside the complex, and I was a nervous wreck going in.
2. I forgot to copy my driver's license, so I had to go back to the front gate to get it, make a copy and go back to the window (after the lady got upset with me).
3. People who work in any bureaucratic system and have no power to change it are not the most pleasant people.

So after I almost peed myself in the waiting room, afraid that they were going to send me home and that I'd have to come back another day (which would have meant flying back to Virginia another day) I left with the process complete.

This is my I-just-had-to-deal-with-a-foreign-embassy face:

We then took a walk around Georgetown, and found this really cute place to eat. It helped ease my need to drink heavily. 

Once I had calmed down it was actually a good day. Got to enjoy some time in the city and at home. Most importantly my paperwork is in, and I'm just waiting to hear back from the embassy. Then I'll have to head back into D.C. to get my passport stamped, but hopefully I won't be able to screw that up too badly.

Ciao!
Gabs

See! It was eventually a happy day!

"Paris is always a good idea"

Planning for this study abroad actually began in January of 2011, so it is hard to believe that now I am about two months away from takeoff. Paris has been my dream for a long time, and I'm lucky enough to have people in my life that are so supportive of me in all of my endeavors. When I was trying to decide what I wanted out of study abroad experience, I called my mom. I was debating between several programs, and trying to determine if I wanted to go for a semester or for a year. She asked if the year program would be possible, and it was. "Do the year", she said, and I haven't looked back since.


My mom actually grew up in Ecuador, and studied abroad in the United States for year when she was 15. So she knows what it's like to travel and love the culture that you come into. I am so ready to have that same experience. Maybe one day, like her, I will find my home in the country I have adopted, rather than the one that I was born into. 


I will be spending my 9 months in Paris studying at L'Institute Catholique, a beautiful and historic school at the heart of Paris' 6th Arrondisement. It is located mere blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens, the Quartier Latin, and St. Germain de Près. I'll get to spend my days studying (and not studying) in the most beautiful places in the world. 


L'Institute Catholique de Paris

In the next few days I have an appointment with the French consulate to apply for my student visa and then this adventure can really begin. À nous deux, Paris!


"America is my country, and Paris is my hometown" - Gertrude Stein