We are all human, we all need each other.

I cannot accurately describe how horrible it feels to wait and prepare this trip...and then not being able to because there is two weeks left, or one week left, or five days left...February has been agonizing. I wanted to quit worrying and taking care of business and just BE there. People keep saying, "You'll be there eventually," but what they say doesn't matter right now, because right now, I'm NOT there. I have already been asked why I'm going halfway through the semester, because everyone else I know is in school right now (I miss doing homework so much...it's that bad). Someone asked me if I was leaving Saturday or Sunday, and I groaned and said, "Monday!" It's always one day later! I hate that, I want to just GO!!!

If I haven't emphasized enough how much work you have to do to study abroad, well, consider me having emphasized it now. I really really hope that the rumors are true: that Greeks are friendly. Because at this stage in the game, I know they're bossy...I have yet to learn if they're friendly. One requirement after another, I swear, if one more person gives me an order I will have a meltdown in their face. "Get a visa! Get a residence permit! Do a bunch of work to go into both!" My personal favorite: "When you get here, we're going to prove ourselves to be terrible hosts and make you buy your own bedsheets and towels (and pillow)!"

So I'm frustrated, to say the bare minimum, and I hope that the Greeks are more tolerable in person. They should put themselves in the shoes of the international traveler and HELP US MORE. They don't provide bedsheets, I think that is unacceptable.

I've learned a couple of other things, regarding study abroad.

1. I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF. My coworkers have helped, gratefully, to get my things out of my apartment, and I'm now certain that when I get back, I'm going to throw away half of it. To Greece, I am bringing my suitcase and my dad's old backpack. And a neck pillow. And that's it! I have to leave more than half of my clothing behind, which includes guilty pleasure clothing like "certain" pants that I only wear in "certain" situations, or fuzzy socks that I own in three different colors. I have to leave books behind, art supplies behind, (blankets and towels behind...); but I take a look at the small amount that I will take...I feel spoiled to own all this. I feel as though I lie to myself when I say I need all this. Obviously I need furniture to accommodate SOME things, but...there are so many things I own that I thought I was attached to...and I'm really not attached to them.

That said, I think I did a pretty good job of stuffing all my crap in my luggage. After all the stuff I didn't need was out of the way it became a heck of a lot easier.

2. IF YOU SAY YOU WILL HELP SOMEONE, BE TRUE TO YOUR WORD AND HELP THEM. Don't tell them you will help them and then be flaky about it. People aren't reliable. They're only out for themselves and they will accuse anyone they possibly can if something goes wrong. People offer help and then bail all the time. I almost want to take a ritual vow of commitment to going through with my word to help people because these past few weeks have been so frustrating.

(Reading this paragraph is optional) Last week I unexpectedly needed a feminine hygiene product while I was at the library and hadn't brought any. I went into two bathrooms that have dispensers, and both dispensers were broken (one of them ate my quarter, too, and I love quarters almost more than I love dollars). At my wit's end and in complete physical discomfort, I had to resort to standing in the public bathroom begging. When at last, a girl donated this product to me, I let the fact sink in that EVERYONE is going to need help sometimes. I am going to get to Greece as a self-sufficient traveler with my own goals, but there will be times when I'm going to directly ask people for their altruism. It has happened to you, too, and will happen again. So please, everyone, help others, and don't be selfish all the time. Man, I'm going to need people to help me so much in these next four months.

The musings of a traveling college student. By definition, I need help. 

I was going to write from Phoenix, but I might not get the chance, since my computer will probably be packed. I leave Monday morning. My ex has offered to get me to the Phoenix airport, and I spend the weekend in his home.  Hopefully the next time we meet here I will be on the other side of the Prime Meridian. FINALLY!!!