Ready or not, Argentina here I come!

It’s hard to imagine that in less than a week I will be in Argentina. I feel like the semester just ended and summer has just begun, but I also know that a week from today I will be starting school again. How is that possible? I still have boxes to unpack from last semester.

I’ve spent the past few weeks trying to simultaneously prepare mentally for my departure and enjoy the remaining time at home with my friends and family. I’ve found that it’s a little difficult to relax when you’re feeling intense anxiety about leaving. Luckily, my mom, sister and I planned a spur-of-the-moment girl’s road trip down to L.A to take my mind of things. We drove down to Anaheim on Tuesday, stopping by the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach Boardwalk on the way. I had been feeling guilty that I have lived in California for about 15 years now and I had never been to Santa Monica or Venice. It turned out there really wasn’t much to see, especially because the weather wasn’t nice enough to go swimming. Once we arrived in Anaheim, we spent two nights at a Disney hotel overlooking California Adventure and we spent all day Wednesday running around the Disneyland theme parks. Despite the screaming children and scary Disney characters, it was an amazing time. We headed home on Thursday and although I was exhausted from the trip, I was glad to be home so I could focus on doing last minute Argentina prep.

Before I could focus on Argentina, however, I had to focus on the going away barbeque that my family was hosting for me. Even though it isn’t unusual for me to be going thousands of miles away for months at a time (which is what I do every semester for school), this trip seemed to warrant a celebration, or at least made a good excuse to have one. Ever since I can remember my family has been hosting these types of gatherings with my closest friends and their families and they are always so much fun. We all met back in kindergarten and our families have sort of melted into one big family unit. When we all get together it is like nothing has changed despite the fact that my friends and I attend college all over the country and we have grown up quite a lot in the last 15 years. This was the perfect send-off for my upcoming trip. There is nothing better than knowing that no matter how far away I go or for how long, I can always come home to this community of families who love and support me.

3 days until I leave! Time to start thinking about packing…

The Santa Monica Pier

My sister and me in Santa Monica

looking into California Adventure from our hotel room

A going away gift from my friends (a drawing of Argentina and the U.S that says, "wherever you may be, it is your friends who make your world")

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2012 at 6:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Ready or not, Argentina here I come!”

1. [This is a forum open to anyone who is interested in talking with other people about reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, nutrition and a healthylifestyle] says:

   August 8, 2012 at 11:05 pm

   [This is a forum open to anyone who is interested in talking with other people about reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, nutrition and a healthylifestyle]…

   […]Ready or not, Argentina here I come! « Katie Riley '14[…]…