Although my flight for Madrid is still a few days away, I have already experienced difficulties sleeping for most of this past week. It seems fitting that at the start of my final year in college I am experiencing the same feelings of nervousness and excitement as I did when I started as a freshman. From anxieties about recruiting while abroad (not exactly ideal timing, but it can't be helped) to maintaining my fitness level (the "iron bug" has hit me pretty hard in college and I have a fairly difficult timing putting on muscle and an easy time losing it) and worries about getting my Spanish to an intermediate level 2 class (I haven't really spoken in Spanish since the AP exam) to general travel anxieties (costs, logistics, gypsy pickpockets, getting caught in a major protest, being kidnapped a la Taken... the usual stuff), getting a decent night's sleep hasn't been easy.
That's not to say I'm dreading this trip, far from it (I'm just a really anxious person that tends to over analyze details.) I got a little sample of Europe earlier this year when I visited Italy and Spain and eager to experience more. I am very much looking forward to seeing more European architecture, trying new foods, meeting new people and living in a different environment. Being a huge believer in the virtues of a global perspective, the idea of living abroad is something I hold with great importance.
As the realization of this dream is only a few days away, naturally my mind is in a very weird place (hence the rambling structure of this post.) It should eventually dissipate once I'm there and settling in. But until that happy day that I leave, sleeplessness and insomnia will be my constant companions.
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