4 Day 2 Take Off

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As you know, I have signed up to go to Bilbao, Spain for a study abroad program. I will be living there in an apartment with a fellow student from June 26th through July 21st. I first fly into Madrid for a week long tour of the city before my class begins. I will be taking International Marketing at the University of Basque Country. The map of where Bilbao is located in Spain is attached at the bottom!
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So far I have been feeling pretty ill prepared. I have been feeling like I was walked through all the steps for signing up for this program (USAC - Spain Summer Session II) and now I've all the sudden been left to figure it out myself now that I've paid and filled out all of the forms. I figured that we (the students from the USAC program) would all be staying in a common area. However, we are all spread out around the city. Not that this is any different from home, but I only have one roommate and everyone else is in the rest of the locations. That freaked me out a little bit. Not because I have a fear of walking but because it caught me off guard. I expect to be thrown by my deficiency in Spanish and because I'm the "lone wolf" Cal Poly student among people who are traveling with friends or acquaintances.  I have no doubt that over time I'll learn enough Spanish to go about my day and I'm positive that I'll make friends. Its the unknown, the parts that I'm not expecting that stress me out.
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To prepare myself, I've packed a fairly large suitcase, following the suggestions I found online about packing light (I'm trying), stuffing an extra bag at the bottom of your suitcase (in this case my "backpack"), and leaving room to bring stuff back home. However, I am breaking some rules too. I'm bringing toiletries, some food (just in case my allergies suck), and other stuff like that. The way I figure it, I'll use that stuff there, throw it out and have more room for souvenirs.

I'm really very excited! I have to make my video before I fly out so that I can get my grant money, but other than that, I think that I'm all set! Today, I'm off to say goodbye to Otter. From there, I'll meet up with my family in Modesto to spend some more time with them. Be back home by Monday so that I can hang out with Laura before I head to Spain on Tuesday and she follows soon after to go to Italy! I'm flying out of SF with another girl from the program, Theresa.

Lets do this.