T-minus 10 days!

So, we're a little over a week out and let's be honest, I am out of my mind excited. There are so many things I am looking forward to doing. Traveling, learning, getting to know everyone, traveling, RIDING A CAMEL. I'm only a little excited about that last one. Before I get there, though, there are a million and a half things I need to do to get ready. I'm desperately wishing I could fast forward through the next week and a half to avoid the one thing about traveling I absolutely dread: packing. I also wish I could say I've been productive the past couple of days and started getting things together, but the painful truth is that I've done none of it. So, my next few days will be complete torture, scrambling around last minute for things I need... and things I don't really need. But hey, this is four months we're talking about.  

Since the last time I posted, I learned a TON of things about where I'm staying, the classes I'm taking, and trips we have planned. 

The campus is almost finished, or at least it was three weeks ago. You can see updated pictures here: 
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151544724591518.555089.7182276517&type=1
If you don't want to click on the link for whatever reason, the campus has two buildings, a residence hall and am academic building, pretty close together in a walled-in area, which we share with the American School of Tangier.

Last month, we found out that there are enough rooms in the dorm for each of us to have our own room and bathroom. Which is perfect for someone who has never had to share a bedroom with anyone, like me. The dorm also has our mini dining hall, which is obviously the most important place on the entire campus. I'll have three meals a day, to help my mom fall asleep at night, because that will definitely be the only thing she worries about. Beside the residence hall, the academic building has all of our classrooms and a few labs that you will never find me in. 

I got lucky enough to only have classes three days a week, but unlucky enough to have an 8am on Wednesdays. Yay! I'm registered for Arabic (and I won't be surprised if I fail miserably), Bio Topics: Organisms and the Environment, Tangier as a Crossroads of Civilization, and Culture and Society of Morocco. My books, which are actually the only thing I have taken care of so far, are all already ordered and I get to lug them through the airports. First place I'm going when I'm back in the US is the chiropractor's office. 

While I'm excited to learn things I never thought I would take a class in (I mean, Arabic?), there is nothing I'm more thrilled about than the insane amount of PAID trips the global ed program has already planned for us. 

Just about every other weekend, we will be visiting another Moroccan or Spanish city, all included in our tuition. And if you missed it, we're going to get to ride a camel. A CAMEL. That alone would have been enough to get me to study abroad. I cannot wait. 

I'll be out of here January 9 on a 7:05pm flight from JFK. I land in Madrid at 8:30am local time/ 2:30am EST (I WILL be the short one in the Real Madrid jersey, like I would ever pass up that opportunity). After a three and a half hour layover, we board the plane for Tangier. If everything goes smoothly, my traveling will be done at around 12:30pm local time/ 7:30am EST, and from there, my journey begins :)