It's Almost Here... 7 Days!!!

The countdown is in single digits: 7 days!!!!! This time next week I will be on the plane from Atlanta to Argentina!!! It really is hard to believe. In 7 days, I will be starting a new life. I also will be a student again. There is no doubt that I am NOT looking forward to that. Luckily it’s only for a few weeks. Then the job search begins. I know this will surprise most, but I am actually excited about that! Not necessarily about it being the “real world”, but just being able to teach and meet new people.

I have a feeling when I get back, I might be go back to school to be a teacher. Even though I have a degree in Management, I’ve always wanted to teach. Everyone who knows me tells me that I should be a teacher. Well, I’m gonna try it out J I hate knowing that I might not be teaching kids. It could be adults in the business world who want to learn English. I think that if I knew for a fact that I would be at a school teaching English to 2^nd graders, I would be absolutely ecstatic!

This past week I’ve just been running errands trying to get everything I need. Packing for a year is very very difficult. Every time I upload pictures while I'm there people are going to think I haven’t changed clothes all week. Oh well, eventually I will get used to the Argentine lifestyle of re-wearing clothes. I sure hope showering everyday is ok because if not we're gonna have problems… there’s no way I can get used to that. I normally shower in the morning and take a bath at night. So this will definitely be interesting.

Mom and I had a mother daughter day on Wednesday! We just ran errands and went shopping to finish up the rest of what was on my list. She’s at the beach this weekend L I had my last Friday night date night with Guy and Liza tonight. We had a lot of fun at Earth Fare and seeing Matthew. They are the only 2 kids I know who get excited about getting dinner at Earth Fare, haha! But, I’m not gonna lie… I had a bite of their grilled cheese and it was awesome! I’m going to miss them so so much… I can’t believe that after next week I won’t see Guy until he is 5 and Liza almost 3. L  I think that they can be my carry on's, right? Chad and Anna will just have a super long 9 month date! hahah 

Tomorrow is Triple D day... unfortunately that isn't Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It's actually way better than that... Daddy Daughter Day!!! I’m gonna go to Madeline’s basketball game in the morning with Gran and Aunt Kathy… then we’re gonna go to lunch! I wanna be sure that I see as many people as possible before I go. After lunch, daddy and I are gonna go figure out my phone situation at AT&T and then I think go see “Safe House”. We will probably go get a cupcake somewhere too (Dad- if you read this before then… PLEASE!!!!! J)

I am getting excited about leaving! If I haven’t called you to hang out/do lunch/dinner and you want to then let me know… my mind has been everywhere this past week and will be everywhere this week! But I would love to see everyone at some point!!

Also, if anybody has any tips about:

•  moving to another country for an extended period of time
•  things to do during the 18 hour travel day (other than sleep)
•  what to do and where to go in Argentina (for those of you who have been)

OR

• if you have been to Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, or Bolivia. 

Please let me know!! Any little suggestions, tips, and ideas of where to go ALWAYS help!!!

The Countdown has Begun: 2 Weeks!!!!!

Well, 2 weeks from now I will have started my journey to Argentina! My flight leaves on March 2 at around 2:30 and I connect in Atlanta! I have a 3 hours layover and then fly directly to Buenos Aires. Hopefully I will have enough time to grab lunch with Mary Kate, even if it is in the airport before security! Hannah, you should probably make the trip down... and Riley, you're invited too - so we know you'll be there :)

The million dollar question while planning for this adventure is: Do you know anybody in Argentina? The answer to y'alls question is... no I do not! That's kinda the point. I want to venture out and meet new people from all over. If I had friends there or even kind of knew someone then I would be tempted to speak English. I want to learn as much Spanish as I can in the next 12 months. And for everyone who knows me, let's be honest... I need to learn a lot.

Leaving my parents, nevertheless the country for the next year is going to be an adventure in itself. Not to mention the culture shock and language barrier. For everyone who knows me they know I'm daddy's queenie and mom's favorite (sorry Matthew). So it's definitely going to be interesting being away from them for this long. I haven't gone longer than a month without seeing my parents and that was when I studied in Ecuador. Let's not forget Maddie and Arthur. I'm definitely going to miss my personal heaters at night. Luckily I will be able to see them when I Skype mom and dad!

We are still working on picking out a place to live. I will probably stay in one apartment for the first month of training and then move somewhere closer to where I will be working. Whenever we figure out where either of those will be, I will let you know! In case you'd like to send me some Peter Pan crunchy peanut butter, since I will be surprised. I hear if you try and ship Jif, it will be taken by customs because it is illegal ;)

ACW

The Road to Argentina

I am new to this blog thing, so everyone bear with me. I just graduated from Clemson a couple of months ago. I am not quite ready for this so called "real world" so I decided to adventure down to Argentina. Some of you may ask why Argentina? Well, I couldn't really tell you. On my bucket list is to visit every country in South America. As some of you may know, I have already been to Ecuador and Peru. Next on my list was Argentina. While down there I will teach English. For the month of March, I will take a certification course through TEFL International. This organization allows you to get certified to teach English anywhere in the world. Once I get certified I will begin looking for jobs and will teach English somewhere in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow my blog so you can live vicariously through this amazing once in a lifetime opportunity for the next year of my life :)

ACW