Getting My Funds in Order

In an effort to be as honest and helpful as possible, I am going to be extremely transparent when it comes to money, and my funding this trip abroad.

For those of you out there who are considering Study Abroad, but don't think you can afford it, I promise, if you start looking around you'll be surprised who all wants to help you.

Normally I am the type of person to look at every detail of a trip/experience/whatever, and then worry about every single one until I am so stressed out I can barely sleep. But worrying about gathering money for this trip hasn't really crossed my mind at all. I say "gathering" because that is how it feels. I seem to have found support in several different places, for which I am extremely grateful.

Now, don't think that because I wasn't stressing out about where my funds would come from that I wasn't doing anything. All of the money from my summer jobs for the past couple of years has been going in a savings account (kept separate from the checking account I regularly use) with the idea that it would all be for the study abroad trip that I got to take at some point. Being in college, there are other expenses that come up, books being a primary one, so occasionally I had to dip into my travel fund to cover miscellaneous expenses as well. Even with having to sometimes use this fund for school, I ended up being able to build up about $2500. Money from the part-time job I picked up last semester also went in this fund.

The program itself costs $4550, along with a plane ticket (that ended up being $2089.10) and other costs such as new luggage (mine didn't meet the size requirements for flight, since I've never flown before) as well as covering the excursion trips (to Barcelona and Granada), class supplies, and other every-day expenses like transportation and pocket money.

Obviously my $2500 wasn't going to cut it. So I applied for Study Abroad scholarships through NCSU. Being my impatient self, I was beginning to think that I hadn't received any help, until I checked my Study Abroad account one day and saw that I had received $2000 in scholarships! It came in the form of two separate scholarships, one for maintaining a blog (which I was planning to do any way), and another generous scholarship (the L. I. Felner) of $1000.

Again, for those of you out there who are considering Study Abroad, but don't think you can afford it, I promise, if you start looking around you'll be surprised who all wants to help you.

Along with scholarship money, I was given a generous gift of $2000 from my grandmother. While I know that not every has a family who can help them out in this way, I am grateful that mine did, and didn't want to leave them out.

That puts my funds at about $6500. Which is almost enough to cover the cost of the program and the ticket. However, knowing that there would be more miscellaneous costs, I kept looking. One of the first places I went was the Financial Aid office at NCSU (separate from the Study Abroad offices). My advisor informed me that because I turned down some of my loans for the spring semester, I could take them now, and put them towards use with my trip. Which I then did. Bringing my total up to about $8800. Which is more than enough to cover everything for the trip (as long as I don't go crazy).

I know that I'm throwing out these numbers like they're estimates, but the total is pretty close. I am currently in the process of planning my budget for the trip, so afterwards I will write a post about the details of my spending and paying for the trip.

I hope this was helpful/encouraging for you all reading. I leave in less than a month! so I'll be posting about packing sometime before I go.

Anticipation

Somehow, knowing that I'm going to spend four weeks in Spain this summer was simultaneously encouraging me to finish the semester strong, and to drop everything so that summer could come faster... which is both a positive and negative way to view the end of the school year.

With exams finally over I can begin to focus on this Valencia trip. I was waiting, because I knew that once I started working out details and planning, that's all that I would be able to focus on. And can I just say, the anticipation has been killing me! A couple weeks ago I was in the library trying to study for my economics final, when an email notification popped up on my screen announcing that our housing assignments had been finalized. It was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down in excitement, which of course would disturb everyone else diligently studying for finals.

Of course, as soon as I got the chance, I looked up the address on google maps and "walked" around a little bit using the street view tool. Now, Valencia is a metropolitan area, and my housing assignment is, of course, in an apartment. So that in itself is going to be an adjustment for me. All of my life I've lived in houses with large yards, and not really had neighbors to speak of. It will be exciting though, being surrounded by people, taking advantage of the time to improve my Spanish as much as possible.

Along with sort-of exploring the area, I have started to think about packing. First of all, I'm going to need a new suitcase. The bag that I have that I would normally pack in doesn't fit within the dimension specifics for flying. If you have any suggestions for a new bag I would love to hear them. Also, as far as wardrobe goes, I want to blend in as much as possible. Which means leaving things that are stereotypically "American" at home, such as t-shirts and jeans. Not only am I trying to get out of the American look, this will be my first time flying, as well as my first trip out of the country, so packing is probably going to take a while. Nervousness is definitely one of the feelings I've got right now. Reading other travel blogs for suggestions on packing and how to successfully pack what you need and only what you need has taken up a bit of my time. There are also some other miscellaneous things that I will need to pick up before I leave, like an outlet adapter, and possibly a voltage adapter as well.

As I pack I will be sure to take pictures, and share with everyone, hopefully to be helpful to you in the future if you do any traveling. An evaluation upon retuning will also be necessary, to let you know if I actually needed everything that I took, and if I wished that I had anything else.

My thoughts are all over the place, as you can tell. Right now all I know for sure is: I'm going, and I'm excited. Given that this post is mainly my thoughts and feelings, I don't have any pictures to share. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading this far, and I hope we take this adventure together.

Woohoo! Orientation!

"Woohoo Orientation!" Were you ever expecting to think that?, because I wasn't. But I was so excited to get started with preparing for this summer, I couldn't help it.

As with any school-organized, or large group event, orientation is necessary for the participants involved. The way my orientation is organized right now, it is split into three sessions. The first, general session was a few days ago in late March. The first Valencia specific session will be in early April, and the last a couple of weeks after that.

The first session was all about the basics. Anything that NCSU needed to say was said during that session. Everyone on any study abroad program was supposed to be there. We all checked in, and at check in we got a "Pre-departure Handbook". In it is all of the information, or at least directions as to how to find all of the information that we could possibly need while preparing to leave. A few of the bigger points that were covered during this orientation were safety, and coping with culture-shock, which will undoubtedly be a part of the trip. 

Culture shock is a very personal and individual experience, how quickly it sets in, how long it lasts, and the ways it can be dealt with, are all specific to you and the situation you are encountering. One thing that was strongly encouraged, and which I hope to be able to do, is to jump in to the local culture. Not to the point that you wear yourself out in the first few days, but going in with an open mind, allowing the newness to have an effect on you, and to not create a bubble of American culture around yourself. This American bubble is often negatively referred to as The Ugly American.

Picture credit to Rawhide Travel and Tours®

The persona of the "Ugly American" probably has some reference to the book/movie, but I think was mostly tied to the stereotypes that American tourists have brought upon themselves.

        -The Ugly American is the loudest person on the subway, or
          in the restaurant.
        -The Ugly American is the person who hasn't cared enough to
          pick up on the subtle social nuances of the culture they
          are currently a part of .
        -The Ugly American is the person who refuses to try and
          understand the people around them, but instead makes
          judgements about everything based on the ideals and
          perspectives that they learned at home.
        -The Ugly American is the person who has made no effort to
          learn even a smidgen of the local language, and instead
          treats people who are not able, or are just not willing,
          to speak English with them as stupid.
        -The Ugly American is rude, is obnoxious, and thinks too
          highly of himself.

Personally, I hate that this stereotype has been put in place, but as long as there are American tourists who behave this way, I don't see it going away any time soon.

Anyway, that was the biggest thing I took away from the first orientation. I can't wait for the second session, with just the Valencia people. That should be when I finally get to meet the other 28 or so of them.

My First Trip Abroad

Let me start this with a little bit of background information. As you can tell from the title, I have never been outside of the United States before. With-in the States I have traveled a bit, trips to Philadelphia, D.C. to the north, then more extensive traveling to the south, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, even a day trip to New Orleans.

That being said, I have dreamed of traveling for as long as I can remember. I also talk about it a lot, even though at this point in my life I haven't gone very far. My parents are even expecting/planning on being able to visit me at my foreign house (at some point in the future). I think that everyone has those dreams that they have as kids. Their parents encourage it, usually just because they're glad that their kid has big dreams. Well, traveling the world was my dream, and I never stopped talking about it. The fact that this summer will be my first step toward what I consider to be my life's goal makes me a little giddy. Valencia, Spain will be my first trip.

Map courtesy of goeurope.about.com

I've decided to write about my trip on my personal blog, rather than starting a new one, as I did with my SOUL experience last summer. The difference being that SOUL was a job, and this is simply part of my life as a student. I also wanted those posts to be easily distinguishable from others, whereas I hope to continue documenting my travels here throughout my life.

Though my trip isn't until late June, I want to go ahead and start documenting the process. Beginning with examining my expectations. My hope is that I remember to come back to this list afterwards and relate my experiences back to it.


     1) My number one expectation is that this trip will help me to
        be much more confident in my Spanish speaking. I am
        currently pretty proficient at reading and writing, even
        listening. But when I go to speak, I am so scared of making
        mistakes that I just don't say anything.

     2) An expectation that I have of myself is that in this trip I
        am able to become more flexible. By that I mean better able
        to go with a change of plans, or to make plans on the fly.
        As far as organized people go, I am one of the more
        organized people that I know, however with organization
        brings a certain rigidity in the plans that I make. I'm
        hoping that with this trip I am able to have a plan, but be
        more willing to change with changing conditions and
        circumstances.

     3) When I leave Spain I want to be able to cook a solid
        Spanish meal, hopefully a skill learned from my host-
        mother.

     4) If you've read any of my other posts, you may know
        that I love photography. Throughout this trip, I want to
        focus some on my photography. I want to capture as much of
        the people, the culture, the way of life as accurately as I
        possibly can. I hope that my pictures will begin to reach
        another level as far as connecting the viewer to the
        subject of the photo.

Picture of the Week - Is that really happening?

So yeah... The whole "I'm going to take pictures everyday! All the time! Then have time to edit them and share with everyone!" thing isn't really happening. I am sorry. I do love photography and I love to share the things that I create, as far as photography goes anyway.  But you start carrying around a point-and-shoot digital camera in a world of smart phones and see just how inconvenient it is, as well as how many strange looks you get. That being said, I do not have a smart phone, or I would just take pictures on that. So instead, what I'm going to do is simply share with you as I get pictures.

Being in college, most of the fun, exciting things that I do happen on the weekends, and at events having a camera out is perfectly fine. That being said, this past weekend I went to my first college football game! Personally, I am not a huge fan of football, I'm more of a soccer fan myself, but it was a fun, interesting experience nonetheless. Not only was this a big game for me, it was also a big game for all of the football fans at NC State. The game on November 2nd was the NC State Homecoming Game, and we were playing our rival UNC. (According to UNC we aren't their rival, Duke is, but Duke could care less. Also, rivalries are typically between public state schools, and Duke is private, so that another thing.)

These are some pictures from the game. The zoom on my camera is somewhat limited, so blowing them up anymore just makes the pixels come out. Of the three here, I think the top one is my favorite. It was taken during a time out, or a break between plays, I don't remember. I like the symmetry of the two teams (NCSU - red, UNC - blue) standing in their huddles on the field.

Anyway, I'm going to start posting a new picture on the "Picture of the Day" tumblr, but they're going to be picture that were not taken day-of. I hope you enjoy!

Morgan

Picture of the Week - What is it?

Some of you may have noticed the new tab at the top of my blog titled "Picture of the Day". This, in an effort to keep me taking pictures and essentially practicing photography is a link to a tumblr that I have created on which I will post a picture everyday. The idea is that I will have taken the picture that day, but this past week I have used some of my favorite pictures from the summer.

Instead of clogging up this blog with simple picture posts, they are all viewable if you click the above link. However, every week (probably on Sundays) I am going to go through the pictures that have been posted and try to pick one that I want to share with you all here. If I get enough interest in the blog then I will most likely pick the one with the most notes (which means the most people have liked or shared it.)

Through all of this I hope to improve my photography skills, as well as keep my eyes open to the things that are going on around me.

This week's picture of the week is:

This was taken while my sisters and Gran strolled along a pier in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Myrtle Beach Adventures

Let me start by saying that I love taking pictures. And some of them even turn out pretty good. One thing that I have learned this summer while keeping up my SOUL blog is that pictures are important. I wouldn't even want to read a blog that didn't have any pictures. So why should I expect you to want to? I shouldn't. My Mom also gave me the idea to take and post a picture everyday, so that may start happening once I get back to school. Anyway, I'm going to start doing a better job of including pictures on my personal blog as well.

I figured that one of the best ways I could introduce that is by telling you all about the trip I took to Myrtle Beach with my sisters and my Gran. (pictures included).

Now, for the story. When we got to my Gran and Papa's house, Gran told us that there were kittens on the back porch. I was expecting them to be cute, but this basically-new-born cuteness is more than I was prepared for.

There are three orange, but the calico in the middle is my favorite.

Then we left, on our drive to the beach. Once we got to Myrtle Beach we checked in at our hotel and lugged all of our stuff up to our room.

Once we had settled in, the first thing we did was walk out on the pier near the hotel. Just to hang out and to see where we were. The sky and the water were gorgeous.

Then it was time for dinner. Instead of searching around for somewhere to go, we just went to a restaurant near the hotel. Now, my usual go-to burger is the mushroom and Swiss, and this place had one. But I decided it was time to mix it up. So instead of my standard, I decided to try their Southeastern burger. It had fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese on it. How amazing does that sound? And it was, believe me.

That completed our first night at the beach.

The next morning we headed straight out to the beach after breakfast. It was a bit cloudy, and the tide was pretty rough, so we weren't able to go out very far. 

My littlest sister, Shelby, loved it. She was in the water the majority of the time. Elizabeth (my little sister) and I spent most of our time on the beach laying on our towels enjoying the sun. I was even able to listen to a few chapters of The Three Musketeers which is the latest audio book I'm working my way through.

That night we had plans to go to a show at the Carolina Opry, so we spent the afternoon walking around the board walk and killing time, eating ice cream, you know.

Then we got there. The show that we got to see was the Carolina Opry's "Good Vibrations", which goes through the 60's, 70's, and 80's. 

I am proud to say that the three of us knew EVERY song. We were jamming out so hard that two of the guitarists, when they came off stage to walk around during a song, made sure to stop next to us and hang out for a second with their guitars. I took some other pictures, but the lighting was part of the show, and my camera doesn't handle that well. That show was definitely everyone's favorite part of the weekend.

Hopefully this post was more interesting, and after I move in to my dorm on Saturday I will begin putting up a photo a day here and on the link above. Until then, I may just share some of my favorite pictures of the summer on the new tumblr.

Mo