I have to admit, my pre-departure journey has been everything but blissful. Everything seemed to be going well while I was finishing up my semester in DC. I was getting all I needed for my visa packet done. It was just that criminal record. I completely underestimated how long that thing would take to arrive. In order to obtain your background check, you have to get fingerprinted and mail it to your state’s department of justice. Being from California and currently residing in DC, I had to manually have my fingerprints done versus the technological (and much faster) laser scan fingerprinting. But I got that done way in November, and when my mom called saying I got a packet from the California Department of Justice, I thought it was fine to open the packet once I got home for the holidays. Unfortunately, that was a big mistake. The department sent back my application; there was a mistake in payment. And that was the start of my weekly stress attack. Week after week I anxiously awaited the mail, like a child waiting for presents on Christmas morning. I certainly cut it close. My clearance got there on the 10th, I am scheduled to depart on the 20th, and the visa takes at the most 10 business days to process if you expedite it. But cross your fingers! I took my paperwork to the visa office the first thing the next morning hoping they could speed up things. They will try to get it in by the 17th. I certainly dodged that bullet didn’t I? We’ll see.
With all of this visa drama, I haven’t really had time to prepare for departure, both mentally and physically. I think it started to sink in the morning of the 10th, about a week and a half before I am scheduled to leave. My program for Cape Town had a webinar for our pre-departure orientation. It was at 11 am eastern time (8 am my time) which meant, for maybe the second time this break, I got up before ten o’clock. I admit, I still laid in bed in my pajamas, tucked under the covers. I slowly plugged in my headphones and listened as the orientation leaders spoke of the University of Cape Town campus, housing, courses, community service, night life, etc. Throughout this orientation, the excitement started to sink in and my body language showed it. In the beginning of the webinar I was laying down with my head perked up, but then I started to sit up and write notes of aspects I wanted to look into more. It finally dawned on me that the months of preparation are nearly over. This is no longer a far away, dreamlike goal of studying abroad. It is about to be reality. I am starting to feel the excitement, and a tad bit of angst. And I know that the full reality will only really kick in when I get on the plane, and maybe not even until I arrive. But finally, the long application process is coming to an end and I am about to embark on a journey that will bring memories that last a lifetime.
Sounds pretty exciting. But how exactly does one prepare for such a journey? I may not have the best-organized plan but it works for me. I have numerous numbers of post-its spread all over my desk listing things I need: my six cans of hairspray (I can’t risk this curly hair looking like a tumbleweed for five months), clothes (and I must learn this time to not over pack), all my documents, and so on. And amongst this list are also a few post-its listing a to do list: call banks, buy a plug adapter, etc. It at times seems overwhelming but post-its have always been my best friends and I am hoping they will pull me through. Once all is done and it’s time to board, I will of course feel nervous and ecstatic but I will also have the expectation that this experience will help shape me and allow me to grow into more of an individual, clearly distinguishing the girl in her first semester of junior year from the girl leaving South Africa and about to enter her senior year.
