If Life is a Highway

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, I was waiting to receive Internet in my room. I have so much I want to talk about that I am having to slow myself down and give my brain some rest. For now, I will discuss my travel in making it to Estonia.

Saturday night (the 24th) I was trying to get everything together so that when we left the next morning, we could just go out the door. Of course nothing ever happens the way you want it to.  I was trying to put all of my essentials in my carry on bag when I realized that I couldn't find the adapter that I bought the day before.  When I say I searched all over the place for that thing... I'm serious. Two hours passed and I still couldn't find that stupid adapter. Then it hit me like an epiphany.  It wouldn't have mattered if I found it or not because it was the wrong adapter.  The one that I purchased only accommodated electronics and such with two prongs.  That would have been great if it wasn't for the fact that the charger for my laptop had three prongs.  By that time I was just irritated and ready to go to bed. 

We all woke up around five thirty just so I could finish packing and everyone else could get dressed. Ray and Taylor made it to my house around 6:45 and while ray stayed to play with the baby, Taylor and I took the girls over to my cousin's house.  After saying goodbye to them, I stopped at Ms. Hood's apartment to say a quick goodbye (she fell asleep on me the night before).  From there we returned to the house, gathered the rest of the crew and headed to Memphis.

 

Fast forward to the Memphis Airport:
  That had to be one of the hardest moments of my life. I had to say goodbye to my best friends, my mother and Anthony. For as long as me and ray have been friends the only time I ever seen her cry was when she was laughing. As we went to hug she broke down and in all honestly, at the moment I questioned everything I was about to do.  Taylor being the man he is, held his composure and my mom was trying her best to keep a straight face.  I'm sure you could imagine the atmosphere.


I'll do you a favor and totally skip the fact that for a drink and chicken wrap at the airport, it cost me thirteen bucks.  I won't mention that I thought I forgot my phone charger at the house and when I found it, I accidentally broke  it. I'm sure  no one wants to read about the fact that I had to run around the airport in Copenhagen to find where to print off my ticket. All that stuff is irreverent anyway.

In Chicago I met three students, and when we made it to Tallinn, we met two others.  So in all, I had to take three airplanes, two taxi, and a bus to get to my final destination.

It was pretty crazy BUT I MADE IT!!!

What happens in Estonia...

If this post sounds familiar, it is because I am writing it again.  In trying to read the blog to my mother, I accidentally deleted it.

Since finding out that I will be studying abroad, I've had to stop and ask myself "Just how am I going to behave?" I have learned that it is easy to do right when there is someone constantly looking my shoulder.  On the other hand, are those same morals and beliefs going to stand when I have no source of accountability. I have seen so many young adults ruin their lives because they wanted to try everything their parents told them not to.  Am I going to stay true to who I am, or be everything I've always wanted to be? After all, no one will know me.

I am no one if I am not myself. How can I encourage others to be who they are and follow their dreams if I can't stay true to who I am?  I would rather someone hate me for who I am than to love me for who I am not.  I refuse to go to a foreign country and go buck wild.  This is an educational opportunity and I do not plan on taking it lightly.  I have too many people rooting for me and holding me up to let them down.

I know that this entry was a little short but hopefully it will be longer in the coming weeks:)

Preparation

There is so much I need to do in my last 11 days here in the United States.  I will be studying in Estonia for roughly the five months.  The question I get asked the most is what possessed me to do this. To answer that question, it has always been something I wanted to do but it wasn't until my friend Anna gave me the push that I needed.  She made me realize that this may be the one in a lifetime chance.  This is the time that I can go abroad and fully immerse myself in another culture, while still being in school and taking classes.  In reality, it truly is a win-win.
 One of my biggest fears in doing this was that I did not know where I would be going at the beginning.  With the ISEP program, we were given the chance to list ten places we wouldn't mind going. My first choice was Italy, but that didn't mean I was promised to attend school there.   So for six to eight weeks, I was anxiously awaiting my fate.  I had already set in my mind that no matter my placement, I was going to take the journey.  I'm not going to lie, when I first found out that I was going to be attending the  University of Tartu, my heart sunk.  No Italy, no England, No Fuji?  Where in the heck is Estonia located at anyways?  Most importantly, is the color of my skin going to make my journey any harder.  Then I realized that it didn't matter.  Living in the United States, its socially unacceptable to make racial slurs and laws are put into place to stop discrimination.  I am sheltered.  By leaving my comfort zone, I am going to get a taste of the real world. No sugarcoating. Whatever comes my way, I am ready.

I have just about everything that I need minus a converter, adapter and coat.  A few days ago was trying to get all of my documents in order so that I could have them in case of an emergency. Guess what I couldn't find...MY PASSPORT! Luckily for me, it was in the drawer where I previously looked several times.   I was afraid to tell my mother because I knew she would flip out. Just when I thought that I was on track, I was informed that there are two shots that I HAVE to have in order to leave the country.  It's just my luck that they do not have any appointments available until September (just a little too late) but because my dad works for the health department, I have some hookups.  I also have to fill out a few more forms and I will be set to go.  I fear that I will get halfway through my flight and realize I forgot something VERY important.   Hopefully with the help of my family and friends I will have everything I need.

My goal is to write on here regularly but don't hold me to it. I am hoping by doing this, I can give people (especially people of color) the courage to step out of the box and do something out of the ordinary.  Like I said before, you might not get the chance to do it again.

PS: If I misspell things or I am grammatically incorrect, forgive me.