'Tis Worth It: Pre-Departure

I think it just hit me today how excited I really am for this trip. This is mostly because beforehand, I was positively terrified of going to a new place, on a continent I've never been to, making the trip (or at least starting it out) on my own. Not only that, though, but I had been going through a lot of problems beforehand with commitments and actually making a step towards going out and exploring the world and now, I'm finally making that step. So when I read that we were asked to write about fear, hey. I probably know more about fear going on this trip than any other emotion, as cliche or over dramatic as it sounds. So much to the point, actually, to where I felt like I couldn't talk to people about my trip and to where I tried to start and then failed to start my CTJ submissions almost thirteen times over.

But as I'm sitting here in my childhood home, packing for a trip that I was always secretly hoping to take, I'm actually overcome with excitement and a little bit of... romance, methinks? It sounds sudden but it's more that I'm starting to realize that I'm actually going into the field, something I've wanted to do since I decided Anthropology was something I wanted to pursue. I'm excited to meet new people, to actually put flesh to all the readings I (and everyone else) have read, and to go and see sites of the place I've either only read about or heard about in lectures. I'm especially excited to see how diverse Bolivia is and to see the Aymara culture in the flesh (mostly because I'm into looking at indigenous groups/indigenous rights). But probably the thing I'm most excited about is that I'm taking a step and actually making an effort to do something well rather than just sitting on the sidelines, not moving at all.

So excitement. Yeah, I'm definitely feeling it at this point. I think when it comes to traveling, I always know no matter how prepared I try to be, I'm still going to be emotionally unprepared. That being said, I've at least gotten myself used to the idea of that and that has opened up the fact that this most likely will be like an adventure instead of a class.

Bah, who am I kidding. I'M GOING SOMEWHERE NEW. FWAA. I'm freakishly excited! I don't care if I'm not that great with Spanish, I'm doing what I want to do! I'm extremely excited! Screw you, fear! I'm being courageous and overcoming you! Woohoo!

- Alina