Take Me Back To: Scotland

Haggis, Nessie, bagpipes, oh my! In honor of my upcoming trip to London, I'm embracing all things UK. Thinking about all of my adventures to be had in England is giving me major flashbacks of my trip to Scotland in 2010.

Scotland is one of the most enchanting places I've ever visited. Being in Scotland made me feel like a princess living in a fairytale; Edinburgh is simply majestic. The regal castles, emerald volcanos and magnificent stone buildings emanate rich history and timeless beauty. We spent hours touring the city, visiting haunted graveyards, touring legendary memorials and learning about Scotland's dark & bloody history. History was always my worst subject in school - yet despite my natural ambivalence towards it, I found the history of Scotland to be absolutely enthralling.

We ventured into the Scottish Highlands by bus and saw the stunning, snow covered mountains and splendidly tiny Highland villages. We also traveled to the beautiful Loch Ness, where we hunted for Nessie. I had no such luck finding him, but I'm still quite sure he exists.

Some other highlights included: eating deep fried Mars bars (disgustingly delicious), trying Haggis, listening to bagpipes, drinking tea in the Elephant House Café where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter, staying at Castle Rock (the coolest hostel in the world), drinking insanely tasty black currant juice every day, tasting authentic Scotch and visiting the world's largest Scotch Whisky collection, shopping on the Royal Mile, jumping out of bright cherry red phone booths, listening to sexy Scottish accents, spiking our coffee with Bailey's and eating delectable Scottish breakfasts.

It was an incredible trip to say the least, and I cannot wait to go back one day. Until then, I'm getting ridiculously excited to return to the UK and finally visit England!

Next to the castle that inspired Hogwarts is Greyfriers Graveyard, where a "Tom Riddle" and "McGonagall" are buried. 

Happy Bastille Day!

Happy Bastille Day, everyone! If you need to know anything about me, you should know that I am obsessed with all things French and undoubtedly belong in Paris. (So naturally, I'm moving to... Spain? Sometimes I don't understand myself.)

You know how everybody uncontrollably sobs during the first 15 minutes of the movie "Up" or the end of "Titanic"? Well, that also happens to me when I watch the opening scene of "Midnight in Paris".

My name is Courtney, and I'm a francophile. 

Three years ago when I was living in Spain, I took a spontaneous trip to Paris during my spring break because I knew I would be a fool to fly all the way to Europe and not visit the city I had been fantasizing about since I was a little girl. Visiting France had been a dream and an obsession of mine since I was a child; even my room was decorated with a Parisian theme. Needless to say, the minute I set foot upon the cobblestone streets of the Left Bank, I fell head over heels in love. I daydreamed about returning to Paris every day since I left.

Two summers ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to actually live in Paris for a month and study Surrealist art and literature. I could hardly even believe that I had the chance to fulfill my lifelong dream of living in Paris.

And you guys, it was perfect.

Our only homework assignment was to "get lost in Paris" and aimlessly wander through the city, documenting what we encountered and how it moved us. Every day was filled with adventure, art, spontaneity and literature. Every moment was inspiring. I spent my time wandering through the world's best museums, snacking on delicious macarons from Ladurée, strolling along the Seine, and channelling my inner Hemingway at quaint Parisian cafés.

Gertrude Stein once quoted, "America is my country, and Paris is my hometown." I couldn't have said it better myself. I've never felt such a genuine connection to a city before. I've come to the realization that I am undoubtedly French at heart. Much like myself, the French have a passion for enjoying gourmet food, place profound importance on literature and the arts, pursue intellect wholeheartedly, and take their time appreciating all that life has to offer. The embrace la joie de vivre, which entails living life to the absolute fullest. The are thinkers, creators, lovers. They approach life with a zealous passion that brings enlightenment to all perspectives. Their culture exudes class and sophistication, and by all means they are proud of their French identity. And who can blame them? It is a culture of greatness. 

Throughout all of my travels around the world, Paris is by far the most beautiful city I've encountered. I've ridden camels in Morocco, watched bullfights in Madrid, zip lined through the jungles of Mexico, basked on the beaches of southern Spain, skied through the snowy mountains of Whistler, climbed the rock of Gibraltar to play with wild monkeys, explored the Highlands of Scotland, and relished the sublime beauty of Iguazú Falls. And yet, nothing quite compares to the magic of Paris.

Visado

Guess who officially has their Spanish visa? This girl!

I'm beyond thrilled to have a legal means to enter the country come September. And the fact that it arrived in such a timely manner is a feat within itself. (No offense, España. But being timely and organized isn't exactly your thing.)

However, my excitement soon dissipated as I over-enthusiastically started perusing many expat blogs, specifically those of former Auxiliares de Conversación in Spain.

Information overload is an understatement.

Much of the advice I came across detailed crucial information - such as what to pack in my suitcase, how to find housing, and how to acclimate to the Spanish meal and party schedule. In other words, all things that I need to know and should probably take to heart. However, all of that information at once made my heart race a little faster than usual.

And then came the complaints. All of the reasons why these Auxiliares disliked the program. (The word "hate" was even mentioned several times. Talk about breaking the cardinal rule of blogging!) Excruciating detail of how dysfunctional the Spanish government is, how frustrating it is to work alongside of them, and how everything that could go wrong does go wrong. The underlying message I got was: "Whether it be applying for residency, getting your first paycheck 3-4 months late or having teachers take complete advantage of you... shit happens. And it will happen to you."

The one word to describe how I'm feeling right now is "anxiety".

I recognize that this program won't be granting me the "perfect Spanish experience", because I've lived in Spain before and I know that those idealistic expectations ain't true! Part of living abroad is getting out of your comfort zone and letting life mess with you a little bit a lot. I get that. I've been there. (And I'm going there again.)

I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed contemplating what to pack, what to buy, how to find a nice apartment, when to find a nice apartment, how do I get my residency card, how am I ever going to survive staying out until 6 am when I can hardly stay awake until 11 pm, finding gluten free food in Spain, saving money to travel on the weekends, saving money in general because apparently my first paycheck comes 3 months late, I don't know how to save money in the first place, why don't Spaniards wear J.Crew, what if the students I teach are all crazy and poorly behaved, what if I spontaneously forget my past 10 years of Spanish...

... you get where I'm going with this.

Emotion mind is telling me to keep panicking, because it's instinctual and I suppose I'm pretty good at it. Reasonable mind is ready to start planning the strategic details of my trip right now. Wise mind is telling me, "Okay, so you have some daunting tasks ahead of you, but if you tackle them one at a time - which you will - you don't have to worry. Breathe."

(C'mon. What kind of psych major would I be if I didn't sprinkle some subtle DBT references into my blog posts every so often? I didn't spend a year working in Marsha Linehan's lab for nothing, you know.)

So maybe it was a bad idea for me to marathon-read all of the blog posts I could find about this program. Now it's time for me to take some deep breaths, sip a nice cup of tea, and think positive thoughts about all that I need to get done before leaving - one step at a time.

And having my visa is an awfully good start, don't you think?

Sunset in Cádiz cerca 2010 - a calming force.