So this Greece trip is really happening.
Every time I check something off my to-do list, I feel a little more excited and even more nervous about the fact that I will actually be going to Greece for four months of studying abroad.
I’m starting to have visions of myself clinging onto my father at the airline gateway, him saying “Rachael, sweetie, you need to get on the plane now and leave. You need to go,” while I refuse to unlatch.
Obviously, I have not left yet, but as the date of my departure flight nears, I want to start sharing my experience of the preparation process. Of course, at the very beginning of this journey, once I had finished all of the extensive parts of the program application, I exhaled a sigh of relief, feeling like the hard part was done.
And now, here I am, halfway through the visa application process, wondering if this could actually be what prevents me from going to Greece. Of course, I’m being overdramatic, but if you happen to be looking for advice on traveling, or how to handle the extensive preparation, I am taking this as an opportunity to tell you that so far, all of my worries have proven to be pointless — as usual.
In today’s political climate, I can understand why the visa process is so thorough. But at the same time, as a student excited to travel and study abroad, the long list of documents, photo copies, applications, fingerprints, and FBI reports that are required for a student visa is extremely overwhelming.
So my advice for this is to trust the system, always communicate over the phone — NOT email — and don’t be afraid to check in with your advisor and the consulate officer in charge of your visa application.
In other news, I’ll be getting to go to Chicago for a weekend at the beginning of August for my visa application appointment, and I have officially purchased my flights to and from Athens, Greece for my study abroad.
I have also registered my classes for the semester, and will be taking courses on ethnography in Athens, anthropology of urban areas in Greece, the history of Byzantium, middle eastern religions, and Greek art and architecture materials. It looks like it’ll be a busy four months, but very productive and filled with adventure.
I will have classes Monday – Thursday, and most Fridays and weekends I will be going on class field trips to do some hands-on learning and fieldwork at monuments and historic sites.
Certain aspects are not quite registering for me as real, yet, but I am definitely starting to understand the depth of the incredible journey that lies ahead of me.
More updates to come!