AHH!

Artist: Incubus
Song: Aqueous Transmission
Lyric: "Further than the river..."

12 Days

I have 12 Days until I am ready to head out to London and I'm realizing now that my trip is becoming pretty stressful. Right now I'm so frustrated with the fact that I may have to apply for several visas in order to enter the various countries throughout Europe. You see- I'm a United States Resident and therefore I don't hold an American passport. I'm a Colombian citizen and therefore carry a Colombian passport. What does all this mean? It means that for every separate country that I want to visit I have to apply to their specific visa. EVEN IF I'M ONLY VISITING FOR 3 DAYS! For instance, in order for me to go to the Eiffel Tower in France I have to fill out a shit load of paper work to get clearance to enter their country. However, if I wanted to visit Ibiza, Spain (one of the countries top 10 party cities) I won't have the least bit of trouble. I'm so aggravated with all these little requirements because now I feel restricted by what I am able and not able to do when I'm abroad. I wanted to travel and get to absorb from all the different cultures and coming across this information just pisses me off. I didn't consider all these hurdles when I decided I wanted to study abroad and just when everything seems to be OK something else arises. I feel like I'm only meant to stay with in the confines of England. Grandted there is still a lot to see while in England, but come on! The thing that really gets me is that I can't apply for a U.S. passport because as of right now i'm just a permanent resident (i.e. Alien)... I have to wait up to five years until I can apply for my U.S. citizenship and then I'll be able to have my American passport and travel freely. I mean sure this is just a small hiccup in my huge endeavor but I really didn't anticipate this to be so stressful and I hate being restricted from things!

Moreover, I've managed to star worrying about the amount of luggage that I plan on carrying with me overseas. I just bough this piece of luggage that should fit everything that I'll need, however I'm only allowed two 50 lbs bags on the flight and since its winter that is not enough to hold all the jeans, jackets and sweaters that I will need to keep my ass warm. The other things is I'm trying only to bring one large 50 lbs bag, a carryon, and my laptop backpack. The plan is when I arrive in Heathrow Airport (the world's largest and busiest aiports) I'm left to fend for myself and jump on the Tube (a.k.a. subway) in order to arrive at my final destination (my dorm). Well word has it that the Tube is tiny and packed and crammed at all hours of the days for for me to lug around two 50 lbs bags, a packpack and carryon in a city that I have no idea where the hell I'm going will be ridiculous. In a way I welcome the challenge because part of the fun in traveling is getting lost and fending for yourself, but no matter how open minded and adventerous you may consider yourself you still have som apprehension about the possibilities. Not to mention that my flight pattern is already a little fucked up. Get this... because I'm traveling a week after New Years all the direct flights to London from Miami were booked. The university told me to fly into Heathrow Airport because it would be easiwer to arrive at the dorms than if I flew into Gatwick. It was alsot a lot cheaper to travel within London from Heathrow than it would have been from Gatwick. So, the only fight I could find departs from Ft. Lauderdale International Airport on Sunday January 8, 2006 at 11 a.m. and arrives in La Guardia Airport in New York at 2 p.m. From there I have to take a shuttle, or taxi to JFK airport (quite a distance from La Guardia). I have a four hour lay over, but it really isn't much when I have to commute from one aiport to the other and check in for an international flight so the lay over time isn't so bad. From JFK airport I fly out to Heathrow and arrive in London at 6:35 a.m. their time so approximately 1:35 a.m. U.S. time. The time difference will probably have an affect on me, but as of right now that is the least of my concerns. I'm just still really pissed about all the regulations the fucking French have in order to get into their country!

I guess it's all in the experience of studying abroad.