siete días & counting..

"Everything can be told. It's just a matter of starting, one word follows another."

-Javier Marías, A Heart So White

I've been planning my trip back to sunny Spain since February, but I've had so much on my mind (everything ranging from the Dominican Republic to the UN and just the semester in general) I haven't given it much thought; when anyone asked me about it, I sort of shrugged my shoulders. My lack of emotion changed yesterday when I found out my new address in Andalucía. Suddenly, my voyage had become validated. I'll be living in the Triana district of Sevilla, which is situated on an island in the center of the glorious Guadalquivir River, the same river Columbus sailed up on his way home to deposit all the abundant treasures of the New World. I find it interesting that just in March, I was on the island of Hispaniola, the place where Columbus first permanently settled in the Americas.

After google-mapping produced a concrete image of my hogar nuevo in España, my excitement level shot from zero to cien. In a week a will be in a beautiful, orange tree-lined neighborhood with 100 degree temperatures--a real summer, unlike the rain in New York! My school is a 20 minute walk off the Isla de Cartuja, across a bridge, passed the bull ring. I can hardly wait to taste the deliciously creamy Spanish ice cream again (and they say Italians make good gelato..ha!) and indulge in savory and salty jamón serrano on crusty freshly-baked bread, yum!

All this daydreaming has made me paranoid about packing--the last time I packed for a long trip, the results were fatal. Well, not fatal. But I had to sleep with a rock. (Well, I guess it could have been fatal if I had frostbite in Argentina....) Anyway, apparently there's a bunch of other people out there sharing my concern. On Omiru.com, there is a great article about "What to Wear in Spain." My only problem now is consolidating several weeks worth of clothing in one suitcase... ¡OLÉ!