So I'm leaving tomorrow and still haven't packed a thing. I did manage to retrieve my suitcase and actually open it, though, so some progress has been made.
So many things need to get done today:
-go to school and return my laptop for the summer
-try to find an apartment to live in when I return (anyone know of anything??)
-send some mail
-sort out my student loan payments
-work out
-shower
-shop (I'm trying to buy a nightgown or something appropriate to sleep in. I was told by my mother that I needed something other than this oversized Conan O'Brien t-shirt to sleep in. Somehow, this is the most stressful thing on my list...)
-pick up my romper at the cleaners (can't leave town without it)
-decide whether or not to take sweet, sweet macbook to lebanon
-and FINALLY pack and clean my room
Despite an overwhelming and seemingly impossible list, I'm still sitting in above mentioned Conan t-shirt watching reruns of Desperate Housewives and Gilmore Girls.
Packing, or even thinking about packing, gives me all kinds of anxiety. I know for sure I'm going to forget something crucial. I attempted to make a list, but as I looked over it today, I noticed that passport wasn't on there....woops.
Fingers crossed that I make it there okay and can update this blog soon! I'm excited to post pictures, since I haven't been able to accurately describe anything to anyone who has asked! Get excited.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
eight days
That's how long I have to prepare for my summer venture to Lebanon. Just eight measly days. In true Leyla fashion, I have not even begun to think about packing. Not true. A suitcase was purchased. Not opened yet, but purchased. Step 1: check.
I'm actually quite nervous about spending the majority of my summer in Lebanon. The last time I was there, I was 10 years old. I'll be 24 this summer. And while I'm excited to go back as an adult, I feel like the expectations are set much higher for me now. I'm going to be expected to speak the language (and speak it well for that matter) and functionally handle the customs and cultural differences. I'm pretty sure it will be frowned upon for me to, when asked a question, shrug my shoulders and revert to my father to answer on my behalf. I fully expect to embarrass myself regularly by confusing words that have similar sounds but very different meanings and by doing things that seem normal but may be totally culturally inappropriate. To be honest, I have very little idea of what to expect but am very excited and very nervous to find out!
When my mom first booked our trip, it was just going to be the two of us. For a month. In her village. I cringed at the thought. Not that I don't love her, or appreciate her family/village, it's just not what I would want to do for a summer. I had originally planned to spend just a few short weeks in Lebanon and then spend the rest of the summer planning and preparing for my second year of teaching in D.C. A dark cloud formed over my summer plans. A few weeks later, my dad decided he wanted to come and he was bringing along Sami, coolest brother ever. The clouds began to part.
What really made the sun shine and the rainbows form was learning that Randa, cousin (sorta), co-Golden Girls fanatic, and lifelong best friend from Los Angeles, was doing an internship for the WHOLE SUMMER in Beirut! I felt so blessed to have spent part of my spring break in LA with her, but a whole summer in another country together is going to be epic. Unreal. Needless to say, I'm now ecstatic to go.
What would really top the whole thing off would be if Amal, my older sister, would hop on board and join us. She, Sami and I, along with Randa, would be a dangerous foursome. A ridiculously good looking, dangerous foursome ;)
I'm hoping many things for this blog. First and foremost, I simply want to capture everything that happens to me while on my summer adventure. More than that though, I want this blog to help open my eyes and let me really see the things around me. I love the quote I put in the heading of this page. It would be a huge, sad waste to frolic around in the Middle East for a month and not really notice anything. There's so much to see; so much more than tourist attractions. There is a whole culture and a whole way of life that is so different from the one to which I am accustomed and I can't wait to take it all in. I've always been really bad at keeping a journal, even when traveling or doing something special (Kate, you can attest to that haha). And I don't consider myself to be a good writer, by any means. My hope is that this blog will help me work on those things. I hope to write often and document the whole trip. I'm not sure what my internet access will be like in the mountainous village of Btekhnay, but I feel like writing is a bit like running- a little is better than none, and the more you do it the better you'll be.
Reader, thanks for reading. My plan is to update at least twice a week, so check back often. If nothing else, I hope that the awkward situations I absolutely will get myself into will bring you a bit of laughter at my expense. Have a great summer.
I'm actually quite nervous about spending the majority of my summer in Lebanon. The last time I was there, I was 10 years old. I'll be 24 this summer. And while I'm excited to go back as an adult, I feel like the expectations are set much higher for me now. I'm going to be expected to speak the language (and speak it well for that matter) and functionally handle the customs and cultural differences. I'm pretty sure it will be frowned upon for me to, when asked a question, shrug my shoulders and revert to my father to answer on my behalf. I fully expect to embarrass myself regularly by confusing words that have similar sounds but very different meanings and by doing things that seem normal but may be totally culturally inappropriate. To be honest, I have very little idea of what to expect but am very excited and very nervous to find out!
When my mom first booked our trip, it was just going to be the two of us. For a month. In her village. I cringed at the thought. Not that I don't love her, or appreciate her family/village, it's just not what I would want to do for a summer. I had originally planned to spend just a few short weeks in Lebanon and then spend the rest of the summer planning and preparing for my second year of teaching in D.C. A dark cloud formed over my summer plans. A few weeks later, my dad decided he wanted to come and he was bringing along Sami, coolest brother ever. The clouds began to part.
What really made the sun shine and the rainbows form was learning that Randa, cousin (sorta), co-Golden Girls fanatic, and lifelong best friend from Los Angeles, was doing an internship for the WHOLE SUMMER in Beirut! I felt so blessed to have spent part of my spring break in LA with her, but a whole summer in another country together is going to be epic. Unreal. Needless to say, I'm now ecstatic to go.
What would really top the whole thing off would be if Amal, my older sister, would hop on board and join us. She, Sami and I, along with Randa, would be a dangerous foursome. A ridiculously good looking, dangerous foursome ;)
I'm hoping many things for this blog. First and foremost, I simply want to capture everything that happens to me while on my summer adventure. More than that though, I want this blog to help open my eyes and let me really see the things around me. I love the quote I put in the heading of this page. It would be a huge, sad waste to frolic around in the Middle East for a month and not really notice anything. There's so much to see; so much more than tourist attractions. There is a whole culture and a whole way of life that is so different from the one to which I am accustomed and I can't wait to take it all in. I've always been really bad at keeping a journal, even when traveling or doing something special (Kate, you can attest to that haha). And I don't consider myself to be a good writer, by any means. My hope is that this blog will help me work on those things. I hope to write often and document the whole trip. I'm not sure what my internet access will be like in the mountainous village of Btekhnay, but I feel like writing is a bit like running- a little is better than none, and the more you do it the better you'll be.
Reader, thanks for reading. My plan is to update at least twice a week, so check back often. If nothing else, I hope that the awkward situations I absolutely will get myself into will bring you a bit of laughter at my expense. Have a great summer.
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