A Walk in the Park

Wednesday, July 27

The title of this blog is a joke, and not a very good one at that.

Being that today is the final day before our exams, I knew going in that I had a lot of studying to do. But then, in the last minutes of our Hispanic Poetry class, Professor Zemke informs us that we have to turn in written analysis from every one of the poems we did in the last two weeks.

And while he had told us to do them originally, he had made it clear to several people that he didn’t intend for him to read them and that they were our notes.

Or so we thought.

So on top of studying for two exams, I now had exactly 18 1-page poetry write-ups to do in the next 24 hours.

So after lunch, I took my book and headed to the park that’s just down the street. (Hence the walk in the park thing…) It was an incredibly unsuccessful trip; I think I got one whole analysis done. Instead I spent the time talking with Maddy and Matilda, soaking up some Spanish sun, and enjoying being outside.

No regrets, but my walk in the park certainly made the rest of my evening no walk in the park.

 At around 9 p.m., after I’ve finished 8 of the 18 write-ups, I realized that I desperately needed internet to be able to understand one of the poems. So I gathered my stuff together and hauled it over to the mall, where I’ve gotten internet access.

But then, when I log on, I run into a very pleasant problem on Facebook. Turns out, one of my best friends got engaged!

I was so happy for her, and still am (MY CONGRATS TO LINDSEY AND BRETT!!), but it was also bittersweet because I couldn’t be there to congratulate her and celebrate with them and be excited.

Luckily she was online, so I was able to chat with her via Facebook for a few minutes and I got filled in on the details. But then she asked me where I would be next August, when they’re planning on having the wedding.

And the real, kind of terrifying answer is that I don’t know.

I have no idea where I’ll be in a year. There are about 10 possibilities for what I want to do after I graduate, I have no idea which ones I will be accepted to or denied from, I can’t say where I’ll be living, and more than half of these options would make it impossible for me to attend her wedding.

And as I explained to Lindsey, I’ll try my best to be there, but I can’t make life decisions with things like that in mind. I realize that if I want to spend the next ten years or so of my life traveling and experiencing a variety of countries, foods, customs, jobs, cities, and people, then I’m probably going to miss out on a lot with the people I love back home.

Missing her engagement was only a small slice of that feeling, but it has made me realize that I have to embrace the reality of living far away.

And then I realized that I still had a mountain of homework and studying awaiting me, so I raced back home and got to work!