Studying Abroad (As in "Other Places", Not "A Woman")

This is an early afternoon post, so I hope that all of those who are still working (i.e. not retired!) will see this when they are done with their duties at their occupation.

My ears keep popping today, students are restless, and the wind is blowing just right… a weather change is in the air.  I fear it is “The Change” that will start bringing the winter I dread to this corner of the earth.  Maybe not, though, and right now I would greatly appreciate the weather to change, it has been far too hot.

When the first cold snap hit, Eureka turned off the air conditioning for the dorms, so it becomes very hot if the mercury rises above seventy five degrees.  It is amazing how well cinderblock walls trap in heat!

Sam is behind me, searching out schools to study abroad.  He wants to be a German major as well as engineering, so he is searching for schools in (you guessed it) Germany. 

I wonder if I will choose to study abroad.  It is a once in a lifetime experience, but so many other things are as well!  Would it be beneficial to the education I hope to achieve during my four short years here at Eureka? 

I know that one of the two mentorships I am given will be abroad.  If I was to choose today (which is a year and some early) I would want to go journey on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and walk the pilgrimage across France and Spain.  One of my dearest teachers, Mrs. Earle, took this trip a few summers ago.  I would probably start in Paris, make a stop at the Taize ecumenical monastery, and then walk (along with the occasional car or train) to the city of Compostela near the Atlantic Ocean to see the remains of James, the brother of John.  It would be a study of pilgrimages, as this was one of three major pilgrimages during the medieval era (the others being to Jerusalem and Rome, I believe).  It would be so much fun and yet so eye opening. 

I also would need to know a bit of French, which if I went during the Summer of 2013, I would need to start studying French next year.  Depending on how much French I would need, I still would likely start next year, but take the domestic trip in 2013 and the international trip in 2014.  Whew! 

What’s wonderful is that I don’t decide this now, and it is probably too soon to even begin consideration.  However, I look at the doors God has opened to me and I smile and I cannot wait to walk through them to explore as much of God’s creation as I can.