Preparing to Go Abroad...Again

In high school, I lived abroad in Panama for a summer. It was both the scariest and most rewarding experience that I’ve ever had. I look back so fondly on the memories but also remember the paralyzing homesickness and the difficulty to assimilate to the culture. Now, as I prepare for another journey, I am both excited and apprehensive to live abroad in Mendoza, Argentina next fall.

Photo from Rayna Healy

There is no doubt in my mind that I will love Mendoza. But doubting my ability to overcome the language barrier and my ability to live without my family, friends, and support group that I completely depend on is easier. As a picky vegetarian, living in the second largest meat-consuming country in the world makes me nauseas. More pressingly, the school year is coming to an end. For many, the promise of summer hangs sweetly in the air. However, apprehension sweeps over me when I think about leaving campus for the next eight months.

In Panama, I had no internet or phone or means of communication. I felt so lost and far away.  However, it helped me find myself and my identity in a way that I never would have been able to at home. As scary as it is to think that this process is ahead of me again, perhaps in an even bigger way since I will be gone for so much longer, it is natural to be scared. But when I look back on my time in Panama, my memories are so much deeper than the fear and the homesickness. They wrap around me to the core of my identity. I learned how trust turned foreign people into a make-shift family that I will always adore. I taught the girls every word of the popular Brittany Spears songs and they taught me how to booty shake. Panama taught me how to trust myself even in such an exotic setting.

Although I am nervous for Argentina, I know that I have a lot of fun in store for me. Journeying is a transforming experience. It can be hard to take such a big leap out of your comfort zone, but it is absolutely worth it in the end.