Hey friends!

Well it's now only five days before my departure, & I can't believe it's real. It just sort of hit me last week how close everything was. Normally it would be quite a scramble in these last few days, however I'm feeling quite prepared & not really stressed at all. Gooo me! I've basically finished my trip shopping, I've got all my accommodation arrangements for the next couple of weeks set up, have mostly in mind what I'm going to bring, got my physical done, etc, etc. Basically now I need to clean & pack! & hopefully get my loan back soon from IU so I can pay the rest of my tuition- hmmm...

I got my class schedule the other day! I'm taking Islamic Art & Architecture, History of Ancient Egypt, Advanced Arabic (kidding- I'm way elementary), a topics Poli. Sci. class on Palestine, & a modern Arab history class. But anyway, I'm quite excited about all that, it'll definitely be a change from nursing, & I'll miss being in the hospital, but I think it's so cool that I'm getting to do a semester in courses that are ALL about things I'm interested in learning for my own knowledge. The Islamic A&A & Ancient Egypt classes are supposed to go on a lot of field trips too- how badass is it that my classes go on field trips in EGYPT? Not to brag or anything ;)

So yeah! I fly to London on Thursday at 5:15 PM. I am quite displeased in Canada at the moment for being the only country to not be allowing carry-on luggage- thwarting my plans to put weight in my backpack! But I guess what can you do? I'm not really that concerned about my bag being too heavy actually, my clothes are pretty lightweight & I'll be getting a few things shipped over from the US in a couple of weeks aswell.

So in summary, I'm on cloud nine with what is about to happen in my life! A friend of mine recently summed things up very well- despite everything unfortunate that happened in school last spring, I'm really just taking the scenic route now to graduation. & well I think there is nothing wrong with that at all! So basically that is going to be the motto of my life of the next while. Not only doing the journey but taking the time to stop & smell the (desert) flowers. I can't wait to start sharing my stories with you all!

Until then, be safe, stay happy, & get in out of the frigid cold! (I'm serious) bye for now y'all, see you on the other side of the pond!

Best,

Catie XX :)