Six days until I get on a plane to leave the country for the first time. Everything seems to be coming together! I mean, I finally got a hold of the internship coordinator, Justine, and she and I made plans to chat this afternoon. My day began well enough, though my neck and calf muscles were in knots from stress. I ran out the door into a torrential downpour on the way to my morning massage appointment. Picture it: I'm beginning to be stressed about my trip, a stress which is physically manifesting itself in gnarled, knotted muscles in my body. Muscles that contract into knots and pull my achilles tendon taught, aggravating my tendonosis. The weather reflects my gloomy mood, as the rain pours down from black, heavy clouds. Once I reach my destination and Robin begins working the stress out of my ropy neck muscles, I am suddenly enveloped in a glowing aura of light. My muscles relax, my tendonosis releases, I am freed from my stress and the sun's heat evaporates the rain clouds as rays of sunshine warm my face as I leave my appointment. Crazy, right? Well, it happened.
My next stop of the day was to pay a visit to our local comic shop in order to sell my Emerald City Comic Con passes to the shop's owner, Gus. Although I ached to go to ECCC and meet my favorite science-fiction celebs and comic book artists, my original departure date was changed from April 1 to May 20, causing me to have to miss the con. Once Gus paid me for the passes, I of course had to buy a graphic novel from him so I'd have something to keep me company on my trip. Gus recommended a Spanish/English graphic novel called "La Perdida" by Jessica Abel. It was a fictional autobiographic story of the author's trip to Mexico for the first time. I bought the book, and can't wait to read it! Gus also suggested that I keep my own graphic travelogue of my adventures in El Salvador, and since my childhood dream was to be a cartoonist, I took him up on that idea and added my sketchbook to my packing list for my trip.
After I left the comic shop, I headed to class. I was a little bit early, so I sat in the car and took the money Gus had paid me for the ECCC passes and put it into my coinpurse, which I put into my coat pocket. I attended class as usual, then I got a phone call from my mom, asking me to meet her in town because my travel insurance card finally came in the mail and she wanted to discuss travel plans with me. I met her at the restaurant, opened my mail, then reached for my wallet to put my travel card in it. Wait.
I felt the black, inky sensation of dread welling up in the back of my head as I tore frantically through my coat pockets. My wallet wasn't in my pocket! Could it have fallen out inside my car? I ran out to the car, and looked everywhere: under the seats, in the pockets of the door, in the center console, etc. Nearing full-on panic, I hopped in my car and drove back to campus, where I literally got down on my hands and knees and searched beneath every car in the lot I had parked in, hoping my wallet had fallen in plain sight. No luck. I even went back into Black hall and interrupted an ESL class to see if I'd left my wallet in the classroom. It wasn't until after I'd checked three lost-and-found locations and called the campus police that I let myself cry. Here I am, six days from trying to leave the country, and I've just lost my driver's license, debit card, and $60 cash. Not the best of days.
My mom was very patient and understanding, and kindly paid the fee at the DMV so that I could get a replacement driver's license (unfortunately, I will only have the paper temporary ID by the time I travel. Thankfully, I just need a passport). She also accompanied me to the bank to cancel my debit card and request a rush delivery on a new one. All is now taken care of, although my driver's license picture is awful. Pro-tip: Wait until after you've washed and fixed your hair and let the swelling from crying recede in your face before going to the DMV for a new license.
My mother so kindly pointed out that this is just a lesson for me to learn before going abroad: always be aware of my surroundings and (my words, now) don't be such an airhead so as to lose my own wallet. Don't keep wallets in pockets. Ever.
I'm just glad that this happened pre-trip with enough time for me to just pop down to the bank and DMV and get new cards. I won't have that luxury if something like this happens in El Salvador, which is why I'm making copies of all my important documents to have on me in case something is lost.
Well, in other news, finals week is coming up. I've got lots of packing and studying to do, yet!
Hasta luego!
Britt
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