Visas, countdowns, and piles of papers.

Ah, how errant of me. I forgot to update on the final standing of the every illusive French visa. Let me start with saying that it did obviously work out and I have all the correct paperwork to successfully go to France for the allotted time period. In fact, I apparently had the correct paperwork as of that Friday.

I take the El back downtown by myself and am able to avoid the previous 10-block hike to the Consulate. This is mostly due to my neurosis about being late, and the fact that I was actually almost an hour early—time which I spent in the Starbucks across the street. Unfortunately, my cellphone was on the verge of complete death due to lack of charger, which severely hindered both my timekeeping—as I do not own a watch—as well as my rendez-vous making with Regina, another former member of the Training Team who just happens to live ON Michigan Avenue across the street from the Consulate.

I do, in fact, make it back over to the Consulate, where the same woman reassures me in no uncertain terms that my current visa with the dates on it will be perfectly fine. When I ask if she is sure she responds saying roughly, "Of course I am, if I were not, I would not have told you." Strangely, this time I am (and continue to be) reassured and I left the Consulate feeling much better, if not a bit silly.

Happily, Regina and I manage to meet at the Starbucks after a frantic text message episode ending with my saying "Starbucks. Now." before my phone promptly died. I spent a few hours with her, seeing her cute appartment, riding over to see her college which is actually IN the Merchandise Mart, and finally going to H&M where I bought another hoodie. Then, I met back up with Kara's roommate near their college, who drove me back to the apartment so I could leave. All in all, I managed to be on the road by 3ish chicago time. I had to have a nice japanese man use his jeep to actually PUSH my car out of its snowy encasement on the side of the road, but for the most part, a smooth departure.

My entire family spent the day worrying about the road conditions, and by the time I made it to Cincinnati they were beginning to become horrendous. Alas, I had to return to Athens that night (as the next day they were sure I wouldn't be able to get out). Unfortunately, this meant that I had a harrowing experience driving home... It took almost 4 hours compared to the usual 2-2.5. Also unfortunate was the fact that during a phonecall to Sarah to tell her my progress, she thought I'd said I was 10 minues away. When I did not appear over an hour later and didn't answer my phone—gotta love the reception between Athens and Cincinnati—she began to think something had happened and I was on the side of the road somewhere and decided to come look for me. Thankfully she didn't get too far and we both made it home safe and sound.

On the whole my observations about my experience:
1. Thank Goodness I have friends to stay with in the Chicago area.
2. I love Michigan Avenue, but it is VERY good that I do not get to spend a lot of time on it as I spent far too much money.
3. I hate driving in snow more than almost anything.
4. I have a super awesome roommate.

In other news, as of today I officially have only one month left (29 days) until take-off. This time next month I will be frantically preparing my bags for the airport. It's kind of amazing. Well, and also terrifying since we STILL DON'T KNOW OUR HOST FAMILIES. I'm getting frustrated by that. At least Farah has turned out to be really great. I can't wait to meet her.

Furthermore, My awesome friends told me last night they're having a going away party for me, Alicia and Jess (who are both studying in Ecuador this spring)... I'm going to miss them. I can't believe how fast time flies (or slow, also). Now, if only I can survive the rest of this quarter. Current count: 10 remaining papers. I should probably be working on that now...