It Is Trish

One of my DTS friends recently decided that she and her husband are moving to England instead of staying in Texas.  I freaked out, screaming, “Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!  You’re going to live in England!  That is such a cool opportunity!  I’m so jealous!”

She stared at me for a moment.  “Tricia.  You’re moving to Greece.”

I gasped.  “You’re right!  I’m so cool!”

I was flabbergasted.  I guess I’ve been so involved in the planning, and worrying about the fundraising (donate here!), and thinking very practically that I forgot:  I’m moving to Greece.  I’m going to live in Athens for a whole year!  This is literally a bucket list experience (which I would prove with a picture of my bucket list notebook, but it is already packed for my move to Peoria), and I don’t think I’m appreciating it enough.

Luckily, I have friends like Michal, who share my love of traveling (read about our Puerto Rico vacation or our New Orleans weekend) and ask me, “What in Greece are you most excited about?”  Well, here’s my top five. 

1. The food!  Everything in Greece is delicious, even the stack of vegetables I once ate, and I don’t even like vegetables.  They put french fries with nearly every meal, and I will never eat enough gyros to satisfy the gyro-shaped hole in my stomach.
2. Making new friends!  I scouted out some friend possibilities when I visited Athens in March, and I feel very good about my prospects.  One of my favorite things about traveling is finding kindred spirits in different cultures, speaking different languages, but with a heart that beats alongside my own.
3. Feeling competent!  There is no rush of self-confidence like struggling through being a foreigner until you run into that sweet moment of “I’m doing it!  I’m buying groceries!  I’m living a normal life in an entirely different country!”
4. Getting bored of amazing culture!  “Oh, the Parthenon?  Yeah, I go there all the time.  Two thousand years of history doesn’t do it for me anymore.”  The hipster in me cannot wait to be disaffected.
5. Public transportation!  I love driving, and the freedom it gives me to sing along to my favorite songs.  The only thing better is public transportation, and the freedom it gives me to read for an even greater proportion of the day.

You might have noticed that “working with women who have been trafficked” is not on my Excited List.  That’s because the job part of my trip still scares me.  I expect to be pleasantly surprised with my competence and with bonding with some of the women, but I also expect to maybe throw up in fear of doing something horrible.  So.  Not quite worthy of this post.