Fingers Crossed....

With just under six weeks until I depart for Spain on August 26th, I'm already in a state of panic. Spain, of course, is one of those lovely countries that requires American students to acquire a visa if they plan on staying more than three months. So, after compiling all my documents and sending them home with my family, my best friend went to the Spanish Consulate to turn over the paperwork to apply for my visa.

My phone rang twenty minutes after her scheduled appointment with bad news: They want a letter from Spain that I simply don't have, and won't have until I arrive in Seville.

Needless to stay, I'm completely freaking out and have e-mailed everyone under the sun to find out if I can get this specific letter at all (normally the letters Penn provides you to take to the Consulate are accepted without such a fuss). Currently, no luck. But that's why my fingers are crossed.

Now I don't want to scare anyone from applying for a visa one day, it just so happens that the Spanish Consulate in Chicago is particularly difficult to work with. So for those of you future Spanish travelers -- apply for your visa in New York, which opens its doors to any student whose school is within in its jurisdiction (that includes Philadelphia, thus Penn).

In the meantime, I'm savoring my last few days down the shore before I head back home, and back to work. And if I have to go to that Consulate myself kicking and screaming for that document, I will be taking the train up to Chicago to get the job done.

Greetings from the Jersey Shore!

Yes, that's right, I've taken up residence down the Jersey shore until the end of this month. But don't think I've just been laying on the beach all summer! (I wish). I stuck around Philly for summer session I, took two classes (COMM 339 - Critical Perspectives in Journalism and MKTG 211 - Consumer Behavior, for those of you who are curious), and worked as a research assisant for a content analysis being done through the Annenberg School for Communication. Phew! That sounds like a lot on paper, but the great part about summers at Penn is that everything is much more laid back and relaxed than during the normal school year. Classes are much less stressing, and typically on the smaller side.

Another added bonus - summer sessions I and II are only 6 weeks! Classes feel like a blink when compared to the regular thirteen-week semesters we're used to at Penn. My COMM 339 class met only twice a week, and between having off for Memorial Day and reserving two classes for exams, we only met 9 times! Marketing met four days a week, but classes were very informal and the discussions were usually about fun topics.

But now that's all behind me! I've got another two weeks of sun and sand before I head back to my job at home. Then before I know it, I'll be flying off to Spain for the fall semester. :-)

And I'd like to add that there are only 10 days until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!