Welcome to August

August 2nd?! Where does time go... I sent in my acceptance packet and materials for the Costa Rican Work Visa Application today and put down a $1000.00 down payment on friday, which officially puts me a few steps closer to moving to Costa Rica. I spent a few hours talking to Kristen sunday night (she just returned from one month in Copán) and I'm fueled from hearing how great her month was; her and courtney are having/had SOOOO much fun that I can't wait to get there. I keep doing a little bit of packing here and there and have taken a few boxes to my dads...nothing much, but enough considering I'm pretty busy with a lot of different things right now (mainly school). It's just that I'm so antsy to go, if you've ever had that feeling around christmas/birthday time where you know someone bought you that present that you really REALLy want, but you CAN'T have it until that ONE day...it's like that, but much more intense. Of course I'm still nervous, this is a huge change for me and room for a lot of error/problems, but I'm ready. So ready.

I've been doing some thinking about what I want to do with my time while I'm down there, and aside from the obvious (studying spanish, meeting new people, learning new things, volunteering, etc) there's some things that I'm really looking forward to doing:

• I want to reflect on Life. Yes, it sounds corny but I learned alot during my time in school and it's time to sit back and assess it all, come to some conclusions of my own. Start seeing what I feel is truly meaningful and important to me, find what it is I miss the most and what I am able to live without. Find out more about the World and its People. Figure out how people manage to get by without all/most of the things we're told we must live with and still manage to be happy...are they truly happy?! What do I really believe in? WHat are my strengths? Weaknesses?..........I could go on forever, but I feel that I'll be in a better position to think about these things down there, where there is often such a tranquil environment that has the awesome ability to instantly quiet your mind as it demands that you respect it peacefulness...not to mention all the free time I'll have.
• I want to read! No more 100+ dollar text books that somebody else requires that I read. I want to read something that I find enjoyable. Take a mental break. And then, when I'm ready, I'll go back to the intellectual stuff!
• Taking a break from US Politics and depressing over-hyped media coverage of all things negative. I've told some people this, but I've been without a TV in my home for about TWO years now, and I only occassionally watch TV with other people. But, without it, I have felt better than ever, less depression less despair about the World, and I've been able to get more done, I rarely miss it. All this is good of course, because I'm going to end up going another 15 months without it, so I won't be missing anything.

Ok, there's much more to this but I need to stop writing and get some other things done. I will check in again soon.