Soooooo, Europe, anyone?

I got some stupendous news this weekend! (Well, actually on Friday.) I have an opportunity to go to Prague for four weeks this summer with three friends from one of my classes and six other American students. We're going to be studying poetry/screenwriting at Charles University, the third oldest university in Europe, for four weeks! We'll also have time to see operas and ballets, as well as visit historical sites like Auschwitz and, of course, use our free time to gallavant around Europe and do some coffee house workshops.

I am SO STOKED for this trip! On top of being able to see Europe with some friends, I will be able to put this University time on my transcript, which will give me a leg-up when I apply to grad schools in less than a year.

My boyfriend is really supportive of me going. It means, of course, that we will be spending time apart, and it might turn out that his two weeks of training (for the Marines) lines up with my Prague trip and we might not see each other for six weeks. Of course this is a little bit of a downer, but we talked about what a grand opportunity this is for me and how much I will learn and get to experience, and that weighs so much more than the sadness of not seeing each other for some time.

This means now that I need to really amp up my Mary Kay business so I can have some extra money for daily expenses in Europe, and so that I can hopefully start to fill the hole that this trip will leave in my bank account. I have about a month or so before the money is due, and I've already got some facials lined up for the next two weeks. The most important thing for me to do now is to be giving my business cards away and starting dialogues about Mary Kay with every woman I meet to see if she's interested in a free facial or buying some products--and at the very least she will have my information and can hand it off to friends, or buy stuff in a few months.

I am soooo excited that sometimes I need to dance around because the anticipation is making me jittery and high and I need to let it loose. I also feel a bit scared, mostly because of the whole going-to-Europe-costs-money thing... But I'm using those emotions to motivate me to really work at getting myself to a good and more stable place before I leave. Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Learning lots

(and really joyous!)

Monica