So here I am about two weeks out and I cant quite remember what all I have to say about stuff...also you might not care about point four as much because it is just me recapping my very eventful weekend that brought me out of my study abroad depression.
First- since my last post I have had a skype type meeting with some of the residence staff in Amman. This helped me to get in contact with some of the other CIEE people that are going to be my classmates this fall. It seems like this is a very diverse and very intelligent group of people with lots of money. They keep talking about all the countries they want to visit while we are abroad and how many passports they will need to go to these countries. Some countries wont let you in if you have a stamp from Israel or other rivalry countries so it is apparently quite the balancing act.
Second- I have been stocking up on my Jordanian clothing. New long pants, long tops and shoes in fabrics such as linen and cotton make up my wardrobe. I have some scarves but from what I am told I wont have to wear them.
Third- I have applied for two internships, both of which request a back ground in media relations and camera work and whatnot. So hopefully that will work.
Fourth- (this is Lydia gets real time) as some of you may know I have been FREAKING out. All of my friends are back on campus at Jewell and Im not and it is bad. Even going to the grocery store makes me sad because I see other college students moving in and getting ready for school to start and I am not. I had the opportunity to talk to my friend Charlotte the other day, she is my sorority sister and we will be living together when we return in the spring. Charlotte is spending her fall in Latin America in like three different countries and she has the same sentiments regarding everyone moving back in that I do, we are both sad and questioning our decision. Well Char leaves tomorrow....so that is really scary for her.
Thursday night I was feeling really down in the dumps about not being on campus when everyone else has moved in. Then Friday was way better!!!! Let me tell you about this weekend. My dad had tickets to the Cardinals game yesterday. The seats were in FoxSports Midwest Luxury Suite so we had good seats, air conditioning (even though it was a beautiful day) and free food. That was all that was on the plan for the weekend. Luckily because of the cooler weather we got to camp together. I had been wanting to camp all summer but it was so hot I didnt think I would get the chance. Well I did and it was great. I froze at night and a raccoon attacked out cooler, it was all very exciting.
We woke up Saturday, packed up and headed to downtown STL. The game started at like 3:00 and we got there around 1:00. It was photo day so we got to go on the field and take pictures of all the Cardinals and I shook hands with Frucal and Beltran.
The Chiefs were in town playing the Rams and a sign flashed on the screen at Busch that said if you take your Cardinal tickets to the ticket window at the Edward Jones Dome you would get discounted tickets. After the Cardinals won their game my dad headed to the EJ Dome to buy us tickets.
The Chiefs were creamed which made it less fun but it was still pretty cool to get to see a football game especially because I thought I wouldnt get to see any this year! Then one of the guys my dad works with had an extra room in the Millennium Hotel that he let us use along with three breakfast vouchers for the morning!
After our breakfast we went back to Busch Stadium to visit the team store. They were replaying game six of the world series. I vaguely remember what happened in that game so it was so amazing to watch the 9th inning surrounded by Cardinals fans. From there we took a look at Stan "the man" in front of the third base entrance.
My mom had purchased tickets to the top of the arch while we were at breakfast so we had to hurry from Busch to the Arch so we could make the trip. I guess I had been to the top once before but I had little memory of it. That was a fun trip. Kind of scary though.
Once back on the ground, on our way to the car to head out of town, we stopped by the old courthouse in St. Louis. It was still decorated for the Fourth of July. It was absolutely beautiful inside! I got a little misty eyed seeing all that red white and blue and thinking that I will soon be under red white black and green.
When we finally reached the car, which was parked in a garage overlooking Busch Stadium, the 1:15pm start game was in the fourth inning and we overheard the Cardinals score two runs to put them ahead.
Our goal was to be out of St. Louis by the time the game was over. The Pirates tied the game and sent it into extra innings. We had the game to listen to the whole way home and even saw some of the game on tv once we got home. The 19 inning game ended in a loss for the Cardinals.
This was one of the best weekends I can remember and I loved being able to spend such good quality time with my parents before I leave in two weeks. It was just what I needed to distract myself these last two weeks before I leave.
Well thats it for now. I might have more to say before I leave. Sorry for such a long post and congrats on making it through all of that!
