Hey y’all!
First off, I cannot believe that this bridge year is actually happening for me. As my departure date grows nearer, I can’t help but to feel scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. This is something completely new and different. I’m not sure how to prepare myself for exactly how big of a change living in a different country will be. It’s a little ironic for me because I, believe it or not, am one that likes to always have some sort of control over a situation. I like to know every little detail of what I will be doing- from the when, the why, and the how, to the where. This whole experience is forcing me to learn to let go of things like that and just go with the flow. There are many things in the process of learning a foreign language, raising $2,500, bolstering community support, and moving to a country that I have never been to with people I have never met, that don’t quite go according to plan.
Second off, I want to thank each and every single one of you for your support thus far in this process; it has truly been invaluable. Without your curiosity, your kind words, your donations, and your love for me the start of this journey would have been much more grueling and complicated. In an effort to repay you for this support, I want you to be able to follow me each and every step of the way during these nine months- which leads me to my third point.
Aside from a certain number of posts being required of me by the Global Citizen Year program, I want to use my blog as a thank you to my community, as a day to day account of what life as an honorary Ecuadorian and burgeoning world traveler and global citizen is like, as a way of keeping my sanity in this upcoming journey, and as a way of documenting my growth (mentally and emotionally) during this next year of my life. I want for my blog to help you understand just how indispensable you all have been to me in this process, and I will put forth my best effort to paint an accurate picture of this for you.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me; I love you all.
-Hadiyah Grubish
