I've just purchased my plane ticket to Thessaloniki last night, the largest single purchase I've ever made in my life ($1102.70!). Soon, I'll be putting down the $3000 program fee (Taryn said she'd buy me a drink after that one. An offer I think I'll have to take her up on...), and in only four and a half months I'll be headed off to Greece for a month. A little less, really--June 8 to July 6--but I have the sense that a month is the perfect amount of time for this guy's first overseas expedition.
What a rush, though. Chalk this decision up to the power of suggestibility. Some context: I was in Meadville this past weekend, visiting old friends and professors when Christopher (who taught me poetry and teaches a food writing course at this program I'm flying off to in Greece) suggested I come along. It probably didn't help that I was in the middle of a beer, and that I had had a few beers earlier in the day. He wrote out the financials on a napkin or a waiter's pad or something and it was actually affordable; and while I didn't think much of it the rest of the night, I did think about it a lot the following day--enough to send him an email to ask what I'd have to do to get in. And after a rush of emails to Christopher and Scott Cairns, and phone conversations with my parents and other friends who've been abroad, and financial deliberation, I confirmed my spot in a poetry workshop with Carolyn Forché (assuming everything works out as planned, though who knows).
I asked my friend Justin if he wanted to come along--he had been talking of traveling to Europe over the summer--and he quickly assented. So he'll presumably be in Christopher's food writing course, and we'll be in Greece together. VCU will be taking Thessaloniki and Thasos by storm this summer! So many of my friends have gone off to Greece with Christopher--their initiation, their grand tour, in some ways--and all are insistent that it changed their lives for the better. "Changes your DNA," as Christopher put it to me.
So many plans, so many plans. We get Friday through Sunday to ourselves, so I'm hoping I can go and get explore and immerse myself in the culture and city for a bit. Who knows. I fly into Germany on my way to and from Greece, and the airport is apparently rather close to Freising, Germany: hometown of Pope Benedict XVI. And while I'm not excited by that fact, I am excited about maybe seeing a little of Germany while I'm there--I have a seven hour layover and hope to look around for a couple hours. Again, we'll see...
The purpose of this blog, of course, is to keep friends and family updated on the trip, and to chronicle some thoughts. I'm sure I'll be keeping my own journal of what's going on, but I do want to share. What else is the internet for, huh?
More soon, everyone. (And by soon, I do think I mean in June...but that's not all that far away...)
