It's all coming together, I hope...

OH MY GOD. Those three words have constantly been on repeat in my mind for about a week now, and with only a few hours to go before I need to make the gargantuan trip from Liverpool to Stansted before my flight to Fez tomorrow, the mental state of taking everything but the kitchen sink is in full effect. The frantic running around the house making sure I've got my books from last year (which were nestled under a tonne of dust from all that "work" I did during the summer) is hardly ideal, but then again it wouldn't be me if I wasn't packing my bag with such little time to spare, yet trying to fit all of my life into one bag as if I'm permanently moving to the Maghreb.

Despite all the apocalyptic chaos that I've described my life in, I can reassure you that it's just exaggeration from the sheer excitement/confusion that I won't be coming back to the lovely shores of Britain for at least three months, and won't be seeing my beloved Leeds University for the whole year abroad period. It also doesn't help that a multitude of people who have been fortunate enough to go to Morocco keep feeding me scare stories of their mothers, sisters or any other female companion being offered up to a shopkeeper in exchange for an army of camels, or the purveyor of the all-you-can-eat tagine restaurant located down some ill-lit alley of Marrakesh who's food hasn't sat well with what seems the entire contingent of people that have graced the shores of Morocco.

Although it's not all bad. The fact that my flights are of an extremely reasonable price means that I've had every single friend, acquaintance and their aunt tell me that they're going to come and visit, which in one way is a good thing as I'll have some form of support hopefully, but on the other hand I'm sure the authorities will have their suspicions if they see a group in excess of about 25 people charging through the Medina looking for me and my house (which still hasn't been sorted out).

So as a little bit of advice for students going on their year abroad now and in the future, just remember this is your personal experience. It's nice that people have been to the country you're going to be living in for a year, but remember they've only been on holiday, so there's a lack of full immersion there, they won't be in the country with the same mindset as us year abroad students, since we're "in it for the long haul" so to speak, and have to adapt to the environment we're in.

I'm sure it has to be said, if not on my behalf then at least for all year abroad students leaving or those that have already left, the level of enthusiasm that I'm facing right now is unbelievable, and I am looking forward to it all now!