The past several days have been not much more than a sort of feverish blur: I must have contracted the general malaise/ailment that has spread all over campus and my usually-quite-strong immune system has been less than energetic about fighting it off. As a result, I've spent more of the past two days asleep than awake, I'm missing classes, and drinking gallons of orange juice. Yes, I realize that the orange juice thing is totally inexplicable- I don't have a cold, so the extra vitamin C really won't do me much good. On the other hand, it makes me feel like I'm doing something to make this dread disease go away, and that certainly can't hurt.

In more cheerful news, I have finally found the study abroad program I want to go on! After realizing sometime last week that the (unbelievably long and involved) application to go abroad next fall is due on February 22nd, I hurridly made an appointment with my advisor. My main question for her, of course, was "Am I totally insane to attempt to research and decide on a program and complete the application in the next 3 weeks?"

You see, I've been indecisive about where I want to go for as long as I've been in college. There is a part of me that wants to go someplace that will give me a totally different experience than I've ever had- South Africa, for instance. I've grown up in the states, been to Europe for three weeks, but I've never been anywhere but homogenized first world countries. I know that at some point in my life, I'd like to spend awhile in a culture that is radically different from my own.

On the other hand, I also have a real fondness for Europe- I still count my limited time there among the best experiences of my life. I love the feeling of history there, the brick-paved pedestrian zones, ornate civic buildings, remnants of medieval times that have worked themselves into modern life. Also, studying for a semester in a German-speaking country is all that I would need to wrap up a (potential) minor in German, which is something I've considered doing for quite awhile.

The fact that I'm a Psychology major only serves to make things even more complicated- there are almost no programs that are specifically for Psych majors, and not many more that at least have options to take Psych classes.

All my indecision, however, came to a close as I was en route to my appointment with my advisor: I ran into my friend Andrew, who always seems to have the answers when it comes to academic matters. He told me about the program he had found, and when I mentioned my total indecision, he had a suggestion for me: He said he knew of a program in Amsterdam which had something to do with gender and sexuality, two of my main interests in Psych. Right away, before I'd even seen any literature on it, I had a funny feeling that it's the program I want.

Lucky for me, that funny feeling has turned out to be correct. It simply feels right to me- not to mention the fact that it fits perfectly with both my major and my work with Queer Union, and I'll have the chance to learn the Dutch language and do some traveling. Also, I've heard that sponsoring organization has a very good rapport with my college, which means that I shouldn't have difficulty convincing the study away committee of the validity of the program OR getting into the program itself.

So, now all I have to do is complete the insanely long study away application within the next twelve days, along with catching up on the classes I've just missed. I can do it, right?

Listening to: Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik