Slogging (written in Chicago)

v. INF to slog 1. Sleepless blogging; blogging on very limited sleep. 2. Dragging logs through a forest. 3. Squishing cereal that has been saturated in milk with a spoon.

I’m in the O’hare airport right now. Today has been a delightful day. I woke up early and packed my pillow, teddy bear, and toothbrush in my already-full bags. For those who are wondering, when moving to a foreign country for seven months, one packs two 22.8 kg (50 lbs.) bags, one carry-on, and takes a backpack. This traveler’s hand baggage was excessively heavy as she put a large number of books in it, along with chocolate chips, several clothing changes, and brown sugar *shout out to Amanda*. I would have squeezed canned pumpkin in as well, but the U.S. is experiencing a nationwide shortage of canned pumpkin, which is truly unfortunate.

I boarded my Southwest flight to Chicago, and ran into a high school classmate’s dad on board. He graciously helped me find my bags and we split a cab to get downtown. I deposited my luggage in my uncle’s cubicle and walked to the Spanish consulate, where I picked up my visa. Woo! It’s temporary because when I get to Spain, I have to go to a certain office and apply for a residence card (squeal of joy!).

Anyway, eight hours later, I am sitting in O’hare, waiting for my flight to board. Other highlights of my day include spending some quality time with my former roommate Karen, eating lunch with my uncle and Caitlin, and journalling for a while.

At this point, I have everything I can possibly conceive of needing except travel size lotion. I will live. I’m heading to the duty free shop to see if they have some tester products...

To be continued after some airplane sleep using a never-been-used Australian neck-wrap pillow from the 90s... after I visit two new cities to me! London and Barcelona