Challenges future and challenges past

There are taxes to file, housing for next year to set up, planning for future endeavors to be done, paperwork to be taken care of etc. In extracurriculars and other activities, there's lots of farewells to bid, both real and heartfelt as well as obligatory, and then there's school of course, no less challenging than at any other time.

This spring quarter, I have been learning a variety of things: about social networks (think six degrees of separation rather than Facebook or Twitter), PR (the one class where the university spokesperson makes for a great guest speaker), and about public finance (turns out the principles for how we set up our taxes, pensions, insurance etc. are not that different between the U.S. and Europe, after all). There was material of varied difficulty, and there certainly was not much time to spare.

Why? Because it's still necessary for me to figure out all the paperwork for studying abroad in Bolivia. It might not be exactly expected when you first think about it (at least it wasn't to me), but Bolivia actually poses a variety of demands when one wants to apply for a student visa, even though for the three months that I'll spend there, I could also spend on a tourist visa, which I don't even need as a European citizen. But we're still talking about *studying abroad*, so a student visa will be necessary. And for that, I have to prove that I have a ticket both into and out of the country (what if I wanted to immigrate to Bolivia illegally), prove that I don't have HIV and that I'm vaccinated for yellow fever, that I have enough money to survive in Bolivia until December, show a police document saying that I've been behaving, and lots of other things. And then, surprise surprise, acknowledge that Bolivia has no consulate in Prague and the closest ones are in Munich or Vienna, and thus get an excuse to plan a trip to either of those :) I just hope it's going to be just one trip, not something like "You're missing stamp XY on line Z, you need to rectify that and come back tomorrow, sir."

I must admit, although I do have lots of exciting experiences ahead of me still, I can't help but think sometimes about how quickly the three years went by, and that entering the fourth means approaching the finish line of my grand adventure. And even though I always tell people I wouldn't settle in the U.S. for the long term even if I could, it's becoming clear to me now how much I'll miss the land of the free and the home of the brave when I'm gone. But before all that, Bolivia! And now you have to excuse me, I'm off to review my Spanish :)

Have a great summer, y'all.