Scattered

I'll try to get some pictures of Dublin up in the next day or two--probably Friday, if it happens at all--but there's a lot going on this week. A few friends from back home were kind enough to point out that even in print, over facebook, I sound like I've gone absolutely mental. Swan dive off the deep end, that's me! :)

I, like everyone else this week, has an essay with a looming due date. I'm lucky I've only got one left (finished the first one ahead of schedule, thank god, because I can't seem to stay focused long enough to get this second one done).

I think a lot of my insanity is just nerves. I'm going to be on my own--really, honestly as on my own as it will probably ever, ever get--for almost a month starting three days.

The mere thought makes me want to dive for chocolate.

I'm not done planning. I haven't booked a return. I've got a train ticket to London, a plane ticket to Athens--hostels booked for both, thank you, papa, for helping with the London one--and I booked a plane ticket from Athens to Bucharest today during lecture. (I couldn't pay attention to the boring, soft-spoken woman who wouldn't use the goddamned microphone, so I figured I might as well get something done.)

I can't figure out a route from the Bucharest airport to the Gara du Nord (the train station at the center of the city). I don't have any idea how much it'll cost to get from Bucharest to Brasov, don't have any idea where I'll stay once I get there, or even where to go from Brasov. My main goal in Romania, though, is to see Vlad's castle. That can't be too hard to find, right? I mean, how many tourists do you think go through Transylvania and don't want to see that thing?

Probably most importantly, though, I haven't figured out how to get back.

I could be stranded in Transylvania.

Hmm. (At least I bought a phrasebook yesterday?)

As much as I adore learning about Alexander the Great, and reading books and articles about him--he was a fascinating guy. Absolutely never someone I would want to meet or hang out with, but completely capable of bending the entirety of the known world to his will through sheer force of personality.

Anyway, as much as I enjoy reading and learning about him, I don't want to write this essay. I want to read my Greece and Romania guidebooks! Why does that feel like too much to ask?!

If you see me this week, I could use a hug. A real one. Like, a bear hug.