Pre-departure musings

Ahoj, and welcome to what will be my Slovakia blog. I'm still stateside (as the post title indicates), not quite packed and not quite believing that in slightly over a week, I'll be across the Atlantic.

I'm curious and excited about meeting everyone: both the Americans, and the Slovak contacts I've been emailing for months. Several fellow Fulbrighters are already in country, and have been since August. There are six lecturers, five other researchers/ETAs, and two high school teachers: one of the lecturers is also in Nitra, where I'll be, and the rest are scattered throughout the country. The three who've already started their grants are in Bratislava, which means they'll have much to show the newbies when we arrive for orientation.

I'm in a sort of limbo until next Sunday, when I drive to Atlanta to catch the flight -- I've spent the past two weeks in Tennessee, though leaving New York had the closure and sentiment that one would expect prior to leaving the country for a year. There was something poignant about driving over the George Washington Bridge, on the top level for once, with the entire Manhattan skyline in the rearview's foggy silhouette, growing ever smaller and smaller as I crossed into New Jersey. The 14-hour drive to Chattanooga may as well have been the flight to Bratislava; these weeks in between are just a matter of preparation, coffee, and suitcase stuffing.

Will post first impressions and whatnot at somepoint after my arrival.