Days until I leave: 48

I am so, so excited to have my tickets booked.

I keep having flashbacks to how awesome it felt to be visiting 2 years ago, and I absolutely cannot wait to be there again! I feel like being away for so long has given me a lot of time to reflect on our visit and our interactions. I've been able to think about the kinds of things I'm open to trying while I'm there and the way I want to interact with the environment. I definitely want to learn more Spanish this time around. I'm not as keen on it as I am on German, but I think it would, at the very least, be useful for communicating with his mom (beyond "canchita" and "gracias" and "aguita por favor"... also, I learned recently that, although they sound the same to me, canchita =/= conchita... oops).

I also have a little deal with one of J's friends-- I'm bringing some MTG cards with me from the US and painting 2 of his lands in exchange for a good sum. J thought painting cards to sell might be a good activity for me to do while he's at work for the last 4 weeks of my visit. My only worry is getting adequate supplies for painting. I also can't decide if I should sign the cards with my initials or not. I feel like it takes away from the limited space, but I also want my work to be recognized.

I cleared my last day with my boss and supervisor today, so basically everything is a-go! I have my plane ticket booked, my transportation to the airport reserved, and my suitcase is out and bug-free (... I think). I'm so happy to be flying with JetBlue this time-- the in-flight experience is a lot better, and my ticket was only $658! That's even less than I paid on my first visit, with Taca.

As a side note, I nearly booked with Spirit Airlines (they had the lowest price) until I checked out their baggage and in-flight policies. Basically, the price you see listed for their ticket is literally just a (small) seat on the plane and a bag under or over it. This page breaks it down. If you want literally anything else, including water or your boarding pass printed, you have to pay extra for it. Seems very post-college-world-travel-hippie to me.