Where has the summer gone? I just arrived back home from dropping my younger sister off in Ithaca for her first year of college and it has finally set in. Summer is just about over, only a week left to pack, organize, and say goodbye to my family. I depart Aug. 31 for France, and it feels like a ghost town here in upstate New York with all of my friends already back at school.

So what have I been doing this summer to prepare for my semester abroad?

Well ... not much to be quite honest.

After finals were over this past spring, all I wanted to do was get home and hibernate for a while. Albeit short-lived, my time at home was restful, but (mildly?) truncated due to a month-long spell in Washington, D.C. Thanks to the CDC, I was able to secure an unpaid internship at the U.S. Capitol with a congressman from Ohio.

Upon my return to Poughkeepsie (home), I worked a few odd jobs landscaping and painting for family friends. Before I knew it, July came and went, and it was time for our annual family vacation in Maine.

The month of August has been dragging, to say the least. Feelings of anticipation and apprehension have been swelling up inside me. I am excited to burst the "bubble" and spend time outside of Bucknell, yet I know I must leave behind the comforts and embrace a new and unfamiliar environment.

Whenever I tell someone that I am studying abroad - at church, Wal-mart, or even the Capitol - I always receive the same response: "Are you excited?" Not until now have I begun to formulate a concrete answer to that question. Of course I am excited, but it seemed like an eternity until the end of summer when I would step off the plane in Paris. It is finally here, only a few more days to revel in the joy of being an only child before I leave my parents empty-nested.

That's it for now. Time to pack, brush up on some French, and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Bon voyage!