Tag Archives: procrastination

Entry #1- pre-departure panic phase

Hello all! Stephanie Caverno here, kicking off a blog about my journey to Copenhagen, Denmark, and hopefully other European destinations. I leave for Denmark in exactly one week, giving me plenty of time for anxiety attacks about forgetting something, freaking out and futilely trying to learn Danish, and sharing the whole ordeal with all of you. 

If you’re still with me, I’ll start out with a little about myself and my hopes for this blog. I am currently a junior at PSU studying Supply Chain Management, with a minor in International Business. I was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area, and come from an obnoxiously Penn State proud family. We have a Nittany Lion shrine stoically poised in our front yard. I think that says it all.
My primary goal with these entries is to help out future study abroad students. I’m sure there will be things I don’t pack that I should have (commence nervous breakdown) and things I pack that I could have done with out. I hope to share cool places around Copenhagen that I find; where to go and where to avoid. 
The only advice I can give at this stage is PLAN EARLY. If you get papers from your study abroad program in the mail, open them, read them, and study them that day. That second, even. There really are a lot of steps involved in this process, and everything takes an excruciatingly long time. If you need to get a passport, get it early. Get everything you need done for your Visa out of the way as soon as you possibly can. I made the classic college student mistake of procrastination in this department, and my life turned into a Stephen King novel with me running around the streets of New York City searching for sanctuary in the Danish consulate. It was a mess. Don’t go down that road. 
Another goal I have is to keep my friends and family up to date on my life. I especially want my mother to be in the loop when I find a European hunk, marry off, and decide against coming home. (Kidding of course, mother.)
I am incredibly excited to start this journey. I hope to make this blog into something useful for future students to read and plan for their travels, and for me to someday look back on and fondly remember my own. 

Location: Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Wait, I still have to pack? Oh no…

I love to travel.

I used to go on vacations all the time with my family and I would be the first one packed and ready to go. Sometimes I would pack a month or so in advance because I was so excited. What ever did happen to that girl? Because nowadays, I hate packing more than anything.

I think I can attribute it to my senior year of high school. I lost my house in a fire right at the end of my junior year so I was moving around a lot before finally moving back home. But six months later it was time to move to college. So that’s mainly the reason I don’t like packing. It is just strenous. I have to make lists, figure out what clothes I want to bring, the toiletries I need just for now, all the paperwork; just way too stressful.

And, I am leaving in 3 days for London. With this snowstorm here, who knows what could happen? I know I need to buck down and get into London mode, but I just don’t like the stress that comes with packing. Plus, my family is on me to get going. I’m doing necessary laundry right now so I make sure I take the clothes I want and need. And I’m constantly checking the weather in London so I know I’m ready.

I am excited, but nervous too. This is definitely a brand new experience for me. I’ve never lived in a city. I’ve been a suburban girl my entire life! My brother is already telling me how to get from the residence hall to my classes and I’m getting so confused. It will definitely be an adjustment in the beginning, especially with the time difference. My dad and I are scoping out places to watch the Outback Bowl because we cannot miss a Penn State football game! So much to do and so much to look forward to in so little time. I better get going before I miss my flight in three days!


Location: Bethlehem, PA

Of working in factories and other things

It’s a week before I head to Argentina, and I’m nowhere near ready.

I’ve procrastinated the preparations all summer long, so over the past week and a half it’s been a game of catching up – rushing to get vaccinated, calling relatives, booking hostel reservations, etc.

I think I’ve ignored the trip for so long because life in general has been moving especially fast recently. I needed to take a breather for a minute, and I wish things would just slow down while I catch my bearings. Like a lot of people, I’m not sure I know what I want anymore.

This summer, I worked full time at a factory, Hayward Laboratories, producing Palmer brand cocoa butter beauty products. I’ve shoved things in boxes, over and over again, and put caps on bottles, monotonously, for eight hours every weekday for the past two months, all to buy a Canon Rebel T2i camera for the trip. I also wanted to know what it was like to work a “real job” as opposed to silly part times at Dunkin’ Donuts, etc.

The work takes place in a dismal, squat building built in the 1800’s where none of the machines work properly and the concrete floor is caked with decades’ worth of grime. I knelt down to pick a bottle off the floor once and my pant leg was smeared black. There’s no air conditioning, so on hot days, it gets to be more than 100 degrees inside.

It sounds horrible, but it’s an easy job. The lines come fast sometimes, but really the hardest part is fighting sleepiness.

In the short time I’ve been there, though, I’ve seen lots of people filter in and out of the company. Most people don’t last more than a day. It can be “soul crushing,” as my one friend who used to work there says. I’ve had two mild nightmares about being trapped on an endless assembly line and even woke up once saying, “Wait, I’m not at work – I don’t have to do this crap.”

How this ties in is that, on this job, I’ve had time to think. A lot. And while we do have conversations with each other on the line, for most of the day the workers fall into silence. So I’ve been stuck with myself, rethinking my life and all the major decisions I’ve ever made over and over again.

This is hard to put concretely, and I’ll be coming back to this, but I’m hoping to find some direction in Argentina, whatever that means. Somewhere in the back of my head I’ve thought that I might prefer to stay working at Hayward for a while, giving me more time to figure things out. I’ve even thought that I might decide to stay in South America.

Funnily enough, most of the workers at Hayward actually happen to be Spanish-speaking immigrants. I’ve met people from El Salvador, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and Columbia, most of which came to the United States looking for the clich�d “better life.” One guy, a supposed chef, even moved here because he was bored with his life in Puerto Rico and he just wanted to get away.

milhouse-edited.jpg

So far, the plan is this: I’ll be leaving on Thursday, July 29, getting there two days before the program starts. My uncle, Tio Rico, who’s lived in Argentina for most of his life and I only met once when I was very young, will pick me up from the airport and drive me to a party hostel at Milhouse Avenue.

On November 26, I leave for Peru, where I will be staying with family, visiting Machu Picchu, the rainforest, Lake Titicaca, etc. I plan to stay there through New Year’s.

After that, who knows?

One thing in particular has been getting me through these days, and it’s listening to this musician, Manu Chao, who is one of the world’s most popular artists but we hear almost nothing of in the States. He sings in six languages and his lyrics really speak to me – more on that later. For now, here he is serenading Diego Maradona, one of the best Argentine football players of all time:


Location: East Stroudsburg, PA