Non-Refundable Tickets and Why Are You Doing This?

Some friends and I are getting together this Saturday to hang out before I leave for the summer.  As part of the invite Tim wrote, "Please join us to help send-off Alicia as she embarks on her "Immersion Excursion." (The plane tickets are non-refundable, so she ain't coming back until August!)"  Wow!  This is for real!!!  No safety-net to back out.  I'm still excited but I can't lie I'm getting a little nervous.  At my family reunion I got lots of "great" comments/advice:  "Why are you doing this?", "You know they eat funny stuff there?", and "Don't watch them cook it and don't ask what's in it".  I'm not worried about the food.  I loved it last year.  I'm just nervous about getting through the airport and to Antigua, meeting my family the first time, knowing when to hang out with the family and when to leave them alone, and then getting back home in August.  But, I'm doing it and there's more excitement than being nervous.  

On another note, I bought a book about Guatemalan culture.  Great book! Now Tim has challenged me to get to know the culture well enough to bring him back something that truly represents Guatemala.  This will be especially hard since he was there last year and has a surface knowledge.  However, this is really why I am going.  Learning Spanish will be a bonus, but to have the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone, be immersed in another culture, and truly get to know the people is an opportunity not to be missed in my opinion.  In our wedding vows, Tim and I promised to try to better understand ourselves, the world, and God.  I believe that if we can do these three things then our marriage will be enriched and strengthened.  So, I'm starting out our 2nd year of marriage trying to better understand the world...starting with Guatemala.