Playlist: September

It's officially the end of September, and I'm officially in France. Funny how things change in a month. Well, here's the soundtrack to my September, inspired by:

- A newfound love of Nicki Minaj (seriously, "Grand Piano" though)
- Watching Ken Burns' The Civil War (or like, two parts of it. Still need to watch the rest. Bt any excuse to listen to "Ashokan Farewell")
- Dad's Sunday morning "wake up" playlist
- Switching it up and listening to country instead of top 40 while washing dishes...and discovering I liked some of the songs
- Also finding out that Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum plays not only the mandolin but also the bouzouki?!
- Iceland's apparent obsession with American late 60s/early 70s music
- Visiting Yoko Ono's Imagine Peace Tower
- The few Icelandic songs that Shazam was able to recognize
- Of Monsters and Men (because Iceland)
- The music that came on shuffle as my plane was landing in Paris and therefore sums up how this year will be
- New Josh Ritter music
- The Ryan Adams version of 1989
- And I think you can guess why the last song is on there

Shuffle and enjoy!

Update: I am in Lille

From a festival last night. Still not really sure what we were celebrating but whatever it was fun.

Full days spent in Lille: 4
Hours in transit to get to Lille (plane/cab/train): About 11
Hours spent waiting in airports and train stations: About 7
Days in Reykjavik for stopover: 1.5
Snapchat stories that failed to upload due to lack of wifi: upwards of 20
Average number of hashtags per Instagram post: 3
Time spent worrying about lost retainer that I actually just left at home: too much
Baguettes eaten: 1...okay 2.

Ready or Not

Here's a picture of Tyler Clippard, because his walk up song when he was on the Nats was "Ready or Not" by the Fugees. Also because I miss him. And look how happy he was in a Nats uniform!

I think I've packed everything I need.
I think I have all of my paperwork.
I think my photo for this long stay visa looks better than the last long stay visa I got.
I think.

All that I know is that in a few hours I'm leaving to start an eight-month adventure teaching English in Lille. No turning back. No changing my mind. No chickening out. This is happening.

I think I'm ready.