the clock is ticking!

Now that I'm out of school, I can really devote all of my time and attention to this trip! It's still unbelievable that this is all happening to me...and with only about 26 days to go! Whoo hoooo!!

I have received so much information in the mail (all at once too) and right now I'm taking the time to read through it all. I'm learning more about my country, the do's and don'ts of being a host daughter (ohh that sounds soooo cool), and what and what not to pack when I go!

Thank you to everyone that has chipped in and made it all the more possible for me to go abroad! I appreciate everyone soooo much :)! And I will definitely keep blogging up until my departure and once I am in Italy!

Until next time, Arriverderci! :)

senior!!

School is finally over!! Thank you GOD!! I have compeleted my finals and now the hardest year of my life is ovvveeer! Let the summer begin...I'm a SENIOR!

thank you!

I'm getting so much support from all my friends and family and even my mom's friends at work for this trip. Thanks everybody for your help! I really appreciate it. I will be leaving Chicago on June 26th for my Gateway Orientation in New York, and then I will be leaving New York on June 27th. I'm so excited and can't hardly wait. I can't wait to meet more people when I get to New York at the orientation that will be flying to Italy with me. We won't leave New York until about 8:45 at night! and we will change planes the next day in Zurich, Switzerland and then arrive in Rome at 2:00pm. Coming back, it will be the same thing, and I will get back to New York at 3:45pm on August 2nd. It's all sinking in now that this is really about to happen. AFS has sent me SOOOO much information in the mail and email that I have to read before I go. My head is spinning with all the stuff they sent me but it's so exciting. I'll be updating again soon!

new friends

I joined this "AFS Italy Summer 09" group on facebook and it's, like, 6 of us already! All of them have sent me friend requests (I accepted them happily),and right now we are all in the same boat, waiting for our summer to begin so that we can have the best experience of our lives! These are just a few of the people that I will meet up in New York with!

It's amazing the direction my life is going right now! I have lots of friends right here at home, but now I have friends from different parts of the country too! Talk about cool!

More interesting news: Not only am I making connections with kids from different parts of the U.S, but I have already made one with a girl from Italy (can you believe it?!)who is going through the same things I am right now. She is doing an exchange here in the U.S. for a year! She let me know if I have any questions about Italy she'd be more than happy to answer some, and I let her know she can do the same with me about coming to the U.S!
Life is good!

Until next time, Arriverderci! :)

the search is on

Hey everyone, I have some exciting news! *drum roll please* My mom called to check up on how my host family process is going, and as I'm typing this, my AFS application is going around to different host families in Italy!! Now all I have to do is wait...and wait. I have been told by many AFS representatives that the majority of AFSers do not even know who their host family will be until a few days before or the the day of their departure!!

But while I wait, I have my new culture trek account to keep me busy. AFS set this account up for me, and it's my on online orientation that I have to complete before I leave for Italy. I am also brushing up on my Italian! "Ciao, come stai?" OOhhh, I can't wait to ask my host family that! They'll be so impressed! :)

Although I do not know my host family yet, I do know where my international gateway is...*another drum roll* NEW YORK CITY!!!
I've always wanted to go to New York, and can't believe I'm going for two days! While I'm there, I will have another orientation (they call it a "gateway orientation") and I will get to meet everyone that I will be on the plane with! There will also be AFS students from all over the country with me, getting ready to head for countries like Spain, France, and Iceland! I'm sure we will all have an amazing time!

Until next time, Arriverderci :)

awesome orientation

My first pre-departure orientation on Sunday was great! We got there a little late (not too late though), but we still learned so much! First, the instructors told us what and what not to pack. I'm only allowed to leave Chicago with one suitcase, and one carry on bag and a purse. The packing part of the orientation went on for about 45 minutes and then they split the students going abroad and the parents up.

In the room, there were about 50 students. Some were going to the same places, like, Japan and Argentina. I met 5 other students going to Italy for the summer like me. They were all as excited as I was! I just forgot to get their #'s. Ooops.

We were told that that there is no right or wrong way in another country...it's just different. The lady also explained how other countries are not big on flashy electronics that Americans bring. They feel offended. Bye bye iPod =(. In the middle of our session, the lady handed us packets from our country filled with quotes and advice previous AFSers have said about their experiences abroad. My Italy packet was five pages long! All the students said it was an experience of a lifetime! They told me to go with an open mind, and I'll never eat so good again in my life. Our instructor touched on a lot of other points when traveling abroad after we read our packets. Students come back more mature, more appreciative for the people and things in their lives, and they are just generally better people. I can't wait for that to be me!

We came back into the main room with our parents, and to our surprise there were so many foreign exchange students here from the countries we were traveling to! We broke off into groups to talk to them; Italy AFSers in one group, Japan AFSers in another, you get my point. There were 3 students from Italy in my group to talk to us. I had so many questions for them! What should I bring? How's the food? What do Italians do for fun? They happily answered all these questions including the ones the other people in my group had. We chatted with them for a long time, and I walked away from the orientation feeling even more excited (if possible) for my departure.
Until next time, arrividerci! :)

afs orientation today!!!

Hey everybody today I am going to my first AFS pre-departure orientation! I'm excited. All of my friends who are traveling this summer from Link will be there and all the other people in the area who are traveling will be there too. The orientation is going to be long because it's from 12:30 to 4:00, but it will be a lot of fun because we will get to talk to other students today who have traveled through AFS. Some other things have happened since the last time I wrote, AFS was still asking for more documents. I had to send them a copy of my passport and also a color copy of my family photos. That was the last of everything. Some cool things are happening in school. I started a book club at my school that I'm very excited about and I have my first college interview coming up in a couple of weeks. Well, I have to start getting ready to leave for orientation today because it's a long drive. I will let everyone know how the orientation went. BYE!