sooo...this is Italy

Well, I did it! After all the months of planning, waiting, and filling out endless paper work, I am finally in Italy! It's still sinking in that I'm in one of the most beautiful countries in the world!

AFS representatives were right by the baggage claim in Laguardia Airport when I landed just like they said they'd be! After I got my bags, I began making some friends! I met kids going all over the world to places like Egypt, Turkey, France, and India! They were all just as excited as I was, and we sat there and talked for a long time waiting for other students to show up!

St. Johns University is where I met all of the other students going abroad including all of my Italy buddies! Guess how many of us it is in my Italy group? 55!! We were the biggest group there and, yes, AFS put all 55 of us on "Swiss Air" together for our 8 hour flight to Zurich, Switzerland, and we had so much fun!! I've met some great people, and everyone clicked so easily like we've known each other forever.

When we arrived in Rome, we were split up by who is going to northern and who is going to southern Italy. So now we are here together in Calabria, Italy (southern Italy) for a week. After we leave Calabria, we will be breaking off from each other to go stay with our host families!! Ahhh I'm so excited!!

At the end of the summer, everyone in the AFS Italy group (people who went north, and the people who went south like me) will meet back in Rome!

Until next time, Arriverderci! :)

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

host family!!! :)

Yaaay!! After all this time, I finally got my host family! I have had so much excitement during this process, but this is probably best news yet! It is really sinking in fast that I will be in a new country in less than 3 weeks!

Well, here's a little bit about them!! I have a host mother, father, and a sister. My host sister is a year younger than me; she just turned 16!!! I was hoping this would happen so I could have someone show me around (although I'm sure my family will do that anyway),and just someone my age to kick it with!

My host mother is the same age as my mom, and the father is not that much older! They live in Matera, which is Southern Italy! I immediately looked up the city and read everything about it and IT. IS. AMAZING! It is a very historic place and, get this, The Passion of the Christ was filmed in the exact city! I can't wait to get there and see it for myself!! In less than 3 weeks I will be living like a true Italian!! (and eating some really great food) Lol!

Until next time, Arriverderci!! :)

thank you to "anonymous"

OMG! Someone I don't even know gave a generous donation to my trip! Thank you so much whoever you are! I appreciate it so much. I don't even know what to say.

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! :)