ONE WEEK!!!!!!!

Its all so unbelievable! Today is Monday, August 31, 2009, and I leave next Tuesday!

I have finally made contact with my host family! I have two sisters, one who is 15 now and who I will be sharing my room, named Alessia, and the second is several years older than me and will be off at college named Consuelo. I got the host family information actually about a week and a half ago and made contact with Alessia right after. I cant even begin to tell you how worried Dad was about me! Because before all we knew about the family was the Dad and Mom's information and Dad was REALLY worried I wouldn't have siblings and would be in like a "servant" situation or he didn't know, he was just SO worried. He was so relieved when we got the information, and not only do I have a host sister but it seems like she was the big push behind hosting.

Alessia and I have been talking a lot. Her English is INCREDIBLE! Its as fluent as Pong I do believe. Its just SO great! She and I have a lot in common. I think we are going to get along just great. And she is SO pretty. She has been very helpful in answering all of my questions. She and my new family visited New York and Washington last summer. Alessia just loves it so much =) Me too! Those are my two favorite US cities! (And I've visited both at least twice)

I'm getting SO crazy excited! I know I keep using SO but it just seems like the only appropriate way of describing everything. REALLY! Its all so surreal! I got new luggage yesterday and so now I shall begin packing as its coming up fast!

This is my last full week in America! What a crazy concept, isn't it? My world has changed so much in the past year its incredible.

Last Friday night was my going away party with my friends. I will see Cleveland people again, but for everyone else this was my last chance. It was a great night with some incredible memories. Actually Friday in general was amazing! Most of my classes were pretty relaxed and were shorter because we had a pep rally at the end of the day, which was so much fun! (check the video). Then I went home and got ready for the party, which was incredible!

Well I was seriously worried about getting my visa for going abroad. We got all the docs in and then the consulate called Dad and said one of the doc's was wrong. It turns out that that doc had a AFS letterhead instead of my host school's. We really scrambled and ended up just crossing our fingers hoping it would all be ok. It arrived today! All done perfectly! WHAT a relief. That was the final hurdle! The last thing that could hold me up, and less than a week until, it all worked out and I can go! And so now I am off.

I don't think I will post again until I am there, but its possible that I might =)

I have a host family!

I actually found out last week but am just now writing. All I know is that they exist, nothing else except where they live. They live in an extremely small town in southern Italy. Address is :

Via Provinciale, 56

85043 Latronico PZ, Italy

Its all so exciting! I'm super excited again! I'm spending more time than I have in a long time studying Italian! Today I took some time to watch several videos on YouTube that say they take place in Latronico. They are super exciting =). Most are recent, within just a few years old at the most, one being from just earlier this summer and of teens. They were all dressed up for Carnevale (the closest American thing is Halloween but its really not close) at a party. They looked so much like us, only speaking Italian =). I'm just so excited I dont know what to do with myself. How on Earth am I to sit in class for 3 weeks when the trip of my life is just right around the corner?????

I'm working on getting my Visa in order but its being incredibly difficult! The Italian Government requires I go to the Consulate to get it, but the closest one is in LA and not really a option so we are working on getting special permission to not appear in person, but I have to wait for AFS's contact to contact me, but she hasn't and we are running out of time and AFS's visa coordinator just keeps saying wait one more day...day after day after day. We are down to three weeks and if I were to appear in person it would take a minimum of two weeks but we have to use the mail both ways! AHHHH!

So I wish I knew more about my family. All i know is their address and the dad and moms name. I dont know what they look like, if they speak ANY English, or even if I have siblings. Nothing! I mean I'm stoked they choose me, at least someone did, but I'd like to know who they are por favor!