Getting Closer to Departure

I’m leaving in 25 days!! On February 2th I fly to Miami and I will stay overnight there for an orientation with all of the other Latin-America-bound AFSers. I don't know exactly what we're going to do there but it'll be cool to meet other exchange students, especially the ones who I'll be in Chile with. The next day all of us exchange students fly to our respective countries. When we get to Chile, we'll be having a two day orientation with all the inbound AFSers before we go to our host families.

I can’t believe that it is so soon. I remember how a long time ago I would say “I want to go on exchange when I’m older.” Then when I was in early high school, it'd be like “yeah, I’m going to go abroad to Latin America junior year.” Then earlier this year I would say “I’m going to Chile next semester.” Then it was “I’m going next month.” Now it is only days until I leave. This is so crazy. It's starting to feel real that I'm actually doing this. It’s a little overwhelming actually...overwhelming but exciting. I have so much to do before I leave, in terms of both school and packing. Today I made a to-do list and a packing list and bought my suitcase. It’s the first real suitcase I’ve ever had and it’s pretty cool. I’m not really looking forward to packing though. I can only bring one 44lb suitcase. I’m not sure how much 44lbs is but I don’t think it’s that much, considering I’m going for five months. It’s good to pack light though.

Good news! I heard from my host family! We’ve been in touch for a few weeks now. I received a long, incredibly nice reply to my first email from my host dad. He told me the school I’ll be going to, what the family is like and what Quillota is like. Turns out I am in the city. He and his daughter have both been on exchange to English-speaking countries so they speak English but he said that they’ll speak Spanish with me, which is great. I’m so, so excited to get to use Spanish all the time. I’ve also emailed with the 18yr old daughter, the 12 year old daughter and the son. They all sound incredibly nice and welcoming, and I’m really excited to meet them! I got to see some photos too, which was pretty cool. It sounds like I’m also going to have another exchange student in my school but I’m not positive.

Other good news: I got my visa! I was really worried about it because the visa process is supposedly really hard but I went in and got mine in a single day. It was an enormous relief to have it stamped and in my possession. I’m that much closer now to being ready!

That’s all for now!
Chau,
Sela