Catorce días.

First off, I have to say I love Spanish kids. I can post a status on Facebook like "Emily is happy" at 12:20 AM and within... twenty seconds or so have a dozen responses. They're almost as excited as I am for mi llegada, or my arrival. Very different from the kids at my home school, who border on nasty to foreign students.

Anyway, this post is in celebration of the two-weeks-'til-departure mark. It'll be the last I write while in the USA. I'm going to wait until I've arrived at my hotel in Santiago to further pester the lovely people on my email list.

As of two days ago, I am completely ready to enter Chile. A trip to Boston to get my visa wound up concluding far better than expected and those awful consulate boys got me through alright. If you're wondering about these guys, here's a brief synopsis.

Two brothers of approximately eighty years have lived and worked together all their lives. They are now "Honorary Consuls" of Chile, and although they are volunteers, the lavish furnishings in their lovely home can only be explained by Mr. Lerach himself: "Oh, we're recognized." his tone implied a wink and a nod, to say the least. As we approached the immaculately-kept three story home, we could make out a Chilean flag and an inconspicuous label over the basement door: "Consulate of Chile." My esteemed mother felt it unnecessary to knock, to the shock and chagrin of Mssrs Lerach and Lerach. The response to my apology ("She should have knocked, shouldn't she?" ...Imagine my horror) was a firm, "YES, she certainly should have." Needless to say, Mom wasn't too pleased with the old coots.

In any case, they sealed up my paperwork with the perfection that comes only of one who has stamped, signed, and photocopied for years, and we escaped, for the most part unscathed. As we sat on the subway to downtown Boston, Mom's voice hissed in my ear: "He was an ASShole."

Anyway, on other things. I'm not packed, I haven't made the slideshow, I need to send my visa shtuff to AFS, but I've got the family gifts! So I think it's all pretty even there. And on top of all that, AP scores came in today, reassuring me that there is indeed hope for my future. (It all becomes much easier now...)

I've been thinking about what I'll miss. I'll mostly miss my family, but that's obvious. I'll miss my dog Leroy... My kitties.

I'll miss Dairy Joy and late, damp, Florida nights in the car...

I'll miss just having a car...

I dream of meeting my family. In those moments proceeding sleep, flashes of expectancy keep me awake. I see my Mamá's face... Kissing the cheek of my sister, embracing my father... I imagine meeting my schoolmates and cousins and uncles and aunts...

I imagine just looking at the Andes.

I think about nothing but that day, fourteen days from today, that begins the unconcievable. Excitement is paramount to this feeling. Only an AFSer could know...