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...

Treinta y Dos Días...

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. I think it's about time, now that I'm going to start giving out the link!

I received information about my family only a couple of weeks after I was accepted. The Arenas Riquelme family lives in the tiny town of Puente Negro (considered a part of slightly larger San Fernando where I will go to school). I have a nineteen year old sister and an eighteen year old brother (in their last years of school), two teachers for parents, and two dogs. My sister, Alicia, and brother, "Poncho," have been incredibly sweet and understanding as I email them in extremely poor Spanish. Here are some photos they've sent me...

This is my mom, presumably outside my house. The little girl in the background is probably a cousin or neighbor (I don't know for sure due to gaps in communication...).

In the house I will sleep in my own bedroom. I'll be getting up at 6:00 AM (I didn't know it was possible to have to get up earlier than I do for Plant!) and going to San Fernando College. This is a private school which houses about 1000 kids from young children to 19 and 20 year olds. I'm debating whether or not to take my laptop...

Although I'm not sure who this little boy is (probably a cousin?), I love this photo because you can see the gorgeous view from the backyard! Just look at those mountains... I get excited just thinking about it.

Y mi mamá, con un bombon tradicional - las empanadas.

(Thank you, Rosetta Stone...)

I'm so terrifically excited - this family is exactly what I hoped for when I applied. This looks nothing like Los Estados Unidos. I'm getting exactly what I wanted - a very unique experience.

Other things I've been doing...

1. Rosetta Stone

2. Getting a visa

3. Talking to mis compañeros de clase - my classmates

Rosetta Stone is a blessing. A mighty expensive one, but wonderfully helpful. I originally thought I would go to Chile knowing no Spanish at all, but now I can't imagine putting myself through that. Even just the basics I've learned in my 20-or-so hours spent with the R.S. have been unequivocally helpful. I almost know more Spanish than French now... Thanks a lot, high school language classes!

Getting a Visa... I should call it Going Through Hell instead. If I were in Tampa, things would be easier - but as it is, I have to fly from Vermont to the closest Chilean consulate in Boston. Not only that, but my dad has to fly up as well in order to sign documents in person. Of course, that's not how it's supposed to work, but the guys at the Boston consulate are incredibly unhelpful. If you ever feel like a laugh, give them a call. It's two brothers who sound exactly like Ernie and Bert and are about as helpful. Unbelievable. However, I finally have all of my documents in order and am ready to head out to get that one last vital item.

About two weeks ago, I got a flood of friend requests on Facebook from my future classmates in Chile. I can only assume that the teachers told them about me, because everyone contacted me within a few days. It's extremely exciting to be able to pratice my Spanish and meet so many people I'm going to be spending the next 5 months with. My mom finds it hilarious how interested the boys are - the girls aren't all that talkative. However, I'll take whatever I can get. I'm no longer afraid of difficulty making friends. Everyone's extraordinarily friendly, curious, and understanding when I muddle up their language.

>>A side note: My favorite part of this communication is the onomatopoeia jajaja which translates to laughter. Because the Spanish "j" is pronounced "h", it's typed in English as hahaha. I can't stop reading it with a "j" and I know I'm going to arrive and "laugh" at something someone says with a "j" sound. I'm just waiting for that moment. Eek!

There's so much to say about this impending adventure... I say impending because, well, who wouldn't be nervous?! I don't want to break any records, however, for world's longest blog, so I'll wrap up with the beginning of my packing list. It's possibly the toughest thing to plan; I'm only allowed one suitcase!

Besides all-weather clothes:

Family gifts - Maple syrup, crunchy peanut-butter, apple cider jelly, cookbook... (still in-the-works)

School - Big flag (thank goodness it's almost the 4th of July!), maple lollipops for my class, Powerpoint presentation about my life here in the USA (so surprisingly hard!)

War and Peace (for a little light reading... Haha.)

Camera

iPod with power adapter

Laptop???

Photos of my friends and family

American trinkets like jewelry, sunglasses, and hairclips

Phfew, that was a long post. It's so difficult to organize all of this information!
Wish me luck - I leave on July 30th at 10 AM in Miami.

Very scary!

Accepted, Part 2

My birthday was yesterday. While out at my lakehouse (far removed from any semblance of internet access) at noon on my sixteenth , I decided to do something I rarely if ever do. I called our house phone to check the messages on our answering machine. I'm not sure why I chose to do it at that moment, but fate must've intervened because I got the best birthday present I have ever recieved. The seventh and last messge I listened to started out sounding like a routine AFS phonecall from my advisor, Katie. Then it became something incredible. In the span of only two short weeks, my application had been accepted in Chile. This, according to Katie, must be some record. It usually takes months. I cried, I was so excited. I ran outside and handed the phone to Mom so she could hear the message, too. What a gift. 

Accepted, Part 1

I got home today after a week of checking and reckecking my email for that USA acceptance letter to find a large-ish envelope on the table... My first acceptance! I'm officially accepted by AFS USA. My application is off to Chile. It's all in other people's hands now (eek). Hopefully it won't be but another month or two before I find out whether Chile wants me, and what family I'll be with if it does. Yay!

I haven't quite hit that "panic point" yet - I'm not sure that this has all worn in yet at all. I'm so ready for something to happen. It's all a waiting game now.

However, there's one issue unresolved thus far. My interview was apparently not enough - for a semester program you have to interview in your house (which I guess my rep and I were both unaware of!). So that'll be up soon. It's going to have to wait for Spring Break, though! Off to San Francisco!

Here's a note about what's happened before the blog appeared. I'm throwing this in because I've been looking at other future and present AFSer's blogs and I know how nice it is to know every peice of information.

I first got the preliminary application two years ago. AFS sent me the full application, which I dawdled over (knowing I wasn't going anywhere any time soon). I pulled myself together last October and finished pretty much the whole thing (sans medical stuff and transcript). When I spoke to my advisor soon thereafter, I was horrified to hear that I would have to redo everything online. I did it, though. Slowly, over a course of three months, I redid everything, got my passport, and attended an interview. I got it all turned in about a week and a half ago except the incomplete interview, and here we go!