FINALLY!!

Hey, yo! So I tried posting this last night, but my internet wasn't wanting to work with me. What's important is that I have it up now! Enjoy.

After waiting for more than three months, I finally recieved a phone call today that my visa is ready!! Yes, you read that correctly! MY VISA IS READY! On Sunday, my mom and I are driving to Chicago and on Monday I will be picking up my visa from the consulate! YES!!

I already have my itinerary and my plane ticket has been purchased! Unless there are last-minute changes, I will depart on WEDNESDAY morning, October 5th, from Des Moines. From there I will go to Chicago, then to Madrid, and finally, to Malaga. In Malaga, it will be October 6th, 10:30 a.m. when I arrive. From there, it is about an hour drive to my home in Estepona.

So, for nearly a year now, I have been fundraising/working in order to raise enough funds to do youth exchange. The majority of the cost of RYE is the plane ticket, which is usually estimated to be $3,000 (The total cost of RYE is usually estimated to be $5,000). The reason it is so expensive is because it has to be open-ended, meaning you can return, basically, at anytime. So, you can imagine how happy I was when my plane ticket costed $2,191.37 USD! That's what I'm talking about! Roundtrip to Europe and back! Matthew's visa was also approved and he will be picking it up on Monday as well. I'm hoping we can fly together, but at this point I just don't know. I may be flying by myself otherwise, which is a little freaky. Manageable, but freaky. (Shout-out to Anna from Newton - Unaccompanied Minors, baby! Minus the Christmas part . . .)

Tonight was a home football game in good ol' Newtonia, so I went and was able to say hi/bye to many people. It was so strange thinking that I won't see most of them until next summer! So many crazy emotions, but I couldn't have asked for a better last-Friday-night-in-America-until-next-summer! I feel so blessed to have people I'm going to miss. I'm sure I'll be cramming in as much time as I can to spend with friends and family during the next few days.

Well, I don't know where I'll be typying my next post . . . Maybe in Iowa? Maybe in Spain? Or in an airport? Easy for you - all you have to do is read on!

Until later,

Josie