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

Word of the day: Unpredictable.

What can I say? My exchange has been unpredictable lately.

If you're an exchange student, then you already know that one email can make all the difference in your day, week, exchange year. I check my my email daily, probably about ten times daily. This has been going on since about February. I know it probably seems obsessive, and I even considered writing a blog post about "the obsessed exchange student." But truth be told, I think every exchange student would fall into that category. We're aching to know more information. From, what city am I going to? to Who are my host families? and so on. Right now, though, I need to know when my visa is ready and when I can go.

Within the past four days, I have received three significant emails. In summary . . .

1. August 22
My district's outbound coordinator contacts the travel agent at It's Your World Travel that is organizing Matthew's and my exchange. We have no idea what the status of our permission to apply for a visa is, or if our visa is being processed yet. Our outbound coordinator believes we have a departure date of September 2nd(one week from tomorrow).

I was so happy to have a departure date, even if it was only tentative! I still had no idea how my visa was doing though.

2. Today, 12:55 AM
The travel agent finally gives us an update on the status of our visas. The Spanish government still hasn't issued the approvals to apply for a visa. Both consulates of Spain in the US, in Chicago and San Francisco, will not re-accept our passport and documents without a prior approval issued by the Spanish home government in Madrid. She gives us a list of fourteen students who are going through the same thing. She seems doubtful that we will make the September 9-11 orientation. There is nothing we can do right now - everything on our end has been completed.

I'm upset. I'm glad that the travel agent bothered to keep us in the loop of our own exchanges though. I go to sleep frustrated and exhausted.

3. Today, 6:58 AM
The Long Term Coordinator  in Spain informs all of the Spain 2011-2012 inbounds that the orientation has been moved to the 22nd - 24th of September.

Many people are having troubles with their visa. I'm glad I'm not alone, but still disappointed about everything in general. At least orientation isn't so early. I'll probably be able to make it.


I feel stuck right now, but I'll just have to go with the flow I guess. School started yesterday, and it is so strange being home! I also don't have work anymore, because my last day was Sunday. I put in my last day since everything is so unpredictable; I didn't want to all of a sudden find out that I'm leaving in a few days and leave Hy-Vee hanging. Now I wish I would've stayed another week or two. At home . . . I've started packing, I've been reading, I've been watching cheesy morning shows.

Most of the outbounds from my district are in their host countries already. I thoroughly enjoy stalking them on Facebook and on their blogs. It's fun, but sad at the same time, because I wish that I could be one telling you guys about my exchange in Spain right now, rather than telling you about my waiting for it. However, I'm glad I'm not alone. It's so nice to have Matt to talk to about everything, since we're going through the same thing. Hopefully we can be talking about out lives in Spain soon, maybe even in Spanish.

I almost forgot to tell you . . . I got my braces off two days ago! Even orthodontia cannot stand between me and Spain! I love how my teeth turned out and I find myself smiling all day. Even though I'm in quite a sad state right now with all of the visa complications, it's hard to feel upset for too long because I am constantly smiling! Have you ever tried to be sad while smiling? It is difficult, my friend. I couldn't have got my braces off at a better time!



Cliché "I just got my braces off" Photo



Criss, cross, flashin' apple sauce

Hello fellow readers. Here's an update on my preparations for Spain . . .

Has it been a while? It sure seems like it! Summer has been going by so SLOWLY, yet so fast! Does that make sense? I cannot wait for Spain! There isn't a day, possibly an hour, that I don't ponder about what my days in Spain will bring. I would tell you how many days there are before my departure, but I still don't know the date :( Some friends from my district (D6000) are actually leaving pretty soon though (like first/second week of August). I'm somewhat jealous of them because they get to go so soon, but somewhat relieved because I have a little more time to get my visa and do other various preparations like packing and putting together host family gifts. I should know the date of my departure soon though. I have submitted all  SEVENTEEN of my Visa documents to ITWT (It's Your World Travel) too. They will get them to the Spanish Consulate in Chicago, then when my visa is ready I'll have to go to Chicago to pick it up. That shall be fun! So right now is basically a time of lots of waiting - but then again, isn't most of the time before exchange one big waiting period made of little waiting periods? hahh :)

The last Rotary event for the outbounds in D6000 was last weekend. We had a picnic with some rebounds and Rotex and it was just great to see everyone one last time before our exchanges. It was so weird saying bye to people for one year! How does one do that?? Well I said "bye" to everyone except for Matthew, the other outbound to Spain in our district. We knew that we were going to be in the same district, but we just realized that we're going to be attending the same school! How cool is that?? Also, about a month or so ago, Paola (first host-mom) emailed me their address so I could send a document to them, and it turns out that my address is actually is Estepona! From my house, the center of Marbella is roughly 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) east. Matthew will live in Estepona also, so I know that there will be at least one other American in my city!

Two weekends ago I had my last garage sale fundraiser. I was able to raise nearly $1,000 for my exchange ($998 dollars to be exact)! Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible! Everyone's support means so much to me - you guys are awesome. I should be able to buy my plane tickets and go on exchange just fine.

Remember how I was telling you guys about the orthodontist? Welll, I just went the other day, and I should be done on time just fine! Everything is coming together. (<---Haha)

Now to the title of this post. Yes, it does have a little bit of significance, but not too much ;)
Significant word one: Cross*.
I am going to miss cross* country so much! I've been going to practices this summer for the fun of it and to stay active, but it's so weird to think that I won't be running with my teammates this fall. However, my coach said I might be here still when we have our first meet and if I want, I can run! I still don't know if I will though if I am still here.

Significant word two: flashin*
I cannot tell you how many times I've heard "Learn the language now!" So, I have been brushing up on my Spanish lately by trying to read, write, or speak at least a few words every day. I have had two years of Spanish already at high school, and over these two years I have attained maaany flash cards - a whole shoe box full, in fact! See?!

But sadly, some of the flash cards are lackin' the flashin'*. I'm working on it though. When I'm bored I just grab a handful of flashcards and start practicing! I feel like by the time I arrive in Spain, I'll have a really good base to work off of.

As for the "apple sauce" part of the title, I don't really know . . . IIII hope there is apple sauce in Spain? Yeah, we can just go with that.

Congratulations if you've made it this far. This post turned out to be pretty random! Hopefully my next post is more interesting; I'll try to keep you guys updated!

Until later,
Josie