leavin' on a jet plane...

okay, so i leave approximately 42 hours from now, and i am so excited. my stuff is packed, good-byes are (mostly) said, and i am so ready to go. i have a few loose strings to tie up, but other than a room to clean and papers to get organized, i am done. this semester is over, and so is my time here in boise. i have been awaiting this experience to start for so long that i can almost not believe it is finally here.

the reason i am blogging this early is because i doubt i will have time to for the next couple weeks. on wednesday i travel from boise to new york, where i have a short one day orientation. i then go through zurich and end up in rome the next day. needless to say, it will be one long 48 hours. from rome i have a two day orientation where all the afs participants from all over the world congregate and get ready to start their adventures. i then take the train from rome to turin, meeting my host family at the station and driving to aosta. whew! that was tiring just writing all that down, but i am cringing at the thought of having to do it. can't i just teleport and be there in 5 minutes? ugh.

i am sure this whole experience of getting there will be a daze, and i am sure i will be so in awe of the wonderful land we call italy that i will forget half of what i am doing. note to self: try to keep your wits about you, even though not all your wits were there in the first place. i start school the day after i get to aosta, which also happens to be the same day as the fiera di sant'orso. ahhhh, what wonder and beauty will i experience. let's just hope i am awake enough to enjoy it(:

that's pretty much it for now, i just wanted to explain why i won't be blogging for a while. looking back at my first post five months ago, the nostalgia is overwhelming me. next time i will be posting from aosta. wish me luck, and send me mental waves of energy; i'll need it!

going away partayyyy.

so last night my best friend threw me a going away party at her house, with about twenty of our closest friends there to celebrate my soon imminent departure. there was sparkling cider, lasagna, amazing red velvet cookies and a few presents, which were very much appreciated. i am so humbled that i have so many amazing friends to wish me a good-bye, and it was amazing knowing that i am going to be missed. i can't even begin to describe how hard it is going to be leaving everyone, especially my best friend in the entire world. allie, if you are reading this, know that i love you so much and i will miss you every day i am in aosta. not seeing you for six months might kill me, but i know you will be fine. and to everyone else who came and said good-bye, you know who you are, and hopefully you know how much i appreciate each and every one of you.

that said, i have nine days until i get on a plane to new york and leave boise for six months. god, i am so excited, words cannot even explain -- leaving will be hard, but moving on to such an amazing new life makes me the luckiest person in the world. would it be bad for me to say that i am already packed? because i am. final weigh-in of my check-in bag: 40 lbs. which is four pounds under the limit by the way.

so what is in store for the next nine days? school finals, many good-byes and lots of tears. after nine days? well i guess that is for me to know and you to find out(:

pre-departure + new year.

got my pre-departure orientation done today, which was good. we basically went over all the rules and safety procedures of AFS (no smoking, no driving, no having a job, no getting pierced/tattooed) and then i just talked with a past exchange student from rome. he was super helpful and gave me some insight into how italian schools are. apparently the workload is more than i expected, but with so many classes, it makes sense.

now with my plane tickets to new york taken care of, all my host family info in, and my orientations done, i just have a few loose ends to tie up, like writing my scholarship thank you letter and getting another physical.
the lady i had the orientation with gave me a great idea for fund-raising; i put together a newsletter every month that i sell subscriptions to my friends, family and neighbors for. the newsletter has special pictures, experiences and details of my journey abroad, and the subscription money helps me fun my cause. if you are interested in subscribing to this newsletter, just e-mail me. (contact info is on the sidebar).

other than that, i am so excited. i've got three weeks of school left and 26 days until i head to new york. a month from yesterday i will be arriving in aosta, and a month from today i will be starting at my new italian school.

buon anno italia e stati uniti(: