Preparing For Takeoff

Hey Everybody,
Right now I'm preparing to depart for the greatest adventure of my life! I'll be leaving Friday the 26th of September to spend 9 months in Spain. I think I'm going to Madrid, but the agency I'm going through hasn't found a host family for me yet :( The past few weeks have been filled with camping, waterpolo, and oh yeah...getting ready to leave everything I know to embrace a new country, culture, people, and lifestyle. Can I say I'm excited? You bet! But at the same time a little nervous, well, ok, quite a bit nervous.

I'll be updating this blog approximately whenever I feel like. Actually more like once a month or so. I'm not supposed to contact the U.S. very much because this will increase homesickness and prolong culture shock.

My journey began two years ago. After my freshman year of public high school I switched to homeschooling/public high school/community college. During my sophomore year my Spanish 2 teacher talked about traveling abroad and I was like, "that sounds interesting." I began to search for a homestay program and finally applied to travel through Cultural Homestays International (CHI). So after a ton of paperwork, passing a GED test (high school graduation equivalent), visa application, and more paperwork I'm ready to take off.