Another Update

I can't believe I'll be leaving in less than one and a half months. It's so surreal, but at the same time I'm so excited, and I can't wait for this summer to be over.

I've added a girl on facebook from Switzerland who will be in the next town over in Argentina. We've been talking a lot and both can't wait to arrive! We'll only be a few miles away from each other, and there are some other students that will be in the area, and my town, as well. The girl from Switzerland is arriving in Buenos Aires on the 16th, so I think I'll leave somewhere around that time, too.

To be honest, having a tourist visa is so much easier at this point. I didn't have to fill out a million things and have them notarized or have an Apostille attached. I only needed to send in a copy of my passport, a permission form, and then Rotary will send in my host guarantee form. When this is approved by the government, I will be able to plan my flight and eventually leave! Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that everything is smooth-sailing from here on out.

On July 8th I have to give a presentation to my local Rotary club as a practice for the one that I have to give in Argentina. The only difference with this one is that it will be in English and I'll be getting advice from the Rotarians to help make it better for the real one that I will eventually have to give in Spanish. Because the purpose of Rotary exchange is partly to be an 'ambassador' of your country, the presentation is just about the United States, Wisconsin, and De Pere, as well as life in it. It'll mostly be pictures, and I'll (hopefully!) be able to block the misconceptions that many people from around the world have about the United States. When I get back from Argentina, I'll do the opposite- I'll give the De Pere Rotary club a presentation about life in Argentina.

Also coming up is the wonderful and much-anticipated Central States Rotary conference in Grand Rapids! It will be the last time to see all of the Outbounds from Wisconsin before we're dispersed off all around the globe. We'll also have the chance to meet many other kids going to or from our host countries. Overall there will be around 1500 past, present and future exchange students. I promise I'll take lots of pictures!

Another major thing that happened recently was saying goodbye to my sister, Kaylee. She is in Malawi, Africa now with the Peace Corps doing some wonderful things. It was really hard because my exchange year will be sandwiched right in between her two years, and it will be strange not having her there when I leave or there when I get back. I miss her so much, but I hope she's having the time of her life and learning a lot.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the title of my blog is "Exchange isn't a year in your life, but your life in a year". This is the (unofficial?) Rotary Youth Exchange motto. So many great things will happen this year, and I can't wait to experience them. Yes, I'm scared. Yes, it will be hard. But I know that I have loving friends and family back home who will be there to help support me and send me letters. I've only been on a plane twice (to Washington D.C. and back), I've never left the country, I've never been away for more than a week, I don't know Spanish, I'm going to be living with people I'm never met, in a country that I didn't know much about until a few months ago, and I'm not the most outgoing person ever. This sounds crazy, and yes, I might be a little insane, but this next year will be one of the absolutely best years of my life. Everything that is normal and familiar will be stripped away from me, and I'll learn so much about myself and the world. And while I will be back in De Pere in about a year's time, I will have very limited opportunities to travel back to Argentina, let alone get up and leave for a year to travel somewhere new. While I do hope this year begins a lifetime of travel and new things, there are so many unknowns. I hate to be morbid and cliche, but nobody knows how long they're going to live. All of those overused quotes are right: we have to live like we're dying, living everyday to the fullest. While I know some people are perfectly happy staying where they are, I don't like that there are about 196 countries I've never been to, or that there are more than 7 billion people I've never met. De Pere is great, it really is, but sometimes I think it's holding me back. This year, it won't.