Last leg

Well, I did it. I made it. I got my visa and I have everything I need to go.
The trip to NYC and the consulate was an interesting one. I had been stressing out over this visa process and appointment for about a month now, and when the morning came to go to NYC, I had a large pimple on the side of my cheek to prove it. But everything worked out, despite a couple of bumps during my appointment. First of all the woman said that I did not have enough documents for my visa. I started to get a little worried but then remembered that I had forgotten to give her some, phew! Then a little while later, she said my visa could not be processed because I had only provided her with a one way ticket, and because I'm a minor, I need a round trip ticket. However, when I was gathering all my documents weeks before, AFS told me that they had not booked the return ticket yet. I told the woman this, but she made it very clear that my visa would not be processed or accepted without it. So, I felt like there was nothing I could do and my face and chest became extremely red and were burning up because I felt like all of my dreams were being crushed all because of a ticket. Then, thankfully my dad thought to call my visa coordinator, Katherine, who works for AFS and tell her of our situation. Katherine was very understanding and said that someone in San Francisco had the same exact thing happen to them. So she faxed over a round trip itinerary and we were all set to go. Big sigh of relief. Now, since Katherine lives in New York City, she is going to pick up my visa for me so that I don't have to go back to pick it up myself. She will bring it to the NYC airport where everyone from the US going to Italy meets for a mini orientation and we all go to Italy together from there.
I can not express how happy I am that the visa is all taken care of. Now all I have left to worry about is fitting my life for 10 months into 44lbs (plus a carry-on). And trust me, that will probably be a breeze compared to everything else I've had to do, haha. Only 10 more days and I'm on my way. I still cannot believe this is happening.

Stove for Sale! Stove for Sale!

Hello all!

Things are going well. I just finished cleaning up and old 1920's Kalamazoo stove that I'm trying to sell. It's a little rusty and has a few dings in it, but overall it looks pretty good compared to when I first got it. We weren't able to try a fire in it because we don't have the right kind of pipe (it needs and oval attachment) so I'm not too sure if it works well or not. So if any of you are interested, just let me know!

I just recently had a chicken BBQ. I'm afraid it didn't go as well as hoped. At my last BBQ I made about $630 but at this one only about $430. So that will be the last of the BBQ's. I have one more bake sale to do August 14th at Wal-Mart and then I think that will be all for the fundraising, or at least until I sell that stove (fingers crossed).

It looks like I finally made it. Summer school is already half over with only two more weeks to go. It's been pretty easy so far, but government is a pain. I have to do all these things that are just annoying like attend two town meetings (and take notes, get signatures, ask questions, and do a write up for each one), three hours of community service, a big policy paper and I could go on and on. But who am I to complain? At least I don't have to take it for 20 weeks instead - hallelujah.

I have all my visa documents ready, of which I can do ahead of time anyway. I have to wait for AFS to send me everything else that I need and it's killing me. I just want to have everything now, apply for my visa, and be done with it. But soon enough, soon enough. There's only 36 more days until I leave. I still can't believe this is happening.