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.