Packing and Other Updates

Hello again!
     Here are some things I have done since my last blog post:
  1.Applied for my Visa.  My family and I drove up to Phoenix to the honorary Italian consulate there and got everything stamped.  The man who was going over the paper work with us let my siblings stamp a few things and they had a lot of fun.  We did have one misunderstanding though!  The honorary consulate is in the Italian club, which consists of a bar and a dining hall.  We got there on time, but no one was there to meet us.  We waited there for almost an hour before we found out that the consulate was upstairs!  Thankfully the staff was very understanding and so everything turned out fine.  Once we had all the stamped paperwork from there we sent it off to the official consulate in LA, hopefully my visa will arrive any day.
  2.Went shopping for cold weather clothing.  I found out that Mesagne has very cold winters, and since I live in the desert I didn't have much in the way of winter clothing.  Unfortunately because it is still the summer the only thing we could really find was pants and one very comfy jacket.  Luckily my host sister messaged me today and told me that she would take me shopping when I arrived, so I'll be able to get warmer things once I arrive.  I'm also very glad that she'll be there to help, because I really have no clue what to do when it comes to shopping.
  3.I started packing up my room.  As soon as I'm gone my little brother will be moving into my room and my two other siblings will be moving into his room.  Unfortunately this also means I have to pack everything I'm not taking with me, which is quite a bit.  The only other things I can leave out are things I'm going to be needing in the next two weeks before I leave, so I have to decide what books, games, clothes, etc. I'm going to be using.  So far its going well though and hopefully I will be fully packed up by the end of the weekend.  After that the only thing I'll have to do with my room is convince my younger brother not to paint it black and neon yellow while I'm gone.
  4.I met someone used to live right by Mesagne.  I have to admit that this was by far my favorite thing out of all this.  As random as it was, the person was the dental assistant at my dentist.  I had mentioned that I was doing foreign exchange in Italy and she freaked out when I mentioned Mesagne.  She was able to give me lots of good advice for living there, as well as telling me all her favorite things about it.  I had a lot of fun talking to her and I learned a lot more about my new town.
  5.Lastly I finally planned a going away party.  This may not seem very big to you, but it was a lot harder than it sounds.  All my friends live pretty far away, and with some of them its nearly impossible to get a hold of them unless your at school.  Also they all have very conflicting schedules so it was hard to find a time when most of them could come.  Thankfully my best friend Corrina helped me out a lot, and managed to contact everyone (Coco, if you're somehow reading this, thank you sooo much!).
       Thank you for reading my blog, the next time I post will mot likely be once I'm in Italy (11 days!), or maybe a small post once I get my visa.
Ciao!

Getting My Family

I know its been awhile since I posted, but to be honest I almost completely forgot about the blog!  Anyways since my last post i was accepted into AFS and was given my host family and town.  I have a mother named Antonella, a father named Antonio, and two sisters, Marika and Daniela.  Marika is 3 years older than me, and Daniela is one year younger.  Daniela and I have been talking alot on facebook and she is incredibly nice.  She has introduced me to alot of her friends (on facebook of course) and everyone is very welcoming and friendly :).  I will be living in Mesagne, Italy with them, and it is a beautiful city!  I am not to far away from the beach either, which is very exciting for me since I'm from a desert. I also got my school!  I will be going to Liceo Scientifico Epifanio Ferdinando with Daniela.  I'm a little worried because I science is my worst subject, but I'm sure I'll get by.  I am really excited to leave for Italy and meet my new family and all the other AFSers for the first time!  I'll post as soon as i get more news, Ciao!

Info

Hello again!
       Okay so my last post was mainly just about fundraising, so I figure I should probably include more information about myself.  My name is Anne Hallett, but I prefer to be called Annie.  I am 16 years old and I live in Tucson, Arizona.  I love to read, write, and do photography.  I also really love to travel when I get a chance.  I have three siblings, and I am the oldest.  One of the reasons I became interested in foreign exchange is that a few years ago I got a chance to visit Europe for a little while during summer vacation.  We visited England, France, and Italy for a few days each, and during that time I really fell in love with Italy.  Just today I got an email saying that I was accepted by AFS Italy, and I'm so happy!  Even before that though I had wanted to do foreign exchange, but at that time I really didn't know where I wanted to go.  My short trip to Europe just managed to finalize my decision.  Thanks for reading!
     

Starting Out

Hello!
       My name is Annie, and in around 6 months I am leaving for my foreign exchange year in Italy.  Foreign exchange is something I've wanted to do for a very long time, and I can't wait to get started.  I'm really looking forward to learning more about the Italian culture and becoming a part of an Italian family, as well as learning the language.  I hope that doing this will help me learn more about the world and give me a new perspective.
       However my trip is very expensive so I need some help fundraising.  At the top right of this page is something called chipin and its an easy (and safe) way to help sponsor my trip.  Every little bit counts and during this month (April) AFS is doubling all donations.  This would help so much, so if you have a little spare change please consider contributing.  Also this will be my blog for the duration of my Italy trip so keep checking back for more updates, especially while I'm oversees!

Thank you all so much!
Annie