Less than a month!

In less than one month from today I will be taking off for the journey of a lifetime. Right now I'm preparing.I have summer school every day so I can finish my high school classes early, and right after that I have work until at least 3PM every day. I have just recently gotten my suitcases for exchange and am starting to think about packing. When I get paid this weekend my mom and I are going shopping for small things like contact solution for my carry on, etc., and a laptop or Ipad for Skyping and keeping in contact, and uploading photos. I feel really nervous about packing and leaving but I am super excited and I cannot wait much longer until I can leave. It's not because I do not like my hometown because I really do, it's just I want to explore the world and make some awesome new friends that will last me a lifetime. It is crazy how fast my countdown has been coming along, I can still remember when I was up over 100 days left until my departure. While it all did seem to go by quickly, it sure did feel like forever also but I am sure this homestretch is going to go by the quickest. In the next couple of days and over the next week, I plan to get in more contact with my host counselor and my family. I have already contacted my host counselor once and my family numerous times via Skype, but I feel I should talk to them more, and even though I don't really have questions for some reason I feel like there is more I should know before leaving. I'm also scared of getting homesick, I don't believe I will ever be homesick enough to come home, but I'm nervous of what I will miss and wonder what they believe I will have trouble with.

Here are a few things that I think I will miss while I am gone:

• My Soccer and Track Team
• Family/Friends/Pets
• Spending my 18th birthday with my family
• Driving
• Complete comprehension of everything people say

I know its bad to think about all the things I may miss, but don't get me wrong I'm excited for a lot too.

Things I'm really excited for:

•  Getting out of the same, boring, small, old town that I have been in for the past 17 years of my life
• Meeting new people
• Learning more/ becoming fluent in Spanish
• Playing soccer with new people, and hopefully improving
• Attending a new school
• Traveling and seeing new places 
• Becoming a "new me"
• Learning more about myself than ever before
• Attending my first "non-birthday party"
• Seeing how traditions and holidays are done in another country

/....... AND....... MUCH MORE!

I will post again before I leave, thanks for reading. I know its jumbled as always, but check back soon. ;)

REMEMBER, I HAVE A PHOTOGRAPHY PAGE ON FACEBOOK TOO. TO SEE PHOTOS OF BOLIVIA, CHECK BACK IN AUGUST 2013 - JUNE 2014.

www.facebook.com/MeghanRuthAnnaPhotography

40 days! Facts and such on Bolivia!

Hey guys, I wanted to do another post this week, so I decided to do one today. There are officially 40 days until I get on a plane to go to Bolivia, and I couldnt be more excited. I also wanted to share a list of Bolivian holidays that I found after looking up their holidays on the 4th:

The following holidays are celebrated in Bolivia:

New Year’s Day	January 1	Tuesday
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.	January 21	Monday
Plurinational State Day	January 22	Tuesday
Carnival	February 11-12	Mon & Tue
President's Day	February 18	Monday
Good Friday	March 29	Friday
Labor Day	May 1	Wednesday
Memorial Day	May 27	Monday
Corpus Christi	May 30	Friday
Winter Solstice (Aymara New Year)	June 21	Thursday
Independence Day	July 4	Thursday
La Paz Day (Only in La Paz)	July 16	Tuesday
Bolivian Independence Day	August 6	Tuesday
Labor Day	September 2	Monday
Cochabamba Day (Only in Cbba)	September 14	Saturday
Santa Cruz Day (Only in Santa Cruz)	September 24	Tuesday
Columbus Day	October 14	Monday
All Saints Day	November 2	Saturday
Veterans Day	November 11	Monday
Thanksgiving Day	November 28	Thursday
Christmas Day	December 25	Wednesday

Chart from:  http://bolivia.usembassy.gov/holidays.html

My family!

Wow, I have a lot of posts today. I guess I just really got into the idea of blogging and sharing my life with you guys. I think I have recently started to open up about my fears of exchange and realized that the more I actually talk about it, the less afraid I am.

Anyways, this post is just to share some things about my family and to share some photos. Enjoy!

So when I got my guarantee form, I was excited beyond explanation, so here is a photo to explain my excitement.

Anyways, shortly after I received my guarantee form, I spent about an hour trying to decide if I wanted to email my family in English or Spanish. I chose Spanish.

I was really nervous, so the email was very short and choppy in language.

Even though I was super nervous, Vivi's (my host mom) emails were pretty relaxing for the most part, and she seems really genuine and kind, and I cant wait to meet her and my host dad and host dogs.

The only thing about my family that scares me a little bit, is that there will be no other kids in the house. One, Gabriela , is in college in Sucre, Jose Pablo, is an exchange student and going to Nebraska, and the other lives in France. However, I then received an image of my host dogs, and I was like, " Those dogs, they gonna be ma best frands" (Yes I know that's spelled wrong, say it out loud and in my voice, that was my emotion)

 I dont have much else to say, but feel free to ask questions. Here are more photos of my awesome host family!

 I may edit this later.

Other Exchange Blogs

Hey guys, if you frequent my page and love youth exchange blogs like I do, check out some of these other great blogs!

India Owens
http://indiainchile.blogspot.com/

Nelson Alvarado
http://avoyagerschronicle.blogspot.com/

Janelle O'Meara
http://abelgianadventure.blogspot.ca/

Emmy Halford
http://my-finnish-adventure.blogspot.com/

Ashlyn Kriegel
http://akriegel7.blogspot.com/

Amanda Nguyen (Fair warning not in english but is nice to read once you translate it)
http://amanda-nguyen.blogspot.dk/


http://usahomeaway.blogspot.com/ (Mostly portuguese, some english)

Alina Ramona Ferrara
http://alinaferrara.blogspot.ch/

Thanks! If I find anymore I like, I'll be sure to post them!

COUNTDOWN CLOCK :)

HTTP://COUNTINGDOWNTO.COM

Hola! Long time no see! A packing post... :P

Hey guys, I decided to stop with the dual posts for a while, just because I don't have time to do all that writing, but I did want to post a couple more times before I leave. So right now, I have 46 days until I go, and I will shortly be posting a countdown clock on the blog, and after I get there I will post a approximated returning date. Anyways, today's post is about an exchange students dreaded task of packing.Packing poses many questions. Like  "How do I fit a years worth of clothes plus host family gifts into one suitcase and a carry on?!"  Plus, what will I be trying to bring home a year from now that I need to leave space for?  I'm usually pretty good at packing sensibly, but this is just crazy.  To relieve some of this stress, I decided to start my packing list.
     
 I'm not a big fan of lists, but I'm a pretty unorganized person and find they help me get myself together when necessary. Because of the fact that I'm unorganized, I would not be surprised if I lost this list in the next 40 days or so, because of that, I decided to post the list here!

1. My American flag and one for my host family
2. Other Host family gifts
3. Pins
4. Contact Supply and 1 bottle of Solution
5. Bathroom Supplies/Toiletries
6. Backpack
7. 2 simple dresses
8. 2 pair jeans
9. 1 pair leggings
10. 5-7 pairs of shorts
11. One pair of wool socks and 5 pairs of regular socks
12. Laptop - If i can afford one before leaving :P
13. 7 short sleeve shirts
14. Running shoes
15. Sandals and Dress Shoes
16. Old Sneakers for Country Trip
17. 2 long sleeve shirts
18. 1 sweatshirt
19. 2 cardigans
20. Chargers and Adapters

Supplies for my carry on:

1. One extra pair of contacts and carry on solution

2. Glassses

3.  One Shirt and Extra pants or shorts

4. Camera and 2 pairs of batteries

5. $ and Passport

6. Magazine

7. 10 extra pins

I still don't know exactly what luggage I'll be taking so I may have way less or way more space than all that stuff would require.  At the moment I'm trying to figure out what clothes to wear on the plane, what else to bring in case I lose my luggage, etc. I definitely know that I will be WEARING my blazer and treasuring it with my life though.

I hope you enjoyed reading, check back soon for more stuff. Here is my photography page on facebook. Check back in August and until June 2014 for pictures of exchange! :)

http://www.facebook.com/MeghanRuthAnnaPhotography