Visa Adventure

On Wednesday, my dad and I drove 8 hours to Los Angeles for my appointment at the Spanish Consulate the next day. For those of you who I haven't complained to yet, acquiring a Visa for Spain is no easy matter. Thankfully, I have a wonderful, organized mother who got me through it.

Some context on this very stressful process: the Visa application for Spain is very involved and has quite a few requirement on how recent some documents need to be. Also,  there were several forms that needed to be translated into spanish by an official translator and notarized. It also required documents from AFS Spain that certified I was enrolled in school there and had funds and medical insurance and such. A large amount of stress came from the fact that AFS Spain had not even sent these documents to AFS USA by Monday of this week. There was some worry that I would not have them before my appointment and I'd have to reschedule my appointment for the end of August and therefore not receive my visa in time and have to depart late. What ended up happening was that we received scans on the documents in an email which would suffice until we received the mailed documents and then could send the originals to the Consulate.

NOW ON WITH THE STORY
There wasn't too much traffic so my dad and I decided to go to the beach that evening for dinner (and because our hotel wasn't very interesting at all). It was beautiful, and we were able to watch the sunset. We ate dinner at "Bubba Gump's Shrimp Shack" which was amusing.

Also, I have to mention that the drivers in L.A. are completely insane. It made me tense just sitting in the passenger's seat. According to my dad, California is also the only state that allows motorcyclists to drive inbetween cars, which they most certainly take full advantage of. If you are nervous at all about driving, stay away from L.A.

The next morning we got up bright and early so that we'd have plenty of time to find the Consulate and park; we actually did so with very little trouble. The Consulate was on the 8th floor of a building not too far from our hotel.

We got there early and were told to wait until they called us - little did we know that this would be a whole hour and a half later (maybe two hours? I'm not quite sure. It seemed like forever) as they were running behind schedule. While we were waiting we watched as an older woman with no documents and the wrong appointment  tried to ask questions about getting citizenship in Spain, and another woman with some very odd clothes failed to understand that the documents or something that she wanted would take a very long time to arrive. There were also quite a few college students there applying for visas for exchanges as well, and some other people. While waiting wasn't exactly fun, I did get to listen to quite a few conversations in Spanish and try and understand what was being said. Mostly I could get the gist of what they were saying.

When my name was finally called the woman thanked us for waiting so patiently. She was actually very sweet, considering some of the people she had been dealing with that morning. The appointment maybe took 10 minutes, and then we were done (finally)! Dad and I decided to go to the beach one last time before heading home.

me on Venice Beach

 There was some traffic heading out (around 2:30) but it wasn't as terrible as it could be. Heading home we saw this lovely rainbow, and then later (although I couldn't get a good picture...) we watched the moon rise and, I swear, it looked about three times bigger than usual and a soft, golden orange. We got home at around 10, absolutely exhausted, but victorious.

Of course, because I'm going to be in Spain longer than 6 months I'll have to deal with more Visa stuff once I'm actually in the country. Within 30 days of arriving I'll have to visit the nearest police station with a bunch of other documents but I'm not going to worry about that right now :b

Also, the day after we got back (Friday) I had one last fundraiser at Thomas Byers Guitar Studio during First Friday. It was fun (despite being very tired) and I talked to quite a few people who had either been to Spain, were from another country and in the process of traveling around ours, or knew someone who had traveled and studied in Spain! As always, thank you Gretchen for all your help.

Just ONE MONTH till I leave!

49 days until I fly to Madrid...

and I'm having a difficult time comprehending it! Where did the summer go? Where did the past year go? It seems like only yesterday that I was browsing the AFS website and dreaming of a year abroad. Yet here it is, 7 weeks until I depart. Parts of me are sad and other parts are terribly excited.
To practice my Spanish I've been reading poetry by Pablo Neruda and then translations. His writing is unbelievably beautiful, and I can't wait until I can read it in Spanish without needing to give myself a headache translating. I think my favorite poem of his so far is "Pido silencio", or "I ask for silence". He writes:

Se trata de que tanto he vivido
que quiero vivir otro tanto.

Nunca me senti tan sonoro,
nunca he tenido tantos besos.

 This roughly translates to:

It's a question of having lived so much
that I want to live that much more.

I never felt my voice so clear,
never have been so rich in kisses.

I always love reading poetry and coming across a fragment that you feel perfectly describes your life. It's like braving the plunge into a spring creek and chills you, yet leaves you refreshed. 

This is a map showing all the AFS placements in Spain so far (: (Thanks Amy!)

View AFS Spain Placements in a larger map

Art~

not a very good scan, pen and ink on watercolor paper

a page from the children's book I wrote and illustrated during second semester

random character, done with my tablet on Paint Tool SAI

Host Family, Travel Dates and more

Well, I obviously need to be better at updating this blog! I've been meaning to ever since I went to a pre-departure orientation down in Phoenix last May. My dad and I got to spend the day learning more about culture shock and some important rules. I was lucky enough to get to talk to a girl who was studying abroad in Phoenix from Spain, and she answered a lot of my questions!

In early June I got my travel Itinerary! I'll need to leave September 5th for New York, because there's another orientation there before we leave.

And, most exciting of all, I got my Host Family, just last week!! I've talked to them a little through email, and they are super sweet. There's a father, mother, 12 year old boy and 8 year old girl! They really like being active and eating healthy, and they live in Alcorcon, a city just outside of Madrid.

The Visa process for Spain is proving very tedious, but hopefully it's all going to come together. At the end of July I'm going to have to head out to Los Angeles to visit the Spanish Consulate for a 10 minute appointment, and then keep my fingers crossed that my Visa will come in time for my September 5th flight to New York.

I'd also like to give a huge thank you to everybody for being so supportive of me in this endeavor (: especially my Aunt Judith and Uncle Lance! It means so much to me.

I'm still trying to do a little fundraising, and I've been really busy so far this summer. I'm doing "Story Time" at Bookmans on Fridays and babysitting in return for getting papers translated into Spanish for my Visa. I'm also taking two online classes, U.S. History and 11th English, because I won't be able to take those classes in Spain. Just this morning I ran my third race in the Flagstaff Summer Running Series, and of course, I am also trying to spend a lot of time hiking and with friends.

Overall, it's shaping up to be a great summer. Again, thank you everyone for your encouragement and support!

People's Generosity is really quite Amazing

Another quick post to thank my neighbor Caroline and her family, my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Marsha Thompson and my Nana Cara <3 I am so grateful to all the people in my life who are being so incredibly supportive of this endeavor.

With fundraising efforts, very generous donations, and saving every penny, I have raised almost $2,500! This is truly an incredible amount.

I'll be having another bake sale fundraiser at Thomas Byers Guitar Studio during the First Friday Artwalk on May 4th! There's going to be live music and lots of yummy sweets! Unfortunately,  I'm not sure how long I'm going to be present, as the Flagstaff Fringe Dance Performance is also that night, and I'm dancing in it with my Modern 2/3 class as well as with the Ballet 2/3 class. It's an honor to be able to preform in it, but I am sad that it had to be on the same night as this Fundraiser!

But I would really appreciate it if you stopped by to support me. Gretchen's book charms (see post below!) will be on sale and my mom made some pretty awesome mustache magnets! Not to mention the weather (with the exception of the snow today...) has been great. First Friday Artwalk is always a lot of fun.

Again, thank you everybody!

A Much-Needed Post

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long! I've been really busy with school lately, these last two months are going to be pretty crazy with some important school projects, dance performances, and fundraising efforts.

The most important thing I've been meaning to post is that I have officially been accepted by AFS Spain! I could hear about my host family any day now (I check my email very often, hoping...). I have an orientation on May 19th in Phoenix, which will cover a lot of information about cultural adjustment and rules and other equally fun subjects.

I have also been meaning to post a heartfelt thank-you to several people who have given really generous donations and/or purchased cards. I'd like to give a personal shout-out to

• Geoffrey Butzine

• Randall Heath

• Lorraine Lindley

•  Amy Collinsworth  

• Julie Kley 

Thank you all so much <3  and thank you to all of my friends who buy sweets at school, you guys are fabulous!