A little bit of everything

Sorry, I lied! There actually may be a few more posts before i leave :) 

Today, I skyped with my host sister Rafaela. We skyped for an hour and 30 mins..prob the longest I've skyped with her so far! At first its "how are you?" "what did you do today?"..then after that, its  questions galoreee!!! "what do you do on weekends usually?" "whats your/our curfew?" I find myself laughing alot when I skype with her because we tend to play pictionary, since its hard to understand what eachother says or is trying to explain sometimes.Therefore, i find myself drawing, motioning with my hands, or getting my german phrasebook out (I pronounce it wrong, so I'm back to square one), so to say the least, our skype convos are 10% talking, 90% laughing :) 

My mother is a high school history teacher, a sweet woman that I've also "met" via skype. She doesnt speak too much english, but enough to make small talk with me. I learned today that she plays tennis on a team on the weekends and loves it! A few weeks ago, when I last skyped with Rafaela, her mother  came in the room up to where Rafaela was sitting and said "Hi! You are welcome as our daughter in our home" she gave me a big smile, and I thanked her and said the same about Rafaela...she seems so sweet!

My father seems like a very smart man. For one, hes a business economist. I also "met" him on skype, and after he said "how are you?" he went on and on about the history of his town and wars and battles, and something about the romans..lol. He knows sooo much!  I hope to learn alot from him :)

I also have two brothers. Ones name is christian and he is 26. Hes on his own and hes a lawyer, so I do not think I will be meeting him. My other brother, Nicolas,  is 19. He speaks english beautifullllyyyy! haha! when I first got my host family, I called the house phone and my host mother picked up, and when she heard my english, she handed the phone to Nicolas. He is very smart, along with Rafaela. He plays piano, tennis, and he just left for college in May, but comes home some weekends, so I'll get to meet him :) 

Another thing i forgot to menchion! When I made that first phone call to my family, Rafaela was on a trip, but Nicolas informed me Rafaela would be in school until July 29th, and I panicked! I instantly thought "HOW in the world is this going to work?!! She can't miss school and I have to leave for college august 25th!"  3 weeks is the minimum amount you HAVE to do in your country and vice -versa. So after talking to Rafaela, she said I could go to school with her for fun! oh boy! Then my next thoughts were "Are they gonna think I'm weird?" "Are they not gonna like me cause I'm American?" "Are they gonna talk about me in German?" ahhhh!!! But, like everything else about this trip, I'm realizing, this will be yet another way to experience Rafaela's lifestyle, her friends, teachers, classes, EVERYTHING. 

So, Im trying to calm my nerves day by day, and focus on all the things I'm looking forward to :) 

The beginning...

Hello! :)
As most of you know, I am embarking on an adventure to Germany this summer. I plan on blogging on here everyday so I can share with everyone what Im going through! 
 I find alot of people ask me why Im doing this, why I want to travel to another country alone,living with strangers, not being able to communicate that well..well,when its put that way, it sounds horrible! I know Ill be confused, a little nervous, feeling alone at times..but thats the beauty of this. I feel as though I will grow up alot and learn alot about myself. I have to give alottt of credit to Ariana Carr! She's the one who told me about this! :D (thanks girl ;D). I see the wonderful time shes having in Brazil and its making me soooo excited! 
 This past weekend, I went to a rotary conference with inbound(international teens that have been living here the past year), and outbound(students who are going out on exchanges this summer,includes me!) rotarians and we stayed at a hotel together in Titusville. There were 13 of us, Terra, Stephanie, Katie, Becca, Tim, me, and Ellen were all americans going out this summer, and the inbounds were Fernanda from Argentina, Eray from Turkey, Euginio from Mexico, Stefanie from Germany, Ludan from France, Maria from Denmark, and Zoya from India. At first, it was a little awkward, trying to understand them with their accents and finding conversation topics. But the last night in the hotel, I looked around, all 13 of us hanging out in one room, playing "never have i ever" and "truth or dare", laughing, dancing, and taking pictures, I realized, "wow, I have SO much in common with all these teens, its amazing!" I found that someone from across the globe listens to the same music and laughs at the same things I do! So cool!
 It really made me excited for the friendships I'll make in Germany, but also I feel sad, cause I had to watch some tearful good-bye's after the conference, since some of them will never see each-other again :( Knowing I may never see my host family again after my experience, makes me tear up sometimes, even though I haven't even gone yet! But, the biggest emotion Im feeling right now is excitementt!!!! I leave July 10th, but Ill actually get there July 11th in the morning. My host sisters name is Rafaela, and she will come back with me to the states :) Ill be coming home August 1st, and she will be here until the 21st!! :D
  Well, this will probably be the last post until I leave for Germany!! :) Auf Wiedersehen! :D