A Host Family?! Already?! Wait. TWO?!

Ciao!

So I was on my way to the gym today, when my mom got a call from AFS. The lady was explaining to us that I was going to be in a special situation…I will have two host families! The first family will host me until the end of January, and then the other one will host me from then on! They told me they already had the information of the first one, and that they would e-mail it to me either today or tomorrow. I spent the next 45 minutes refreshing my phone like crazy (no seriously- the app says how many minutes it has been since the last time you refreshed, and mine was "less than a minute ago" almost every time). Then….. I GOT IT.

 I got the e-mail which gave me the last name of the first one (and also said I wouldn't get the second one until it's a lot closer to the time I have to switch, so it will probably be once I'm in Italy). I will not disclose any personal information at this point, since I am not sure if they are okay with it, but if they are I will let you all know later! Just know they all have wonderfully Italian names and I have a mom and dad, a sister who is almost a year younger and a brother who is almost a year older! I was on the stair master, texting 6 friends and my sister (who was at home on my laptop feeding me the information) and then I was googling all sorts of things about where I will be…which is…. *drumroll please* Sorrento, Italy!!! I actually visited Sorrento last summer while on a cruise ( I only spent a few hours there though, so I still have a lot to discover) and it was so unbelievably beautiful!! It's near the Amalfi Coast (which is absolutely GORGEOUS), Naples, and Pompeii! I'll do a whole blog post related to what I've researched on Sorrento, but it's late now and I should be sleeping but I wanted to update you all. The town is on some cliffs with crystal clear shores, and it's known for it's limoncello!

I e-mailed my host parents (although I'm sure they are sleeping) and found them on Facebook (but I felt like a serious creeper so I decided to wait to add them until they answered my e-mail) and I can't wait to hear back!! I'll post more later on how everything is going, I just wanted to catch you guys up on what's happened! I am so unbelievably lucky that I found out my host family less than a week after I was accepted, and that I get to experience two different families (they will probably keep me in the same school though, so I won't have to leave all my friends and community behind)! Okay, I'll talk to you all soon!! Buonanotte <3 Xx

-- Tami Moctezuma

Accepted!!!

Ciao!

So…..as you can probably guess from the title….I GOT ACCEPTED TO ITALY!!! I was actually accepted two days ago (Friday), but these past few days have been super crazy and I haven't had a moment to sit down and write. So anyways, I was sitting in my third period french class, complaining to my friends about how I still hadn't heard back from AFS and how I didn't know how much longer I could wait. Then, I saw that it was almost time to leave, and I grabbed my phone to check how many more minutes until the bell rang. My phone had several messages in all caps from my friend who is also applying to go to Italy saying that she just got the email and that she was accepted. I was really happy for her and I messaged her back super excited! I didn't think to check my e-mail right away, since she had sent in her application around 2 weeks before mine. However, a few minutes later when I was in the hall with my friends, I decided to go ahead and check it just in case…..

And that's when I saw it. The e-mail that determined the course of my life for the next year, which would in turn affect my whole life from this point forward. (Cue dramatic music) The subject line read: AFS You have been Accepted by Italy!

I started screaming and jumping up and down (luckily my school is huge so the hallways are so crowded it drowned out the sounds I was making). I started hyperventilating and I messaged my friend letting her know I was accepted too and then we both started freaking out together. But being the suave, chill girl I am (not), in my fit of excitement I accidentally did something to the email and I moved it to another inbox (darn you touch screen phones!) and I started panicking thinking I had imagined the email and I was going crazy. Luckily, I found it and all was well again. Thankfully, I had dance class afterwards so my happy dance wasn't so noticeable ;)

But YEAH! So guess what? It's official. I, Tamara Moctezuma, am moving to Italy for a year!! The land of spaghetti and stilettos! (Yes, I know there is way more to Italy than just that and I can't wait for that too but it wasn't as catchy so sorry) Ahhhh I can't believe it!! My dreams are finally becoming a reality!! I think it hasn't exactly sunken in yet, but sometimes I get little waves of mini epiphanies about what exactly this all means and I get super excited all over again.

So now, we wait. I do as much research as I can, I start learning Italian, and I keep on trying to be patient. I've heard host family placement takes a loooong time, so this should be fun. But I'm just happy to know that it's all just a matter of time. I'll let you all know when I know more!!

A più tardi! Xoxo

-- Tami