Lauren goes to BRAZIL!

RYE Journal 2. (I'm putting this on here before I email it to Al)

2009-09-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

So its been a little under two months since I’ve arrived in Brazil, and of course it’s been anything but easy, but I’m having the time of my life. I’ve made some amazing friends, some from all across the world, some from the united states, some from brazil. I’ve had conversations with people in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. I’ve eaten foods I wouldn’t have even wanted to touch back in the US. I get offended when somebody says bad things about the US, something I never really thought would happen. I’ve fallen in love with this country.

I’ve had some very hard times upon being here. Shortly before I wrote my last journal I was incredibly sick for a decent amount of time. It was a Tuesday night, and I was sick to the stomach with a throbbing headache and a fever of 103 degrees F. That night I got to have my first experience of a Brazilian hospital. It wasn’t too fun, they took blood and x-rays (not really sure why though) and around 12 AM they told me they believed it was a bacteria, but they weren’t exactly sure. So for the next few days I sat around miserably at home missing school, not really seeing anybody besides my host family (and I didn’t even see them too often due to the fact that I felt so bad I didn’t even have the ability to get out of bed really). By Friday the doctors said it was a bacteria and put me on some antibiotics and something else, which made me start feeling better so quickly. Friday’s lunch was the first food I was able to eat since Tuesday’s lunch, I was so starving! Friday was also the first day I finally saw one of my school friends again. A good friend of my class, Diego, came to see me. The first words he said to me? “Lauren! You’re so white!” I guess sitting around inside for several days straight not eating anything doesn’t really help a tan. Well later that night, we (my host family and I) left for Maragogi beach. That was a pretty great weekend, as I mentioned in my last journal.

Since then, I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’m just seeing the good in all of it. I went to the mall with my friends Laya, from Germany, and Andrea, from Mexico. I went to Laya’s house for the afternoon with another inbound from Maryland, Matt. I’ve gone to the beach with kids from my class and some of the inbounds.

Friday, the 25, was my youngest host sister’s 11th birthday party. That was interesting. I had never been to a party like that before. It was SO nice, I was jealous, but apparently this was a NORMAL party here! She even had a guy there cooking crepes for everyone, which I might add, were delicious! The party I think went well, my friends Laya and Diego came, so I wasn’t bored. However, at the end of the party, things started not going so well. My host sister had either lost her camera or her mom’s camera, I’m not sure which one because it was late and I was tired, so I couldn’t think too well. Everyone was frantically searching for it at around 11:30 while also cleaning up everything from the party. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, and I’m not completely sure of the outcome, but I think the camera was found, or at least I hope so. I just remember later that night that my host mom coming in to talk to me to say how she was sorry and a bunch of things like this. I really didn’t know what she was apologizing for, I didn’t know if she had said something mean or anything like that, because honestly that night I was so exhausted that I wasn’t completely sure of anything that was going on or anything anyone said. I felt quite bad that night.

People here are constantly telling me how shy I am. I’m not like the Brazilians yet, I still enjoy my personal space. However, there isn’t such a thing as personal space here, honestly. When walking down a hall at school, someone will reach over and put their hand on your stomach to get your attention. When I first arrived here this always made me jump at least a little, now I’m getting used to it finally but not completely! You greet people with hugs and kisses on the cheeks. It’s very friendly and open, but very close. Boys often give you kisses on your hand, cheek, forehead, head, and its just common. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, these boys doing this are usually quite gorgeous J.

I’d have to say I’m really loving the life of an exchange student, every feeling is so much more strong. I’ve never felt more embarrassed in my life, I’ve never felt so confused, I’ve never been so bored, and I’ve never been so aggravated; but I’ve also never been this happy or had this much fun. I’m planning on writing a journal more often, to make it easier on me. There’s so much going on, and so much to write about, the longer I wait, the harder it is to write one

Russia Group Three

2009-09-23T09:28:00.001-07:00

Okay, so today in school was boring. Incredibly boring. However, I couldn't get one thing off my mind all day. In Maragogi, we played a game of Trivial Pursuit (In portuguese of course) and one of the questions was about two Russian terms that I had learned about last year in my history class. Oddly to say, I did actually learn something! Immediately I remembered a project I had to do on Russia and Stalin, so the first thing I thought of was this project. It has been bothering me since that night, I've been dying to watch it again. Today I finally found it! Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ZIhYTi3uc

Hope you enjoy it.

Eu entendi.

2009-09-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's quite great, other times its incredibly annoying.

Since I've been here, I've been slowly picking up portuguese.. I'm honestly surprised with how much I can understand by now. However, I think some of my friends and family don't quite realize it. It's embarassing to say, but honestly I can be incredibly slow at times. Its easy to see that my host family or my friends mistake when I didn't hear something for not understanding it. It's nice at times, because I know when they talk about me, I can understand what is all going on. However, I do feel it hurts my learning and it is very difficult for them and me when they are having to translate something. This is a topic hard to talk about, partially because of a language barrier, and also because I feel quite embarassed by it. Sometimes I'm here in person, but my mind is in its own world and I didn't catch a word of what someone says. I commonly turn to ask "o que?" or what, and then it is repeted in english. It's very difficult, and very frusterating, but I'm sure it will get better as things go on. [=

Today was a good day, though, it usually is :)

FIRST FROM BRAZIL.

2009-09-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

Oi! Tudo bom?

So I've been in Brazil for over a month, and I've done an AMAZING job at putting off blogging. It's not that I don't have anything exciting to write about, but its just that I keep putting it off, I'm a master at procrastination. Sorry about that (: So, how do I put the most amazing month and a half of my life into words? It's honestly not at all fully possible, its been so much more than I expected and over all just completely wonderful. I've had the best experience of my life so far, and I'm sure its only going to get better.I left the united states August 2, 2009 on a flight leaving Miami at 9:20 PM (I did have another plane from jacksonville to Miami before then, however). The 8 hour plane ride went by much quicker than I thought. I only was able to sleep for 30 minutes but I kept myself entertained by watching a movie and coloring, and I spent nearly 4 hours coloring in my Disney coloring book that I brought along. Landing in Salvador lead me to confusion. Almost no one in the airport spoke english and I had such a hard time trying to find where I go to check back into another flight after customs! But luckily I experienced right off the warm and friendliness of the Brazilians and someone showed me the way. 3 hours later, I was on a plane again on my way to my city! I hadn't really began feeling anything until I began to see the beach and the outline of a big city in the distance. I instantly knew I was going to fall in love with this beautiful beach city.Leaving the plane I was greeted by my host family waiting outside the doors for me. Exiting that airport was stepping into another world I was so unprepared for, so excited for, and so ready for.Sometimes, its so hard to believe I'm doing this. I've become so accustomed to everything that goes on in my life here, it's feeling all too normal! I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm in Brazil. I already can see myself changing, I know I will never be that same girl I was before I left. School here is wonderful. I don't understand a thing, but its good. Everyone here is so much louder in the US, and at times school is so much more fun. However, one thing I noticed upon reading my friend's journals was that most of them seemed to be really enjoying english class. Honestly, my english class is my LEAST favorite class. I don't understand ANYTHING! How, one might ask, can I not understand a class that teaches the language that I actually know? Well, to begin with, my english teacher does NOT know english, she's taught the class things that are wrong, I try to tell her and she ignores me because she doesn't know what I'm saying. Also, when people try to ask me a question on how to write a certain form of a sentence, I get so confused! These were things I learned maybe in the 2nd grade and do not remember a single thing about! My friends here are quite disappointed that I can never help them with their english work. On my first english test I recieved a mark of 7.3/10 on the test. That shows how well my english is, right? Well besides english class, I have a variety of other classes which I still can't remember what they are or what days they come on. I know I have 2 chemistry classes, 2 physics classes, 2 biology classes, a math class, a portuguese class, a gym class, an english class, a composition class, and I think maybe another one or two that I'm forgetting. Here, teachers switch classes instead of students, so I never had to worry about going to the wrong classes. Overall though, school started off great but now has just become school, but I completely adore it and the people inside!About my city? Rotary didn't tell me that I'd be living my year abroad in complete paradise. I live an entire four blocks from such a beautiful beach! I go at LEAST once a week. I love it. However, you can't swim in the beach here (or at least you aren't supposed to, but I have anyways) because of a shark problem they have in this city. It's so much more beautiful than the florida beaches I've grown up with. They are definitely much cleaner and much more lively here! Someone is always trying to sell you food or jewelry or clothes or anything on the beach, its neat. Since I've come to Brasil, I've already been on a few trips, but none of them outside of paradise. I've gone to the prettiest beach in the country, in my opinion the world, called Porto de Galinhas. I had never seen anything like that! It is the kind of beach you only see in pictures, yet it was completely real! I've gone to Maragogi, a beach in the state to the south, a few times as well. The first time I went to Maragogi was with rotary. Oh, that was such a wonderful trip! I got to meet the other inbounds in the Norbrex multidistrict, they are all such lovely people. This was our inbound orientation, and we honestly did little with rotary. We spent the weekend creating friendships, playing games, swimming in the ocean, building sculptures out of people burried in the sand, dancing, eating, feeding monkeys, turning guys into girls and vice versa, and overall just having an amazing time! I adore the other inbounds and cannot wait to see them again in December! I also went to Maragogi this weekend, but this time with my family and my sister's best friend to my family's beach house. I had a lot of fun (:Brazilian food is the best thing in the world, really. I was a vegetarian before coming here, and I hadn't eaten beef in YEARS. I just thought it was nasty. Now you wouldn't hear me say that or even anything close. I love the meat in Brasil. There is such a variety of meats and flavors, its all delicious! A fairly common food here is chicken hearts, and as disgusting as that sounds, its very good. Many of my friends here say that they prefer American (US) food more than Brazilian food. I am usually very confused by this statement and have to ask them what they mean by "American" food. This leads to disappointment for me, they respond with "Oh, my favorite is the Big Mac!" or just simply say "McDonald's." I then usually hear about how when they think of the US, all they think of is McDonald's and Disney. It disappoints me to hear this, I don't even like McDonald's, but I'm glad I can be here to make an impact and change their views on what they think of "All Americans". In being an exchange student, I realize there is a lot thought about me, especially when I am in a place that hasn't seen other exchange students from Florida. They look up to me, this is how they will think of Americans. It's a lot of responsibility, but I think I can handle it!One can easily see that I've changed, at least a little already, and will continue changing. I'm welcoming said change. I'm also helping change the world around me by "sharing the sunshine state with the world". Thank you rotary for giving me this opportunity, I'm going to make the most of it.

Beijos!
-Lauren Youngerman

District conference - Daytona

2009-04-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

Isn't it just sad, how one can become sooooo close to a particular group of friends, and then have to leave them again? This whole Rotary Youth Exchange program really is a butthead sometimes... Don't get me wrong, its the best thing that's ever happened to me; it just involves a lot of pain. Over the past few months I've met the most amazing people through rotary. Inbounds, future outbounds, and all over... It's really sad to say that I may never see some of those inbounds ever again, or that I'll see some of those really close outbounds maybe once or twice.

It's probably not the best thing to say, but I honestly think I like my rotary friends more than my school friends.

Don't get me wrong, I love them with all of my heart...

It's just that recently,

everyone has become soooo distant.

Why? I'm not totally sure, It might be because I'm leaving.... It might be because I'm changing, I have not a clue.

Looking at how some of my friends are acting now, I don't see how I"ll manage to stay friends with them when I return in a year, I'll be sooo much more different, and most of them arent' seeming to like any little change like that.

Change is wonderful, but it is definitely hard.

But I'm welcoming it with open arms and am ready for about anything to head my way :)

-April 27

103 days

the keys all look so friendly...

2009-04-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

On a keyboard, the 80 keys or so look so welcoming and friendly

(Yes I did just count the keys on my keyboard...)

The last few days, honestly, have been anything but great. Feelings (with my mess going on at home, being sick, and feeling completely offended by teachers in classes) have been completely occupying my life and just sort of taking over. I could go on and on about these subjects, but this is the internet, not my personal diary, so I'll keep to myself.

Although, its tricky. The keys on the keyboard, they almost seem to have a gravitational pull to each individual finger, some stronger than others causing a simple tap of a key. I could probably write for hours about everything and still not be tired of typing. I can't do that however because no information I put on the web is safe, and I know that. And for example, right now, if you're some creepy sexual offender or just some creepy old man who likes to read teenage girl's blogs then come track them down and like kill or rape them, well you are a freak and you might as well leave my page. Keystrokes, are almost like a drug... Just do a few and you're hooked -- making it super hard to just simply stop. Contain myself I must, and with you the force may be.

Okay, So I admit, I'm a bit looney right now

I'm sooooooo tired and soooooo stressed, I even burnt cookies

I NEVER burn cookies...

My visa application.... It's almost done!

All I have to do is wait until friday and get both my parents to sign it... Fun, right?

Oh! And another step towards my goal, I also am now enrolled in flvs Spanish 2.

Oh How Exciting!

115 days until I leave.

Excitement. Fear. Escape. Freedom. Experience.

Dang I just can't wait for Brazil!! :)

Spring Break

2009-04-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Spring break has been definitely GREAT.... Just insanely busy!
Lets see... here's about what I did...

Monday : Zoo with grandparents/aunt/cousin ethan
Tuesday: Clean room *that takes a while* and left for daytona... sat in traffic for hours, saw the speedway, and headed to orlando.
Wednesday: Disney -- Self explanitory
Thursday: Bowling & Shopping, a little less busy, but still pretty fulll day.
Friday: Fairl, literally all day. got there before noon, didn't get home until a little after 10.
Today;Saturday: I helped out with a Rotary Fun Run in the morning, then I've just been pretty much lying around since... I'm tired

My life Is pretty uneventful at the moment, But the closer time gets to brazil the more excited and more nervous I become.

I Broke 100!

2009-04-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

So much to write about...

The traffic to daytona

The daytona speedway

The hotel issue

Disney

How crowded disney was

My brother at disney

Fudge

The exhilarating drive home

But I don't wanna.

Actually I'm more in the mood for writing about today :

Bowling.

I've never once had a strike without bumpers... and I rarely get over 70. Today I got 3 strikes in our second game and even broke 100! 111 was my final score and I was impressed.

That's all really anything about bowling. haha :)

But today while sitting around in the car, because I didn't really wanna drive, I realized I have less than four short months left until I leave for Brazil. That's AMAZING. I'm so incredibly excited about it. Sure I'm a bit nervous about leaving to a place where I still will barley know the language, but I'm incredibly excited.

This summer, I'm also planning on going to Summer camp, which will take up 2 months of my summer... Making it really only about 2 months that I will have left to do whatever. That's crazy. That's amazing.

Brazil. One of the things coming up needed for my Brazil trip is the district conference in later April. My parents are going to allow me to drive myself to Daytona for this. I know I'm ready for it, but amusingly enough I got in an argument about it with someone earlier. (Honestly I think he was only jealous that he knows his parents won't let him drive there.) I am so thankful for the trust I have from my parents on my driving, and I don't plan on doing anything to ruin that trust. I know I'm ready for a trip to daytona, its only shortly over an hour when the traffic is decent, and I know how to get there. And hey, if my parents are able to live in a foreign country for a year without them, driving to daytona shouldn't be a problem! haha :)

All I can say is I'm super duper excited about Brazil, and that's not gonna change :D

Meat = ICKY

2009-04-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to the ZOO.

First, a little background knowledge about me & the zoo:

i LOVE the zoo.
I've been a vegetarian for a year and a half and now i have to give that up for brazil
the zoo has nasty veggie burgers, and everything else is meat
I like the birds :)

SO. I go to the Zoo with my Aunt, Grandma, Brother, and baby cousin. Its like wooo party! I had a blast, I love the zoo. But smartly I had wayy too much guarana antartica the night before and stayed up late watching the goonies so I was extremely tired. That didn't help too much.

Then we get over to lunch time... and I had chicken nuggestss. nastiest little things, I really don't like meat at all and don't particularly want to go back to it, but I really need to for Brazil. Oh the sacrifices, I better darn well have a good time! haha :)

Today I go to daytona for a few hours (after a massive cleanup of my room) and then tomorrow disney! This shall be fun :)

But dont get me wrong, I don't like eating meat, but I am sosososososososososos excited about Brazil.

Actually, excited doesn't even begin to cover it.

I say to people over and over again that I'm excited to go to Brazil... But in consideration, I'm wayy more than just simply excited. My feelings for how much I'm looking forward to Brazil doesn't even fit into words. This is like a dream coming true for me and I can't believe I'm getting the opportunity. So to anyone who has helped me along the way or is making this possible, to all the past present and future friends who have helped me the slightest bit... Thank You so much, you don't realize how much you mean to me :)

and they let me drive a CAR?!

2009-04-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

First helpful bit of advice:

Never drink Guraná late at night if you plan on sleeping

I made that mistake, and didn't get to sleep until after two. Not the brightest idea on my behalf.

So last night I ran off to walmart to get enough rice and beans for dinner for probably the next two weeks or so... Just trying to get into the habit before I leave!

Okay : So my exciting story for the morning
Because of my parents getting a divorce, and my dad moving out, SOMEBODY had to learn how to mow our lawn.

And who better of a somebody than the daughter who can drive?!

My dad said :: Exactly as so ::
"If you can drive a car, then you can drive this"
This morning was my first attempt at mowing the lawn... It didn't turn out so well
You see, we have a riding lawn mower... and a very uneven lawn.. filled with weeds and maybe a small portion of grass. When I was out mowing, I was doing a pretty good job, until i tried to swat a bug out of my face because I didn't want it to bite me. Oh No! Quickly I jerked with the other hand accidentally into the ditch... The next thing I knew: I had stopped moving.

I had recalled that not too long ago my very kind neighbor, Mr. Dan, told me if I ever got stuck in the ditch to just go get him and he would help.

However, I didn't know that the whole "if you ever get stuck in the ditch" thing was sort of a joke... Because when I went and told him what happened, he just sort of stared at me in amazement. Then everybody around was questioning my ability to drive a car.

What does this have to do with my journey to prepare for brazil?

Nothing... I just hope it means that they don't tell ME to mow the lawn again...

Spring Break Changes

2009-04-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

Recently... I've been up for a little bit of everything.

I've cut my hair crazily different
I've died my hair (like in the current picture)
I've even given up on being a vegetarian

The last one, is an interesting story...

Today, was the beginning of my spring break. It started off with a simple task: Lauren drives to Grocery and buys food. Then I decided to go all cool and drive over the buckman to try and find the brazilian bakery and the brazilian market in Jacksonville.

Me being me, a complete dummy with directions, I passed each store about four times before actually finding them.

The first place I went to was called "Supermercado Brasilia" and it was just a little Brazilian market off of Old King's Road & Bay Medows Road. When I got here, I went inside and talked with the people working there. There was a man and a woman, about young adults, maybe like 19 or 20... Moved here from brazil 8-10 years before hand. They were very helpful and showed me around the store. When I first walked in I had this insanely CLUELESS feeling take over me... I wasn't sure what I wanted, where to find it, or how to make it. Thankfully, again, they were very helpful. At the end, I ended up buying the ingredients needed for a Brazilian dish of Chicken Stroganoff, A case of guaraná (a popular soda), and a thing of Passa Tempo cookies.

Oh Man, I wish I would have gotten more of those cookies!

For the past year and a half. I have been a vegetarian, simply because I do not like meat. Tonight, was a change in that sort. I Cooked and Ate my Chicken Stroganoff dinner, and surprisingly it was really good!

It was the most Interesting... Recipe.

"cream of milk"
Tomato Sauce
Ketchup
Mustard
Some stuff that looked like soy sauce

But, as weird as some things may sound.. .they are extremely delicious.

I can't wait to get to Brazil and try all the wonderful foods! The weirdest combinations can sometimes make THE best tastes :)

So. Language wise? My portuguese sucks. I was listening to the two kids talk in portuguese with customers and other workers... and out of their conversations i got maybe like a few words. That's a scary thought.

Soon enough, I won't only encounter that at the grocery store... I'll encounter that everywhere I go.

So Yes, the dinner I made was Fantastic! The only bad part about it, was it made me sick. Not the quality, not undercooked meat, not the crazy sauce... But just from being a vegetarian for so long, switching back to meat is kind of upsetting to the stomach. Which makes it a good thing that I'm starting now.

After the Supermercado Brasilia, I went to the Brazilian Bakery off of San Jose.

Can you say.. Delicious?

I had this piece of some kind of cake, it was sososososo yummy. I'm actually eating it now. I have no clue how to describe it besides the word delicious.

In conclusion:

I'm going to get fat when i go to Brazil

I like the food too much :)

The journey begins

2009-04-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

The journey begins shortly after I recieved that phone call telling me where I was going..

Soon an email arrived telling me pretty much "Hey! You're going to Brazil! In January, we have an orientation in Lake Yale with a bunch of other kids... Go write some stuff bout yourself for our website, get this this and this for the orientation, Oh! And go learn ten phrases in Portuguese that you will have to say aloud at our orientation!

Oh gosh, this is embarassing...

So soon enough, the orientation came, and I met a bunch of AMAZING people who I will never ever forget :]

And I abseloutely can't wait till I get to see them all again in June! :)

But this orientation wasn't all so fun... We had many classes where we just sat and listened, which was neccessary, but quite a bit of a bore at times. Then came our phrases. Uh-oh! Somehow I tried to ask "Where is the bathroom?" and I ended up asking "Where is the tampons?" or something of that nature. It wasn't too bad, however, because nobody was very good at it, and maybe a whole two people in the entire room understood portuguese.

Since the orientation, all I've done is:

Practice Portuguese

Talk with other current/future exchange kids

Live my normal life

Go through my parent's divorce

Wait

Wait

Wait Some more

But then not too long ago I opened my email to find something titled "Hello Lauren."

Thinking it was spam, I almost never read the email! But thankfully, with that luck I had to answer my cell phone, I also had enough smarts to open that email. Who Is Carol? Well, since the term "host sister" means.. Wait, That email was from my host sister!! This was somebody who I'd be living with in the BEAUTIFUL city of Recife... Right on the coast, summer weather all year, wonderful beaches and a lot of life. Recife is the fourth largest city in Brazil and a city that participates a lot in Carnival! Oh, it excites me the more I think about it. Honestly, I can't type this without a massive smile.

My host family, seems abseloutely wonderful.

I have two host sisters. Carol and Fernanda. Carol is 15, while Fernanda is only 10. They look like a wonderful family and I am so excited I will be staying with them. I talk to carol through MSN quite a bit now, and she pretty much laughs at my attempt at portuguese. I have found some common ground with her already thankfully. She is obsessed with twilight... I've read all four books, so I guess that already puts me on her good side! :)
Excitement has definitely taken over.

Recently, I had to attend a district meeting in Palatka in which I had to give a 5 minute speech On myself (In portugues) and about my host country of Brazil. Public speaking seems to abseloutely terrify me... When I went up to give my speech I just can recall having a tough time reading my notecards because I was shaking. The only thing that made me insanely freaked like that was having to speak in portuguese. Maybe it was the fact that there was somebody else who could understand portuguese in the room? No, that's not what bugged me. I think what bugged me was the fact that there were at least 20 other people in the room who had no clue what I was saying, whether I said it well or terribly. How's that? I'm not quite sure, but my mind thinks in fairly funky ways. I did get through it, and I was at least told that I did very well... And I'm still countin' down the days till I get to leave!

Only a few short days ago.... I recieved word on WHEN i was leaving for Brazil. In my Visa application packet, it said that the group departure date was August 8th. Since I found out I've been counting the days. As of right now 4 months and 3 days till I leave. Oh boy, this is driving me crazy!

This opportunity that I'm getting is possibly the greatest thing that has ever happened.

The excitement and fear of living somewhere I've never been with a language I hardly know.

The experience of new culture and new lifestyle.

The knowledge I will gain about life and myself.

The friendships that I will make.

The connections I'll have everywhere in the world.

My life will forever change, and I just can't wait for it.

Hopes, Heartbreaks, and Excitement

2009-04-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Foriegn exchange,

wonderful, isn't it?

Seems crazy, don't you think? Spending a year abroad with a family you've never personally met with a language you most likely barely know is something that can sure scare the crap out of some people. Me, however, I smile at the fact.

Ever since I was very young, I've always loved to travel. The most exciting thing to me was hopping on a plane and going somewhere new. The world is my backyard, and all I want to do is explore. So, its not a question why I wanted to travel to a new country to live for a year.

My mom, actually, is the one who encouraged me to do this. She was talking to some people through rotary and came home all excited one day with an application and the website. This did take me FOREVER to do, and I won't lie, I was up late the night before I had to mail it in finishing about half of it up! I spent sooo long trying to figure out what to put where and how I should say something.. It was so stressful. It also really didn't help that when I told my friends about it, all they did was get mad at me for wanting to leave them for a year. It did get in though, and I got ready for the next part of my application : : : The Interview

Bum Bum Bummmmm

The interview, honestly wasn't that bad... however I was insanely nervous. I'm not someone to happily wake up on a weekend morning at 6 just so I can drive down to Palatka for a couple hours, but I did it anyways. Well the interviews, weren't so bad: I got to meet a lot of the inbounds which really made me realize how much I honestly wanted this... Which can't be summed up into words. The first room was my worst I think. I came in, sat down, and shook from being nervous. They asked me to say why I would be good for this opportunity for a minute, and just pretty much compliment myself. Uh oh. How do I do that? I'm not one to brag, I'm just only abseloutely amazing. Haha, But no, truthfully I have this, I don't know, issue or something about talking about myself. So that wasn't too great. Then in every other room I did fine. (Although in the Rotex room I slaughtered how to say "Bom dia" and in the map room the only country I pointed out wrong was Brazil, and that's just where I happen to be going... I find it quite ironic).

After the interview ended I waited

and I waited

and I waited some more!

until finally that letter addressed to Lauren Youngerman from RYE Florida arrived in the mail.

I tore that letter open faster than could be imagined, only to feel...

heartbreak.

I didn't get it. I was only accepted as an alternative, which to me, was just as bad as getting a No. The next several weeks was when I learned to

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

That little thought has helped me get through a lot more since then.

But come on? Leave a story as an alternative?

Its easy to tell something happened, or otherwise I wouldn't be writing this blog.

So one night when working on my big 16 made out of CD's for my 16th birthday party, my cell phone rings. As I was almost about to ignore the call because I didn't know the number, I answered.

"Hi Lauren, I was just calling to inform you about foriegn exchange... You're going to Brazil!"

or at least... something along those lines...

I honestly, nearly screamed... I'm actually very surprised I didn't

Brazil, maybe wasn't my number one choice, but when finding out that was where I was going, I felt like that's ALWAYS been my number one choice. Brazil, it's perfect for me... and just thinking about it now, I wonder why it WASN'T my number one choice. I'm ecstatic about it, and cannot wait.