After looking at my last post I decided I should update my blog for all you avid readers. This past Tuesday was my birthday for starters. The day started like the day before, I got up and helped my brother and Poppie split wood, then I scrubbed our new tile floors to clean them. After that I did nothing till about 3:45 then I got ready for work. I worked till 8:15 and from there I went to meet up with some of my friends to see Robin Hood for $1! And honestly, I would not pay more than $1 to see it. It was long and I could not focus on the movie. It was entertaining, but really there were so much going on all the time I had little idea what was going on. When the movie finally finished, I went home and went to bed. I have not been doing anything awesome this summer like going on vacation or day trips any where. I have been seeing my friends which is always a plus!! Other than spending time with my friends, doing nothing at home, and getting "ready" for Italy, I have been working. I am glad I have a job because I have started buying new clothes and gifts for my trip and my pay checks have allowed me to buy them on my own.

If there is anything I want to do this summer before I go to Italy and summer "ends" (I won't be going back to school like the rest of my friends so I have a few more days of summer :D) would be to go to New York City at least once, Six Flags, Woodstock, My Poppie's camp in northern New York and with that trip I want to go to Canada, and the beach! I mean a real beach with sand and an ocean! But those are just ideas and things I want to do, hopefully I can do some of them.

Now onto the exchange portion of my post. I called the Italian consulate in New York City to try and make an appointment to drop off my application and get my visa. At first I thought it was going to be a little hard with their ridiculous hours and working out with my schedule and my mom's, but I guessed wrong! I called and asked about applying for a student visa and the man on the phone said they were booked for like seven weeks or something and I started feeling a little panicked. I told him I was leaving the 13th of September and he said that was fine and so I set up the appointment on the earliest day they had. The earliest day was September 1st!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me!! He says it takes about 7 to 10 tens, what if it takes more than that?? What will I do then?? After making the appointment I emailed the woman I have been talking to from ASSE and my area representative about how soon the appointment was to my departure date and the woman from ASSE said, "That is too close to your departure date, but I think you will be able to get your visa." Well lets hope so. As for any new news from ASSE there is nothing. I am hoping some new letters or something will come because I have 46 days before I leave and I feel that I am not ready and equipped with the right amount of information and support from ASSE. I want to know what we will do in Milan and how I am getting to my host family and just some over all "lets get ready for life in Italy" stuff. Oh well, I will wait and see if anything new comes in the mail.