New month, but still no news ):

So it's a new month, May! Yay! (: That means the last day of school's getting closer and my departure to Italy won't be too far off either! I'm excited that time's flying by so fast but I still don't have any news on my host family )': Some people have gotten their families already and I seriously can not even begin to describe how jealous I am!! I've started learning a little bit more about Italian geography and I'm hoping to be placed in the South! Not only because that's the area closest to the Mediterranean Sea but the culture just sounds richer & funner! But it really doesn't matter that much to me, I just want to know!! I got an e-mail from AFS a week or two ago and I was soo pumped because I thought it'd be my host family but no... it was just an e-mail about a new Italian language requirement:

Dear Jacqueline and Family,

While you may still be waiting to hear about your acceptance into the program, I wanted to inform you of a new addition to the AFS-Italy Year Program.  

AFS-Italy has informed us that they will now be supplying all participants with access to an online language learning module through Rosetta Stone, in order to help you prepare for you study abroad experience.  Please note that this language learning course will be MANDATORY, and requires that all students complete at least 1 level of course (approximately 40 hours) BEFORE you arrive in Italy in September. Should you not be able to complete the required One Level of language learning, AFS-Italy will then ask that you reimburse them for the cost of the program (approximately 50 Euros or 65 USD).  If you need to reimburse AFS-Italy, you will be asked to do so upon your arrival in Rome.

To clarify, this online learning module is provided free of charge by AFS-Italy, but you will only need to pay for the course if you do not complete the first level.

You will receive an email from AFS-Italy in early May, providing you with the online learning module details (including a username and password).  Please note that the AFS-Italy volunteers are going to be monitoring your progress throughout the course, and may often email you periodically with letters of support and encouragement.  Additionally, if you find this program to be helpful while you are abroad, you will be able to access it during the first few months of your program (up until the end of November).

Note:  All students will also be provided with another language course once you arrive in Italy (in person, not online).  This course will be organized within your community and typically contains from 40-60 hours of lessons.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards,

Outbound Programs
AFS-USA

So yeah, that's about the only news from AFS in the past month. Umm what else... well some people have gotten information regarding their orientations but I haven't gotten anything about that yet either... oh well! I just need to be patient but that's definitely not one of my strong suits. Oh yeah also I've been trying to get my blog posted up on the AFS student blog page but once again nothings happened with that either! It's still not up on the website, oh well I'm just going to have to wait (: I've also applied to like a million fastfood places in my city for a job but none will hire anyone under 16 so I'm pretty much screwed ): I'm going to have to think of other fundraisers or something! Also I've been pretty lazy with learning Italian, I keep saying to myself that I should really start learning on the LiveMocha account I've made but I'm still only on lesson 1. I mean, I'll have plenty of time to learn over the summer right?
Soo just to update you: 24 more days of school! whooooooooo!(:

• 50 kids from the USA going to Italy next year
• only 7 of those 50 have gotten their host family's already ):

I guess people got a call from an AFS guide who told them about the 7/50 thing but I didn't get a call! Oh and I'm not really sure but I feel like I should start applying for a Visa because I guess the process takes forever, but I haven't looked into that yet either... Wow this is such an uneventful blog post! haha well hopefully next time I post, there will actually be some news!(:

Ciaoooo(: 

Jacqueline