So much to do, so little time...

So 18 days left before I leave. It's pretty scary! I finally applied for my visa today. I'll receive it on the First of February. Plus I still have to pack and say good bye to everyone and go to Arizona and Pittsburgh and wow life is busy. Packing will be interesting. I'm very bad at time management when it comes down to stuff such as this and not very good and making clothes fit nice and neat into a small suitcase. Hopefully my mom will be able to assist me so there won't be a mental breakdown. Other than that I have also had my predeparture orientation tonight. I just made it back in time to get the papers finished and get into the call. I learned a lot and met other people going abroad soon to a few other countries. It was cool to see how other people thought of their exchange time and what theirs hopes and worries were as well. I have been listening to my Portuguese CDs a lot lately in hopes that it will prepare me enough to get basic information across until I learn more words and phrases. School will probably be the most different part. School in many other countries is very different than school in the United States and I'm excited to compare and contrast the two. This is going to be an interesting experience and I'm going to take it full stride.

Cori