AFS Orientation(s)

Well, I am now writing this from Rome, Italy, where I will leave in about two hours to go to Mestre, my host town. For the past four or so days, we've been having orientations, first with all the American AFSers in New York and then with the rest of the kids going to Italy in Rome. After hearing a bunch of different stuff, I have to say, it's been a pretty awesome few days. From just the short bit of time we've spent together, I feel like I've become close to a lot of different AFSers who I'll keep in touch with and visit during these next 10 months. Yes, the activities were very lame, from singing songs to playing musical chairs-esque games, but it's been nice just doing them with all of the other people. I've talked to people from so many backgrounds, so many countries, who spoke so many languages, and it's just been amazing. While I don't feel like this has done too much to prepare me for going or anything, this has left me with great excitement for what is to come.