Thank You

Recently I found out that I am able to check my visa online to see which stage it is at in this process. At the moment it is being processed. From there it will go to be authorized and then sent to me. Once it arrives in my mailbox I can finally send it to my travel agent who can then book my flight.
Hopefully this will only take a couple weeks more and I will be off to my paradise!

It's basically just the waiting game from here on in.

With that said, I thought now would be a good time to put out some thank you's.

First, I would like to say thank you to the 7 exchange students we have hosted in my house; if it weren't for each one of you, I wouldn't know anything about Rotary and I wouldn't have developed quite the amount of curiosity and passion for travelling. Thanks to all of you, I now have a greater understanding of the world and different cultures and I really believe that you made me grow more as a person.
I've grown up having a new stranger stay in my house every year, who very quickly became a permanent part of my family.
Thanks for inspiring me.

Next I would like to thank the Rotary Club in Armstrong. I have known many of you since I was very young and it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know each of you over the years. Thank you for supporting me and being so warm and welcoming at every event I have been part of.
It is an honour for me to represent all of you in Brazil. I promise I will be the best ambassador I can be.

I would also like to thank the inbound/outbound/rebound exchange students from 5060 during 2012-2013. Though I have only met most of you at a couple rotary weekends, you all made a huge impact on me. In such a short time, you became like a family to me. It gave me great hopes for what was to come during my exchange year. You all taught me so much about being an exchange student, and so much about myself. I always looked forward to getting together with all of you because we always had such a great time. Thank you for welcoming us outbounds into your circle as easily as you did.
You will forever be in my heart.

Thank you to my Rotary Club and families in Brazil as well! Although I have not met you yet, I am just as grateful to have been accepted into your way of life. Estou muito animada para encontrar voces e aprender sobre sua cultura. Espero que voces vao gostar de mim porque eu sei eu vou adorar Brasil! I am going to strive to be the best representative from Canada that you have ever seen! ;) Muito Obrigada!

Now. I would like to say a special thank you to all of my dear friends in Canada. The last few months with all of you have been incredible. I will always cherish the moments we have all spent. These last couple weeks have been tough because of my visa and paperwork and without all of you, I honestly don't know what I would have done.
Thank you for always being there for me, making me laugh, getting me out of the house, making me a little less white ;)
And thank you for your support. Thank you for understanding that this is my dream and that one year is not very long.
I will miss you all very much but I know that if we can have a kickass goodbye party then we sure as heck can have one hell of a welcome back party ;) am I right!?
Love you all.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my family. Your amazing emotional and financial support is what is putting me on that plane. Thank you for supporting my decision to be an exchange student even from an early age. Thank you for giving me the advise and motivation I needed to make this dream come true. This trip means the world to me and it gives me great pleasure knowing my family is right by my side.
A year is a long time when it comes to being away from your loved ones but I know you will be with me every step of the way.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
Thank you.
Thank you/Muito obrigada to all who helped make my dream come true.

Bjos xox


(Brenna, go grab a tissue)

Still Waiting

It is August 22nd and I still have no clue when I will depart from Canada...
I was supposed to be gone the second week of august at the latest but like I said in my last post: my papers got messed up.
I check my email and the mail everyday in hopes that my visa would be sent to me. everyday there is nothing.
Everyone is telling me to be patient (believe me, I am trying!) but it's incredibly hard when I have my host families and friends in Brazil contacting me everyday asking if I know anything.

Since my visa application didn't get sent to the consulate until later last week, my visa probably won't be on its way to me for another couple weeks at least. That means that I will most likely be arriving in Brazil a month late. That also means one month is taken away from my exchange because one person didn't do their job.
Cool.

It is a long wait but I know what is waiting for me on the other side will make everything totally worth it.

Brazil... I hope you are ready for me because I am more than ready for you.

Prepara ;)

Bjos e um abraco xoxo

-H

Ugh

So today was a fun day for me..
For the last few weeks, I have been missing this one certain document that was supposed to be sent by my host club in Brasil. We have done everything we were supposed to on time but we were just waiting on this one paper. This original copy of this form was supposed to be sent to my travel agent in June but instead was sent to me. Of course we didn't know this until today so we immediately sent off this form to my travel agent with hopes that she can book my flight.

I'm telling you.. this process is very long and confusing and it's making me crazy not knowing when I leave. Originally I was supposed to leave by this week and now we're looking at another 2 weeks maybe.
There's not a lot we can do at this point except wait.

There are not enough words to describe how excited I am to leave and start my exchange.. I have been studying Portuguese religiously and I just want to start speaking it to everyone.

On the bright side... I get to keep working to save more money for the Northeast Trip in January :)

So for anyone reading this who is planning on applying for the exchange.. do it. I haven't started my exchange but I can already tell it's the best decision I've ever made. Just a tip though.. be patient during this process and watch over your paperwork carefully ;)

Bjos xox