Preparing for the Time of my Life

A few months ago, I got a letter in the mail from the People to People Organization of Student Ambassadors. I've gotten letters from them in the past, but my family has never been able to afford to send me or my siblings halfway across the world until now. My dad is working more than usual and my mom got a secretary job at my sister's soccer club so she can play for free. I've gone through interviews, driven across the state to meetings, written essay questions and been poked and prodded about many aspects of myself and my character. It's been months, but my patience and tolerance have finally paid off. I am officially enrolled to go on a fabulous trip to visit France, Italy, and Greece. I will be in Europe for 21 days this summer having the time of my life, but I can't help but wonder how in the world I am going to go 3 weeks in a foreign continent with complete strangers. This will be the longest I've ever stayed away from my family, but I am confident that I won't get homesick. I don't know, I think this is just because I just about have a fiesta in my head whenever I hear my parents say that they are taking Rachel to a soccer game and they won't be back for three hours. Of course, the party begins when they leave the house, but that's not the point. I have a feeling that I will be perfectly fine. Who knows, this could be good for me. I'll have a nice little culture shock and a dose of independence while I'm there. I'll be roaming around Paris blurting out french to whoever has a chance of understanding it and I'll hopefully find my way back to the hotel. Oh, and did I mention I'll be staying with a homestay in Italy? Yea, a family will host a homestay in which some kind of neat culture exchange will take place. However, I was informed that this family may not speak a word of english, but I'm not too worried about that. I just want them to learn more about my culture (which consists of football and the bigmack so I have no idea why anyone would want exposure to that) so I can learn more about theirs. It won't be some touristy little trip, it will be a firsthand look at the lives of people from other places who speak different languages and eat different foods and do different things. I think it will bea fascinating experience and I will post pictures about it when I get back.