In or Out

As part of having this blog, other than documenting my journey, I hope to give advice to future exchange students. Especially girls going to Egypt. With my countdown at 2 days 13 hours and 7 minutes, I thought it was about time to start packing.

If any of you have been abroad or know someone who has, you may know that the limit is one suitcase (for me it's at 44 lbs.) and one carry on. If any of you are, have been, or know a teenage girl. Imagine taking the entirety of a teenage girl's life and putting it into 44 lbs. Fortunately, I'm a pretty low-maintenance girl. I don't wear make-up. I don't have a lot of hair products. That takes care of some problems one might encounter. However, I love shoes. I really do. I have maybe 15 pairs... give or take. So to narrow down those options, my dad made a game (kinda). So basically, I take an item out to the living room and everyone votes in or out. In, I take it. Out, I don't. It is kind of sad when you love something and it's voted out. It's like seeing your favorite contestant get voted off a reality show. And it's even sadder when your sister yells "I'll take 'em" after it is voted out.

I have compiled a list of things to take, tips on packing, and anything else that I come up with while writing.

1. Packing for long trips is like writing an essay. You pack, edit, unpack, repack, and repeat.
2. So far I have had two "drafts" of my packed suitcase. The first time I packed, I put everything in folded. Then, the second time I rolled most of my clothes. I found that rolling really does make it easier to pack. I have no clue why, but it takes up less room.
3. Know what the weather is like where you are and pack accordingly. You have a small amount of space so use it wisely.
4. Think of how much stuff you buy in a year. You don't have to pack all the clothes you can. You will buy things while you're there (I'm assuming). So just keep that in mind.
5. Aside from clothes, shoes and toiletries, I am bringing other random things that aren't that random.

• Stuffed animals: I am bringing two stuffed animals and my pillow pet for comfort. Also because I am a dork. :)
• Gifts: It's a really good idea to bring gifts for your host family and other people you meet. For my host mother and cousin I got them tote bags that say California and San Francisco. I got t-shirts from Hawai'i. I also bought a big bag of chocolate. I'm also bringing a bunch of individually wrapped candy corn things to explain Halloween because again, I'm a dork. :) I also bought duct tape with American flags on it and I'm in the process of making little bows to give to like friends I make or whatever.
• Children's books: I brought like four kids' books in case I get a chance to help little kids learn English or in case I get home sick and need something to make me feel better (i.e. The Little Engine That Could).
• Other: I think I'm gonna pack some Kraft Mac n Cheese or something because I don't know how hard it's gonna be to find it so yeah, I thought it was a good idea. I'm also bringing a camera, video camera, chargers, and an SD card reader so I can put things other than words on my blog.

So that's pretty much all I have for you guys right now. My bag currently weighs 41.5 lbs and I don't have anything in my carry on so I have some work to do. I leave on Wednesday, it's Sunday night. I just got home from my family Bon Voyage party. (My parents took me to see a drag show in San Francisco. It was awesome.) Anyway, this weekend is going by so slow. I am so excited and scared and kinda sad and I'm having all the feels right now. 

I decided that I'm gonna give you this link because it's the song I'm kind of vibing on right now. Vibing isn't a word but whatever. So enjoy Idina Menzel. (No, it is not Frozen).

These are the bows I made in case you were curious.

Okay... Byeeeee :)

Corie. 

My Host Family

Over the past couple of months I have been in contact with my host family. I got the email when I was at camp. When I opened up the information, the only way to contact the family was either a) email the host sister or b) call them. Never having to call anyone over seas I didn't know my international calling allowances, if I even had any. With a couple weeks left in camp, my only option was to email my host sister. So on my phone I set up an email to her. Not knowing whether or not anyone knew English, I spent the next couple of days using google translate and my friend from Saudi Arabia to translate a little passage into Arabic. I sent that along with what it meant in English to my host sister. A few days later I received a response. My host sister, Fairouz, had responded to my three sentence email with a three paragraph email in English. She even included words like btw and yay (with many ys "yayyyy"). I was relieved I didn't have to translate, but disappointed I spent all that time poorly translating for nothing.

When my dad received the alert that I had gotten placed. He saw the lack of "family email" and said something along the lines of "looks like you'll be unplugging for a year". I agreed with him. In her first email, however, Fairouz managed to ask if we could skype or FaceTime and if I had a Facebook with in like ten words of each other. Sounds like you were wrong then, Dad.

After that I didn't email Fairouz again. Pourquoi? Because from then on we messages each other on Facebook. All. The. Time. For hours. And days. It was crazy. It was good though. I learned that Fairouz, too, will be an exchange student. So while I am having my adventure in Egypt. She will be having her own adventure in Missouri. Kinda funny right? I also learned I will be living three minutes walking distance from City Stars the biggest mall in Cairo (or something). I'm really freaking excited about that. I mean, look at it: 

It's beautiful... at least until I'm broke.

When I got home from camp, Fairouz and I finally set up a time for her family and me to Skype. I was so excited. The night before I barely slept. (which in no way had anything to do with a sleepover) Barely slept so much that when I logged onto Skype I fell asleep waiting for them. After about an hour I woke up. They still hadn't been online. Later, I received a message from Fairouz saying she had overslept and her mom went to bed and asked if we could Skype another day. At that point I knew I had the right family when I realized we all fell asleep simultaneously. 

Eventually, we all were awake enough to Skype. I got a chance to meet my host mom, dad, cousin, and sister. Online at least. They were super nice and sweet. Saying things close to the following:

• "You are going to have so much fun here"
• "I'm can't wait to teach you Arabic"
• "I'll give you lessons when we cook together"
• "The kitchen is open to you whenever you are hungry"

The last one really makes me happy. :')

They also asked things like

• What kind of food do you like?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What kind of things do you like to do?
• What do you like to watch on TV?

To which I had nothing to say. In my mind I said, "I don't know... American things?" But out loud I said, "Basically anything."

So yeah. I leave for New York in 23 days and 12 hours, but who's counting. I'm so excited.

Byeeeee :)

Corie.