"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enthusiasm, defined as intense and eager enjoyment.

One of the greatest opportunities AFS has given me thus far, has been the chance to meet other people beginning on this journey as well. Through facebook, I have been lucky enough to meet dozens of other AFSers embarking on a journey quite similar to mine. We have been able to share our concerns, fears, new information, stories, and most of all our enthusiasm. I have one friend in particular, Erinn, who I am sure you will be hearing a lot more of. Erinn and I already have a lot in common, and especially with this whole Spain thing. We have both been taking Spanish since elementary school, we were both accepted on the same day, we both have sisters, do multiple sports, and coincidently enough both of our names end with two letters (meGG, eriNN). It doesn’t seem like a lot, but we talk to each other everyday, and as if we have known each other our whole lives. Our enthusiasm, and our love of travel and the unknown has brought us together, and almost immediately. We exchanged a few facebook messages, and became instant friends. Our "intense enjoyment" is exchanged everyday, whether we are talking about summer school, host families, or just our regular American lives. And the enthusiasm continues even on the most uneventful days. That's the spirit that will get us through the next year, that will keep us going through the worst and the best of our times there. Erinn's spirit and enthusiasm inspires me everyday, encourages me to continue along as we inch closer and closer to the beginning of our adventure. We have begun a friendship, something great, that I know will last a lifetime.

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." -C.S. Lewis

As the school year comes to an end, and the summer begins I am forced to begin my goodbyes. I start with my teachers, my school, and will soon end with my best friends, and ultimately my family. The hardest part about this exchange will be the inevitable fact of leaving. First I will leave Alexandria, Virginia for my new home in Ponferrada, Spain with the Mendez family. The friends I've grown up with, the traditions, the memories I have created are all here in Alexandria, but maybe that's just it. All I have ever known is this city. My parents have lived here for decades, and their reputations have made it very easy for me to grow up here. I am ready to begin on my own, create my own reputation, my own connections, I am ready to start over. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean forgetting my past, or leaving anything behind. I don't mean that I am going to move and become the cliche teen movie, or lose sight of the redheaded rugby playing, cheerleader from Virginia. Start over, as in for one year I will be away from the normality, the things that have become so constant in my life, such as the language, or the school, and I will find myself. Through the hardships of moving to a foreign country with minimal language skills, I will find out whether or not I can keep the same type of friends, have the same sense of humor, or even keep the same style. When I get back, I hope to be more of who I am, and less of who I try to be. Maybe the hardest goodbye of all, will be the one to myself.