I honestly can't believe people besides friends and family read this blog. The flag counter on the side is waaaaay off, but it's still amazing to know that I've grazed the eyes of people from around the world. Thank you for my readers and all 5 of my followers.
This blog post will definitely be longer than my last link to a youtube video that I did as a buffer because I didn't feel like doing a complete entry. A lot has gone on and it's actually interesting, not to mention I will most likely get completely off topic and go on a tangent during this.
Dutch Wonderland
What is that, you ask? If you're not from Southern Pennsylvania or the surrounding areas you definitely don't know. Dutch Wonderland is in Strausburg, PA and it is a theme park just for little kids. It's made to be sort of like a midevil themed park with Pennsylvania dutch scattered here and there. It's literally on a highway and stretches all the way back to farmer's fields. I went with my mom's friend and his kids, as he has 4 and he is a single dad (when he has his kids).
I hadn't been to Dutch Wonderland probably since I was in second or third grade, so I remembered very few things. I think getting on a roller coaster, buying a personalized kettle corn bucket, and getting yelled at by Santa Claus when I was very little. Yes, that kind of stuff did happen to me. I got yelled at by Santa Claus. That's another story.
Abby, Joe's oldest and only girl, who is also nearly the same age as my host sister will be.
Dutch Wonderland was very laid back, I did whatever the kids wanted to do and enjoyed being with them as they had fun, which made my experience fun. I did get a workout carrying kids all day and trying to keep headcounts going.
2013 Speedwell Picnic
Yet another thing most of you are probably going "what the heck does Kara do with herself" about. If you follow this blog you'd know that I briefly mention the Speedwell from time to time. Speedwell is an ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING scholarship given out to kids from my county and surrounding counties. 30 are given out each year, and they are full scholarships. Let's do a little math. 30 only THIS YEAR, multiplied by approximately $13,000 per kid. That's $390,000 for a whole bunch of motivated teenagers. This scholarship may not be lasting for too much longer because they are struggling to even get enough kids to sign up for it. There were only 36 this year. If you are in the Susquehanna Valley and are even REMOTELY, and I mean THE SLIGHTEST BIT INTERESTED, contact me by email: karaloveswhales@gmail.com. I will be MORE THAN HAPPY to help and keep this scholarship alive. This is the only scholarship that I know of that pays the whole thing (airfare, lodging for orientations, etc.), and I've spoken to scholars world wide. This is an honest blessing and please, please, please, do not hesitate to contact me. I will be eager to help you and encourage you to my highest to embark on this once in a lifetime opportunity.
The Speedwell Picnic is a yearly thing, and it's past returnees from the scholarship and the future goers (like me) that get together for basically a final meet-up and eat good food. Being all together, as it was said numerous times today, is just like a family reunion. The love we all have for each other because we are all in the same class is phenomenal to experience.
Started from (not really the bottom) now we here. You can see me in my bad taste in clothing and goodwill shoes here. To the right in the coral skirt is Katie, aka http://katiewantsapizzaitaly.blogspot.com, and to the left are 2 others going to Italy, Lauren in the black dress and Brystal in the pinkish one. (http://stunningtravelsabroad.blogspot.com)
Now for the inner Oscar-thank-you-speech that has been waiting to burst out for months.
Jenny and Mike Messner are my saving graces in my life. Jenny and Mike are the couple who fund the Speedwell Scholarship, and just seeing how excited they were to be giving 30 of us the opportunity to go abroad was making this experience all the more better. Without them, I don't know where I'd be. Going abroad with AFS has brought a whole new happiness to my life. Being an exchange student was originally a thing that I thought I never had a chance. My parents basically told me that if I found a way to do it and did the work for it, I could do it and they'd support me. Fast-forward 9 months and in exactly a month I will be an insomniac teenager in a NYC hotel, waiting to take off for Zurich, Switzerland the next day. The Messners taught me that if you can dream it, you can do it. For that, I can never thank them enough.
On the not-so-sappy part of this post, I met a girl named Taylor who went to Italy last year, at the same age that I'm going. She lived in Sicily as well, and gave me so many helpful things. She visited Catania while she was there, and said it was literally one of the best times she had over there, and that it was her favorite town in all of Sicily. According to her, she said that the AFS chapter of Catania is one of the best there, and they do a lot of traveling. You have no idea how pumped that makes me for this trip.
So now we are nearing the twenties in the countdown to my departure, I am finally getting an idea of what to pack, and Britain has a new Doctor. Life literally can not get any better right now.
Ciao ragazzi, e stai buono.
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