So, I recently received news that I have been accepted by AFS Brazil! Happy times, I think.
Last week my mother and I met with a teacher at the local community college and quizzed him about Brazil, as he taught at a university near Sao Paulo for about 20 years. He was very friendly and we quizzed him for a little bit. If there is enough student interest, he will be offering a rudimentary Portuguese class over the summer, and I will be able to be in attendance. Otherwise, I think we will be doing private lessons.
I also made contact with an AFS student living near my who is from Brazil. She is very friendly and helpful in answering my copious amounts of questions. I hope to keep in touch with her when she goes back to Brazil, as I will be there!
Speaking of which, it hasn't really hit me that I'm actually leaving for an entire year. It's one of those things that you understand but you don't comprehend. I'm leaving for a year - got that part. Understood. However, my brain has yet to filter out all of the ramifications of that year abroad, and although I'm gearing into overdrive as far as preparation, I still haven't quite gotten a grip on that comprehension.
Here's a good analogy - you understand that when you drop something, it's due to gravity (unless you don't believe in gravity, you hater), but you don't understand what makes gravity work and all that jazz. I understand that the sky is blue during the day, but I don't comprehend the reason as to why it's blue, and it's that comprehension that I'm missing.
Did that make any sense? No? Excellent.
Right now, I've been tied up with AP Exams - for those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a less torturous SAT that deals with only a single subject. Three hour test with a 10 minute break in the middle. I had the Chem exam last Monday (I feel like I did pretty well, although I was a little unsure about some of the free-responses), and then the English Literature test on Thursday, (two of the essays were the exact same prompt. I almost pulled my hear out), and Physics B this Monday (I didn't know any of the free-responses. Consequently, I wrote down every equation in an attempt to get credit (one of them must be right!) and spent the remaining time that I didn't using attempting the prompt writing random phrases such as "I swim with squirrels" and "The world runs on rubber bands." en francais and crossing them out so the AP Graders wouldn't grade them). I have the World History exam tomorrow, and I've been reviewing for that these past couple of days. I feel pretty confident on the material for that test.
Funny story - once somebody came up to me and said, "Jake, can you show me where Brazil is on the map? I know it's in Europe, but I couldn't find it."
Oh dear. That's frightening.
But anyway, after this week, my life should start slowing down. I have Speech and Debate Nationals in Washington DC Memorial Day weekend to win (fat chance, but I can pray). For those of you know don't know, in the kind of debate I do (Public Forum, or PF), two teams consisting of two members debate over a resolution: one team in the affirmative, the other in the negative. The debates are very structured and take about half an hour. It seems pretty boring, but I actually like it. Yeah, I get it. I'm a nerd. And the things people say! Oh dear. In March, we had somebody try to tell us that North Korea is a threat to our national security because Venezuela can launch missiles at us...because that totally makes sense. Don't worry about the fact that NK can blow up Guam and Samoa. We totally don't care about them.
Incidentally, Debate Nationals conveniently clash with the AFS pre-departure in Baltimore. Thankfully, there is another session in DC. God decided to be nice to me for a change. Thank-you God. I apologize if that was sacrilegious. Just kidding - I have the SAT that day. I'll just get there late. Sorry, AFS. I tried.
I should be hearing about placement soon, now that we're almost halfway though May. In about a month, I was told. I've been eagerly checking my inbox and AFS account every day in the anticipation that I got an early placement. So far, it hasn't happened, but I will be the first to know if it does.
I leave late July (the approximate dates are July 26-29th). That gives me not even three months left in the US. It's made me look back and want to leave with good memories, and now I can't bear the thought of leaving any part of my day unscheduled - I feel like I need to bleed out as much time as I can get. I need to make the most of the time I have here, because when I'm gone, I won't be a text message away. I might not be an email or Facebook message away, either. I'll be a phone call away, once a month, maybe more if I'm fortunate. I don't think everybody else realizes that, which I suppose is understandable, as in this day and age we can be automatically contacted with the most trivial of things. No Facebook, you do not need to send me a notifications on my phone that Bobby commented on my status. I'll see that when I get on Facebook.
It gets me thinking - what will it be like when I get back in July 2012? Will everybody still recognize me? I won't be the same person, that much is for certain. Will I still be able to connect with my friends the way I do now? What about my family? Everyone will have had Prom and graduation and all that jazz - immense amounts of bonding time - and I'll be halfway across the globe. It'll be without Jake. I mean, it's just different. I imagine that it'll be noticeable at the beginning of the year, but do people just accept this as the year goes on? Or will they still keep contact? I suppose there's no point in wondering about it now, but I feel like they don't get it. Hey guys, if you're reading this, drill it into your thick heads. He's leaving for a year.
But eh, what happens happens, I suppose. How does that Spanish saying go? Que sera sera. What will be, will be. (What won't be, won't.)
Anyway, thanks for checking in. There's a lot more that I'd like to write, but this is already getting ridiculously long and I have NHS Inductions to attend tonight. Congratulations, fellow classmates.
As always, if you guys have any questions for me, feel free to ask. I'm always available.
And so we go.
Jake
