Israel and Germany Too

Every time that someone talks to me about when I am leaving I get a horrible piercing pain in my front temprel lobe. I believe it is, what some call, a stress headache. I feel like I have so much to do and just not enough time. I don't know how this trip would ever have been possible if I did not have the summer to make final plans and arrangements.

I was going to get my NM license but it turns out since I am under 25 I need to take some Drunk Driving class and that takes way too long. So everything will stay the same and when I return from my trip I will change all of my official paperwork. I have switched banks and have a credit card that will not charge me a conversion rate (go Capital One). I am still working on switching my automatic bill pay to the new bank account and making sure that my student loans are paid off. I spoke to Sprint about my phone and they said that they can hold the number for like $10 a month and I can get it when I return, which is what I might do. I just need to call them up and make sure everything is set. I need confirm that my credit and bank card know I will be out of the country so that when I use my cards, they do not shut them off.

I have applied for the "volunteer" program where I will be put up with a host family for a month and spend about 15 hours a week speaking English with them. I think this will be perfect for me, getting to know the people and culture. I signed up with GeoVision and it seems to fit with everything I need. I called it "volunteer" because I have to pay them, but the cost is still less than it would cost me to live and eat without the program - and who can beat having connections and a family to be with?

I have also done some hard thinking about working a kibbutz in Israel for the time that I need to get out of the EU. My friend recommended Kibbutz Ketura, which seems nice, but what do I know? I take his advice since he has been there and knows the place intimately. I need to get travel insurance while I am there and a volunteer visa. This one seems to be a lot easier to get than the French one, but I am not saying anything to jinx it! I just need to go to Tel Aviv, pay them some money, give them my passport, and BAM! I may not even have to go to Tel Aviv to do this, but I have some people who I may be able to meet up with there, so I see no harm either way. I hear the best way to get from Tel Aviv to the kibbutz is by bus, so that I shall also look into.

I have many emails to many people about many things out. I feel like there is nothing more that I can do but then I get a reply to an email and I go into a new frenzy of things that I need to do. For example, my mom called me to get the date and flight time that I would be getting into NJ - this is when I realized, I had not booed my flight yet! So I did that, thankfully the prices were still low and tickets were available.

I leave for New Jersey in less than a week and I need to make sure I bring everything I need with me...or I will be S.O.L. for a bit at least. New updates: My sister may not be able to visit me for my birthday, I know a heartbreak. I was actually enjoying all of the trips that we had been taking together but I guess not everything lasts. Perhaps she will be able to come, but it is not looking so hot. For my birthday, I have no idea the plans so don't ask. Other news: Justin (my fiance) may be sent to Germany during October Fest (which is in September) for a couple of weeks. If this happens, I get to visit Germany, see Justin, have a free place to stay and relax a bit. I say a bit because I would only have about three days with him before I would be off to my French family, but that is still in the works.