III. Long is the wait

   With about two months stretched before me like the sand dunes of a barren desert, I cannot ignore this nagging discomfort of waiting. There is so much to be done, but I am powerless in speeding up time.
   I am waiting probably most importantly to receive my Visa information from AFS, and unfortunately I've heard that the Visa process can be very stressful. I'm also waiting to get my braces off (this will be dangerously close to my departure date), to get a suitcase and various other items for my travel (such as a laptop, camera, Skype, journal, etc.), to buy some fantastic gifts for my host family, to have my Goodbye/Birthday party, to finish my graduation project for school, and just about a million other things. Really all I want to do is just hop on the plane right now and go, especially since I was emailed my travel
itinerary today. I have to be present at a Gateway Orientation before I actually leave America, and that means that I must be in New York no later than 4:00 on August 22. This orientation is directly after my final goodbye to everyone I love, and then I will be among other fellow AFS students who are going to Switzerland. This sounds great until I learned that my flight isn't until 10:05 pm on August 23. Can you name a worse kind of torture?
   I will arrive in Switzerland at 11:35 am on August 24, which is really about 5:35 am here. I hypothesize that perhaps I will be slightly tired when I actually land in my destination city Zürich. After that I'm not really sure what will happen, but it's about an hour drive to Vordemwald from there.
   I can only imagine though how much worse this summer would be if I didn't yet know who my host family was. There is something very intimidating about going to a strange country and not knowing where you will fit in. I have heard of some AFS students who did not get their host families until mere weeks before their departure. That is why I am so thankful that I got my host family before my summer even began or else this season would be that much more nerve-racking.
   So now I must do what I can and bear the long wait.