Just Arrived!!!

When I was still in middle school I told myself: "Well no no no you're not gonna get anywhere outside this country before you gain such crazy wealth to travel here and there as you please."

When I first applied for AFS program via Bina Antarbudaya, I was like "Well this is a dreamlike thing - imagine 19746515612356asdfghjkl students from all over Indonesia applying for the same program and here I am a single little stupid student dreaming big of getting scholarship - don't get ahead of yourself Larasati."

When I passed my first test, a little frog jumped around in my heart. When I passed the National Application Selection, a little butterfly fluttered around in my head. When I got the email stating that I passed the National Camp Test, it felt like a pair of fluffy wings had grown from my back. I was happy. Well I was keeping a poker face in front of my mom but actually I was really happy.

When I finally sat in the airplane, I was thinking, "Is this still dreaming? Am I still a seventh grader dreaming of going out of this country with scholarship? Let's see if I step on a solid ground once I get out of the airplane."

...and I did step on a solid ground.

Arrival Orientation!!!

This orientation took place in Hilton Hotel at Washington D.C. And no we didn't get out of that hotel to see the White House at all. Such a shame... but whatever someday I'll be rich and I'll get back there to see the White House. And take selfies. I hate taking selfies, but I probably will have to.

The Arrival Orientation actually have classes about almost the same thing too with the orientation in Indonesia, but this time there are students from everywhere around the world, not just us Indonesians, and all the speakers are talking in English. I was having a really bad cold, and that was when I got to confirm that cough drop exists. Well yes they actually do sell it in Indonesia; I just had never touched it before.

There's an interesting story: I was in the same room with an Indonesian friend, and we actually have one other student from Egypt planned to sleep in our room, but when we got there (around 9 P.M.) the Egyptian group hadn't arrived to USA yet, so we ended up sleeping on the two main bed. We actually had three beds available in the room, but one of the bed is an extra, folded mattress, and we decided to leave that mattress out for the Egyptian girl. The next morning, I woke up from my restless sleep to find a beautiful, short-haired, almost white girl sleeping beside me. And my first reaction was: "Oh I need to turn off the alarm first."

On the last day (it was only three days), it was Eid-ul-Fitri day. It's an Islamic celebration after one month fasting, and in my country, it's a REALLY big celebration with MANY foods. That's what I kinda missed that day, but well, I'M IN AMERICA DUDE WOOHOO YEAH WHO CARES. So we celebrated Eid-ul-Fitri in a slightly different way: no Indonesian food, just many, many kinds of rice with Middle Eastern food. We prayed the Eid prayer too, and the Imam was a Syrian man. He taught us about being a Muslim in America too, and it was awesome, so I didn't regret anything. And the committee decided to have a Talent Show too, even though it's not usual over here, but we did it and it was really fun.

Happy Eid-ul-Fitri from Washington D.C.!

Flying to New York

After the hectic orientation, we finally had to fly away again to our regions. Of course, I was planned to fly to JFK Airport in New York.

Before getting on the airplane.

In the airplane. It was a small airplane I actually hit my head to the top compartment.

Clouds! Beautiful clouds!!!

"LOOK MOM I'M FLYING ABOVE USA"

Yeah... it was a really crazy-dream-come-true moment. I thought I was dreaming, but no I wasn't, and now here I am. The one-year long selection process I endured finally gave away its gift for me.

When I finally met my host family, I literally jumped in joy and ran toward them. They were carrying a welcome card and a bouquet of flower for me; what a beautiful sight any dream had never brought me.