Merhaba ya'll!

     I am officially done with school now, and all my final grades are in, so I can fully relax now! I received the AFS handbook today (picture below), and they say that my application has been sent to AFS Turkey, which means host families might be looking at me soon!!!!! Ahhhhhhh, scary thought! And I have my in-home AFS interview on Thursday. My AFS group only just found out that they needed to do it. Classic New Mexico!  I also got Rosetta Stone Turkish for free through my school, which I am beyond words grateful for. It is all thanks to my French teacher, and I owe her big time. The language is crazy!!!! Unlike anything I have ever heard before. 

     My family and I have spent the past four days at Canyon de Chelly and the Grand Canyon, which were both amazing. I got a wicked sunburn from spending a day at Lake Abiquiu last week, so I had to make sure to wear a load of sunscreen, but it was ok. It was Jeeda's first time to the Grand Canyon, and our friend bought she and my mom a helicopter ride through the canyon, which sounded INCREDIBLE! During this, my dad and I were doing a twelve mile hike down to Plateau Point (almost down to the bottom, but not quite), which was  also absolutely incredible. The size of that canyon blows my mind every time I go. My butt is still incredibly sore, and a nine hour drive back home today did NOT help that (I could barely walk sometimes when we got out of the car today). I am so glad we had the opportunity to do this before Jeeda left, it really is a site every exchange student should see while they are here. During the hike I made the decision to come back next summer and hike to the bottom, spend two nights at Phantom Ranch, and then hike back up! I want that experience more than ever now that I was so close. 

     The people going to Thailand and India leave in a month. I am so excited for them, and I can't imagine what I would be doing if that was me! Of course, that will be me in two months :D We also have the PDO in Washington D.C. in a month, which I absolutely can't wait for, but more of that after it happens!

     Jeeda leaves in three weeks. This thought is so weird, and thinking about the house without her is... odd, yet normal. I have lived my entire life an only child, so in some ways it will feel completely ordinary, almost as if the year was a dream. But not having my sister always there to talk to, to watch movies with, to laugh with, will leave a hole in my heart as big as the Grand Canyon. But I'm not gonna think about it yet!!! We still have a few weeks. Talk to ya'll later, xoxoxox

Hosca Kalin (goodbye)

Me at Plateau Point! 

I received the AFS guide today!!!!! Whoooo!

My sister and I jumping at the lake. Isn't it such a perfect picture??!!

My musical theatre class did Disney's Aida as our spring show this year. I was one of the Egyptian princess's servants. These are two of my best friends, and the three of us have been in musical theatre together for two years now. I'm gonna miss them a ton, but I know they'll be here when I come home!!! Hugs and kisses girls!!!!! <3

     Finals week!!! Finally. I have been anticipating this week since the end of last year. No joke! I don't know why but finals are a weirdly big thing for me, and I just build myself up for it all year. I ended my French exam early today, so my teacher gave me a pass to go home. Three finals done, and home by 12:15. Not such a bad day, huh? Today, my counselor informed me of a mandatory step for all future exchange students from my school. I need to put together a study plan of exactly what I am going to do to make up the classes I miss next year. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TOWN I'M GOING TO!!!! Least of all the school. And to add to this, I don't just need this signed by the principal and the superintendent before I leave, I need it by the end of this week. This extremely disorganized system of foreign exchange, an experience they should be thrilled we are doing, has made me decide something. When I come back for senior year I will ask to become something like an exchange advisor. Someone students interested in it can come to for advice, and someone that can tell them what to do to avoid this disaster. I have also been trying to spread awareness of the YES program, CBYX, and NSLI-Y around my school. Being the only one from New Mexico, I feel a duty to make sure more people know about this absolutely incredible program. Not many people can afford a $13,000 year abroad, and this gives them a chance to go anyways.
     As I near the end of the school year, I'm realizing how many people I think I have to say good bye to, but who I actually don't have, or want, to. I think next year will be an eye-opening experience into the friends that really matter, the ones who will stay by me no matter what, and the ones I actually WANT to spend time with. Saying goodbye to semi friends (and teachers, but they are different) who I won't see over the summer and saying "see ya in a year" (weirdest feeling ever btw!! But awesome :D), gives me the chance to really discern the important ones from the ones I am simply acquainted with.
     I finished my French exam early, so my teacher gave me a pass to go home. It was the perfect opportunity to catch ya'll up! Talk to ya'll later!
      Xoxo, Izzy

  Hey ya'll!! Sorry it's been so long! Finals and AP exams are coming up soon.... ahhhhhhhhh! And it's been absolutely crazy. But after school is over everything will be devoted to Turkey. Weirdly enough, I'm not anxious to leave. Of course I am excited, but I am really appreciating being here with my friends and family, because it is flying by! I found out when my AFS orientation is :D June 1st, and  afterwards there is a pool party (whooooo!!!!) with the AFS students being hosted here this year, who I already know because of my sister (YES student we are hosting from Jordan). There is a girl in my area who is going to China with NSLI-Y. I'm so excited to meet her and all the other outgoing students and hear their stories about why they are doing what they are doing! And of course, I CAN'T WAIT to see all the YESers again in D.C. in June. Ohmygosh!
     I read a girl's blog a few weeks ago who came home early from Turkey with the YES program due to problems with homesickness and depression. I'm not gonna lie, I got pretty freaked out. My certainty that this year was going to be amazing slipped, and was replaced by the fear and realization that it might be awful. That I could miss my very close knit family so much that I don't appreciate the beautiful country around me. That I could be so lonely and lost in this new country and language that this amazing opportunity is completely lost on me. Any possible combination of awful things came into my mind those few days. I turned to the people who I knew would immediately understand; the people I met in D.C. at the IPSE. After talking to them and thinking it over for a few days, I had come to the full realization that no one has the same experience, and though it will be hard (extremely hard), if I go with an open heart and mind, with no expectations, I should be able to deal with those hardships. I reminded myself why I have wanted this year so much for so long, and why I changed my choice from France to YES Abroad; because I wanted a year that was completely and utterly different from the U.S. My number one love in this world is traveling, and when things get hard or my nerves kick in I just have to remember to not look at the pros of being THERE, but look at the pros of being wherever I am. Whether that is at home or wherever else the world takes me.
     I have to finish my English final project now, but I leave ya'll with two things. One is a daily Turkish lesson! The letter C is pronounced like J, as in Jim. Weird huh?! And the other are pictures from Prom last weekend. I went with my friends and my sister, and my date was a YES student from Saudi Arabia! It was amazing, and I am so grateful I got to share it with everyone before I leave. Talk to ya'll later! Maybe I'll be done with school then :D :D :D Hugs and kisses

Me and my sister getting ready for prom! We watched Sleepover. Definitely a classic movie of our generation! Love you sis <3

Me and Aziz, my date. I love the corsage he got me!

My friends and I in front of our old garage door!! :D