Hey everyone,

I should have made this post about two weeks ago...but I got lazy. Anyways, I got my travel information! I will be departing for Miami ( my gateway city, and the location of my orientation) on February 8th, two days earlier than I had anticipated. On AFS' website it said that I would return from Brazil on July 10th, but now I'm leaving on the 27th! I'm really excited that I'm staying 17 more days, but on the other hand I'm kind of sad. Every year I go to Israel during summer vacation, for about a month give or take to see my family and friends. This year I won't be going at all because I only have two weeks in between the day I return from Brazil and when school starts. I won't see my family and friends for two years! But, I guess you need to sacrifice some things, to be able to go on this once in a life time opportunity. I have less than two months until I leave, and there is still so much that needs to be done! I have finals this week, I should probably be studying...

I'll keep you posted,
 Nevo

Hey Guys,

I just got my Chipin Button from AFS. The Chipin Button lets you make a donation towards my trip! If you make a donation I will send you a postcard from Brazil (just comment below with your address or send me an email)! Other than that, Thursday will be the three month mark until my departure! I'm getting more and more excited!

Talk to you guys soon tchau,
Nevo

Hey Guys,

   My name is Nevo, I'm 15 years old and a sophmore at Fairview High School! I live in Boulder, Colorado with my twin brother and my parents. I also have an older sister but she is currently living in Israel, and serving in the Israeli Army. I'm going to be an exchange student in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil with AFS! I'm kind of new to blogging so sorry if my posts aren't as entertaining as they should be! I wanted to be an exchange student for a while now. I recieved my application in March, but I didn't finish it untill August (because of traveling over summer vacation). I then had to change some things on the application so my final submission was in September. A day after I submitted my application I had already been accepted by AFS USA! I was so happy, untill my twin brother told me, " Nevo it doesn't matter, because you haven't even been accepted by AFS Brazil." Right after I went to check my email; I saw that I got an email from my local AFS volunteer. I thought the email was gonna say that it was a mistake that I had been accepted to AFS USA, because it all just happened so fast. To my surprise it said that I had been accepted by AFS Brazil! I was ecstatic! It took 4 hours between hearing from AFS USA and AFS Brazil, when usually it would take a month after the applicatiion deadline (mine was October 10th about two weeks later)! Three weeks later I recieved my host family! Again I couldn't believe how fast everything was happening!

     I am going to live in Feira de Santana, Bahia with my host parents Edvaldo and Angela and two of their three kids. Felipe is one of my host brothers, he's 25 and lives in Salvador because of college, so I won't see him as much as my other host brother and sister. My other host brother's name is Gustavo, he's 19. My host sister's name is Camila and she is 17. I'm really excited for this exchange and will post more entries as my departure date of February 10, 2012 comes closer!

From left to right is: Felipe, Angela, Edvaldo, Camila, and Gustavo.