Summer!

Since June 21st passed, its officially summer! For me, this summer started off early with traveling to see family, and next month traveling to Europe!
We left Oregon the seventeenth, and loaded in the car to head to Michigan. On the way we got to see the Grand Canyon, which was really really cool. We finally made it to Michigan the 21st. Another super exciting trip is going to be going to Europe in July! We get to see Germany and France, so it'll be really cool! I'm hoping this international travel will prepare me a little more for Panama!
Earlier this month, there was a conference call with the rest of the students who are going to Panama, and a few returnees. Even though I have done a lot of research online, I didn't know anything about most of what they said. It's making me even more excited!
The Chip-In widget for my blog stops working two months prior to my departure, and since I am leaving two short months after July, you can no longer donate online after the first week of July.
Hope everyone's having a great summer!
Brelyn

Pomp and Circumstance

Tonight was graduation for the senior class of 2012 at my high school! Graduations always make me sad, because it's the end of something, and seeing all my friends move on with out me is tough. This year, though, I have something new coming as well! Sure, the class of 2012 might be going off to college all across the country, and moving out of their homes to start their own lives, but I am moving to Panama!  A whole year away from my family, my friends, and the comfort of my home. It's crazy to even think about. At fifteen years old, I am travelling farther away from Oregon than most of the students that graduated tonight will ever have the chance to!
Another reason that this graduation was so sad for me is because it was the last one I will see before my own high school graduation in 2014! It seems so far away now, but time flies, and it's only going to fly by more once I leave on this exciting adventure. Here in Oregon, there are things I would be able to count on doing next year. My junior prom, spirit week, getting my license, and playing soccer would be a few of those things. In Panama, I am not even sure where I will be living! I could be with a big family, or a single parent. I could be in a city, or a town even smaller than the one I live in now. It's weird to think that the kids I have grown up with and am lucky enough to call my friends will all be back in Oregon, going to junior prom, and celebrating homecoming week, and I will be living in a different country with a family that is not my own (though I am sure I will love them!).
I leave for Panama in early September, and don't return until July of 2013. I wonder what will change here while I am gone? But more than that I wonder how much I will change. Next year at this time I will be in Panama. One more year, and I will be walking across the stage getting my diploma. A year later I'll be completing my freshmen year of college. Even though graduations are the end of something, they are the beginning of something else. This year, I may not be leaving high school forever, but I am graduating my sophomore year and moving on to Panama, and I have never been more excited for anything.

Also, a side note, my fundraising dinner Tuesday night went really well! I raised just over 1000 dollars! Thanks to everyone who came and supported me.

A Taste of Panama

The coming Tuesday, June 5, I am holding a fundraiser dinner! "A Taste Of Panama" will take place at Going Deep Sushi in Cave Junction, with two seatings; one at 5:30 and one at 6:30. I'll be cooking traditional Panamanian foods to raise money for my exchange. Tickets will be ten dollars a piece and will include dinner, dessert and a beverage. Come check it out! Good food for a good cause :)

Hope to see you there!