Today I was talking to the mother of another student from Vashon who leaves for Argentina (through AFS) in four days. Out of Chloe’s class of around 130 there are six students studying abroad next year. The visa for Argentina is a nightmare. They had to pay for a licensed translator to translate all of the forms, everything had to be notarized plus they had to get some sort of internationally recognized notary, and lots of medical tests. With four days to go he doesn’t have his host family yet. Another student from Vashon is going to Argentina at the same time and he doesn’t have his visa yet.
We also talked about how so many people make the comment, “I don’t know how you can let your kid go away for a year.” That’s frustrating because how can we not? We don’t want our kids to be away from home next year, but what kind of parents would deny this opportunity for their children for such selfish reasons? Especially when they’ve worked so long and hard for it. It’s going to be hard as hell, but it will take us only a few months to get over that. What they’ll gain will last them for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, I can’t look at a calendar without choking up.
Comments