Taylor Young’s column will appear weekly in The Knight Crier throughout the 2015-2016 school year.

Post 3: Lots of Waiting

I wasn’t going to update my blog again until I received my visa and information about my new departure date, but Erin Crew told me that I should because the waiting “is part of it! Not a fun part, but still a part.” This probably won’t be the happiest blog post you read, but you’ll get a pretty good idea of what I’ve been going through. Today marks about two weeks since I was told that I wouldn’t be leaving for Spain on my scheduled departure date of September 3rd, 2015. Throughout this time, my mom, IFC, and I have been emailing and calling AFS like crazy almost every day.

AFS told us that they had submitted the document that the consulate was requesting, but it turns out they never did, because I received an email from an official at the consulate saying that my visa couldn’t be processed without the document. (UGH!) So when AFS finally sent the document to the consulate, we had to wait several days, which felt like forever, because processing a visa takes time. I was so excited that my visa would finally be accepted. If we had all the necessary documents, there was no way it could be denied, right? Wrong.

My host mom and I were texting yesterday, and she forwarded me an email that she received from AFS in response to a question that she had asked about when I would be coming. The email basically said that my visa was denied again, but no one knew why. Neither AFS nor the consulate knew why my visa was denied.

At this point, I couldn’t take it anymore; every piece of news that we received about my visa kept getting worse and worse. If it weren’t for my amazing mom, I don’t know what I would’ve done. She has been so supportive throughout this whole situation, and I couldn’t be more thankful. Instead of just telling me that everything would be okay, my mom called AFS and demanded to speak with someone who was in a higher position that the people who were taking care of my problem.

We received a long email from a supervisor explaining how sorry he was about the entire situation, and he offered to call my mom and I so we could discuss the problem more. I had to babysit, so I didn’t get to hear the conversation, but my mom told me that she felt confident with what was said. AFS is even going to pay for me to fly from Philadelphia to JFK in New York because of everything we’ve been through. Because AFS’s headquarters is in NYC and they have my passport and visa, I have to leave out of JFK in order to leave the country. It would just tack on more time if I waited for the consulate to mail me my passport and visa, so I gave AFS permission to pick it up.

The supervisor that we’re working with now found out why my visa was denied, and everyone is confused: the Spanish government is requesting a document that we already submitted. The supervisor explained that AFS volunteers and the Spanish consulate are now working to resolve this issue. I’m hoping that this problem can be solved quickly so I can finally get to Spain and stop missing out on my experience.

While our goal is to get me to Spain as soon as possible, one of our goals was to get me to leave before September 15th (today), which would’ve been my first day of school in Spain. However, that didn’t work out, so I missed the big day. I also missed my host brothers’ first day of school on September 10th, which was a big disappointment. I don’t have any siblings, so I was really excited that I would be able to share the experience with them and hear about their day. I realize there will be an endless amount of things to look forward to, but it’s hard to deal with the disappointment of missing out on the little things.

My host mom and I text every single day, and we do our best to communicate updates to each other. Since my host family doesn’t speak English, I use my basic Spanish to try to describe what’s going on. For the most part, I’ve been doing pretty well, and I think it’s been helping my Spanish a bit. However, there was one time when I texted my host mom to thank her for all of her support with everything, but I ended up really confusing her… Oops.

A lot of people have been asking me what I’ve been doing with my time while waiting to leave, and I hate responding, because it’s nothing productive. I’ve been watching TV, doing chores, going to Target, and obsessively checking my email for good news. When we found out that I would have a late departure, I had my mom ask if I could go to school here in the US until I left, but my school wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. AFS makes it seem like I’m going to leave within a couple days every time we get an update. It would be pointless to make a schedule for a student who could possibly be there for three or four days. However, the updates have not been very promising, and I don’t think it’s a good thing that I’m missing school in the US and Spain. Other than that, I’ve been spending time with family and friends to stay positive.

Tomorrow is a new day, so I’m hoping for some good news. I would love to hear that my visa is accepted and get some information about a new departure date. My bags have been packed, and I’m still ready to go.

Abrazos y besos,
Taylor Young