Hello from Orlando!

Good evening!! It's been a crazy day. Insanity.

I flew down with a girl named Emily that I met at the interviews in Toronto. She and I get along fabulously and are sharing a room in our three-bedroom apartment in Patterson Court. Her mom works for Air Canada and so was there to see us off - I liked the both immediately and her mom even hugged me goodbye, which was lovely :)

The flight to Montreal went without a hitch - there were several extra seats on the plane so Emily and I were able to sit together and everything. Getting to know each other was great, because when she got through customs just fine, and I was stuck there for over an hour, she told the Air Canada flight folks to wait for me before taking off!!

I don't know why I was held up so badly, because all I needed was a stamp and signature from the customs officer to validate my J-1 visa status. That's how Emily's worked. For whatever reason, I was sent to an office and told to wait! It is very stressful when your flight is leaving in 25 minutes and you don't know if you are next in line or have to wait another hour. Fortunately, I was finished soon after, and made my flight with about 5 minutes to spare. Not enough time for my comfort, at all.

But, I made it. We landed in Orlando 3 hours later, to checked bags waiting for us and a seamless transfer to a shuttle that took five of us directly to the Disney Welcome Center at the Vista Way housing complex. We were immediately welcomed in and our documents were scanned and check in mere minutes. We were told to help ourselves to the fruit and muffins and water bottles and to take a seat. Our housing ID's were printed, and we have all gained 45lbs, with the way the pictures turned out ;) A very short orientation video later, and I shoved more fruit and water in my bag and we were driven to our housing!

Emily and I were the first two into our apartment in Patterson Court. It is a lovely complex - much less busy and crowded than Vista Way, but it's filling up as delayed flights arrive and students fill up the rooms. We were the only two so we claimed our room together and took a trip to Walmart for the essentials like pillows and shampoo. The heaven's opened up while we were gone, and the thunder and lightening here are beautiful. A guy getting off the bus offered to help us carry our bags back to Patterson. Turns out Brian lives in the building next door and works where Emily is going to be, so they had a lovely conversation on the walk back home. He was great and it was awesome to see a friendly face, even if for a short time. When we got back, Sam had arrived, another girl I met at the interviews, from Toronto. She had settled right in and was excited to not be the only person in the apartment.

Shortly after, Elisa showed up. She's from Mexico and decided to share Sam's room instead of taking a bed in the empty room. This worked out well, because Daniella and Madelin (also from Mexico) already know each other and so quickly filled in the other two slots. The Mexicans seem more likely to want to party than the Canadians, but Emily and I chose the back corner room and the door locks. Hopefully it wont bother us or they will find other spaces to party in ;)


It's been a very long, busy day since 3am. My roommates all seems great, Madelin even immediately offered to pay her share of the router and whatever else Emily and I had bought for the apartment. I liked them all immediately.


Tomorrow is grocery shopping, and orientation. Craziness will ensue!


Stephanie