Getting Ready...

Several months ago a friend via Facebook asked if I would consider being a Host Parent for an exchange student.  After asking a few friends and family what they thought of this idea,  I decide to go ahead and dive right in.  Although I knew it would change my life and my social life and travel world, it would be a wonderful experience and one my friends and family were willing to share and participate.  

Once I said yes to the YES program (more later on YES) the process of applying began quite quickly.  I worried about being a never-married single parent and how that would roll in the middle eastern countries. 

I guess writing about YES now seems important.  YES is an exchange program that was begun after 9/11 - Sen. Kennedy & Sen. Lugar were the promoters at the Federal level and the program is run by the US government and supported through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.  The goal is to build bridges between the US people and people in countries with significant Muslin populations. It is designed to build tomorrows leaders in all nations.  YES stands for Youth Exchange and Study - clever don't you think.  If you really are dying to learn more, and I hope you are - go ahead and Google that.

Back to the beginning... apparently as a never-married single parent there are a couple extra hoops to host.  First, the student parents have to agree to a single parent home AND you get to have an EXTRA interview with the YES people.  Pretty much that consisted of some strange questions, that I wish I written down, but on general one was will I allow my student to have sleep overs at friends houses??? Well, yes, of course and would encourage them to have friends stay at my home.  Oh.. and emergency contacts and my brother had to say I was good too... WHEW!

After that - ta da - you have a kid!  Her name is Seema Yousaf from Pakistan, she is 15 years old.  That was in May 2011.