Bonjour! My name is Emma Elsbecker and this is my blog to document my travels as a Phoenix Sister Cities Youth Ambassador, in about nine hours I will get on a plane to London to start my travels to Grenoble, France where I will be spending three weeks! I am incredibly excited but also very nervous, although I am all packed and prepped I think it is only natural that I am constantly questioning if I'm forgetting anything. But overall, I am so excited to get to Grenoble and meet my counterpart Clara and her family! I have been texting Clara every day and have facetimed her and her family twice now so I am very excited to finally meet them! Besides meeting Clara and her family I think I am most excited to get to see how her school works and also to get to take in the beauty that is Grenoble. Although I do speak some French, I am not yet fluent so I am mildly concerned about communicating with Clara's family and friends but Clara has reassured me that almost everyone there speaks at least a little bit of English. Overall, I am super excited to go and I can't wait to be there! But about me specifically... I am a student at Xavier College Preparatory and I'm entering my junior year. I love to study history and language and have done speech and debate for over four years! Although I have been to France before I have never been to the region where Grenoble is situated around the alps and I am very excited to hike in the area! I am lucky enough to travel frequently and traveling is probably my favorite thing to do, when I am in college I hope to do several study abroad programs while I pursue a degree in international relations (with a minor in computer programming and french)! Another weird fact about me tied to travel is that since I travel often I have grown used to sleeping sitting up and sometimes even with my eyes open if I am so tired. That's all that I have for right now but I will update the blog (and maybe even vlog!) as soon as I touchdown in Grenoble!
Au Revoir,
Emma