Hey Everyone!

Here's a dorky pic of me eating beignets at Cafe du Monde.

My name is Milena and I am a fifteen-year old girl living in the (crazy) city of New Orleans with my family which consists of: my mom, my dad, my little brother, and my (very) little sister. All that is about to change in two days...

I have received a scholarship from the Kennedy-Lugar YES Abroad Program which sends a select number of American high school students (YES Abroad scholars) to live and study for an academic year in countries with a significant Muslim population so that they may educate other Americans about their country's culture.

I am absolutely ecstatic about spending a whole school year in Morocco (with six other YES Abroad scholars)! I am looking forward to learning about Moroccan culture which has an interesting mixture of Spanish, French, and Berber influence (I also look forward to improving my French).

I have been spending the last few days doing activities I wouldn't be able to do where I'm headed. I spent this afternoon eating beignets at Cafe du Monde and frozen yogurt at Pinkberry's with my dad. Tonight, I am helping my mom pack my suitcases (we should have done that a loooong time ago) and if time permits I am going to watch an episode of BBC's Sherlock with my family (might not be available in Morocco).

This is my first blog so please be easy on me. I hope this will be informative and engaging to all you readers. If you have any questions please comment below. Later!

Here is a link to the YES program's official website: http://www.yesprograms.org/about