How lucky can you get?

Vitor came to Oregon for a 5-month exchange. He's preparing to return to Brazil in a couple weeks, and his one wish was to see a big city. He was invited to visit his host family's daughter in Las Vegas, so he got approval from AYUSA and bought a non-refundable airplane ticket to fly to Vegas tomorrow.

Tonight he called me in a panic because the couple he had planned to stay with in Vegas had cancelled on him. He wanted to go anyway and stay in a hotel, which of course AYUSA would never allow. He was hopping mad, although I'm not sure if it was more because he was going to have to eat the airline ticket or because he wasn't going to get to see a big city. I told him to calm down long enough for me to make a few phone calls in search of a solution.

I was able to reach an AYUSA Regional Director in Las Vegas who was willing to pick Vitor up from the airport. She arranged for Vitor to spend two nights with a host family whose exchange student recently arrived to their home from Brazil. They will take him to see the sights of the city.

Early Tuesday morning Vitor will join a group of AYUSA students on a trip to the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles before returning to Las Vegas to fly back to Oregon.

Miri was amazed (and jealous!) and told Vitor he should kiss my feet for arranging this for him. He gave me a hug, which willl do just fine. :-)