Falta un Día!!

Our first Rotary trip begins tomorrow and I am SO excited. We leave at 5:30 P.M. in a bus and spend all night driving, then arrive in Arequipa, Perú Saturday morning bright and early. The trip lasts 10 days, during which we will visit Arequipa, Colca and Tacna, Perú along with Arica, Chile. During our stays in each city we will participate in tours, go to museums, do some shopping and eat delicious food. 10 days off of school to travel around Perú and Chile with all of my other exchange student friends.... Sounds good to me :)

Here are some pictures of the places I will see during my trip:

Arequipa, Perú

Volcano Misti in Arequipa, Perú

 

Colca Canyon

 

Tacna, Perú

 

 Arica, Chile

 

 

I will post some of my own pictures once I return! I'm not sure how much internet access I will have during the trip, so I may not be able to blog until I get home... But if I have access, I will post as I go!

Granadilla

The other day I went to the market with my host family and my host dad was quizzing my Spanish by asking me the names of all the fruits they had there. I was doing pretty well until we got to the fruit featured in the picture below. I had no idea what this fruit was called in English, and when I told my host dad I had never tried it, he bought me one. I had no idea how to eat it. My host sisters thought it was hilarious when I went to bite into it without peeling it first... Oops! Once I partially peeled it, I was so shocked at what the inside was like. It was so different than most fruits we have back home. The only thing I could think to compare it to was a pomegranate, but it was still so different!! You take a bite into the middle part and the little things pop in your mouth and juice comes out!! But then you eat the seeds too.. And they have the texture of like, black watermelon seeds. It was so strange for me, but it was pretty good!

If You Want to be an Exchange Student....

It's been about a year since I went to my very first Rotary orientation camp and really began considering being an exchange student. At that first weekend, I made some amazing lifelong friends that are now living in completely different parts of the world. It's amazing to see how far we've come from that first weekend, whether it was the inbound students who have now completed their exchanges, or it's us-- the outbounds, who are living it now. From that first weekend, all of us have learned what it really takes to be an exchange student.

When someone tells you ''Oh, I'm going to be an exchange student!'', you automatically think ''That is so cool, that would be so fun, it's like a vacation'' etc., and as amazing as it is, it's not ALL fun and games!! There are definitely some other things you need to consider when making the decision to be an exchange student.

1.) You WILL have hard times. If you are considering being an exchange student, I'm sure you've already been told this. It's not always easy to be in a life where you don't understand everything, where you don't have your close friends and family to rely on for support. You will be 100% out of your comfort zone at times. You will have moments when you ask yourself ''What am I doing here? Why did I choose to do this again?!''. You will be confused and homesick at times-- it's inevitable.

2.) You will embarrass yourself. It will happen, and it's okay. There will be things that you're not used to and you don't quite understand... You will eventually catch on, but a lot of times at first, you make a bit of a fool of yourself. I know you're dying to hear examples of this...... So I'll give you just a couple:
Every day here at school they end the day by standing in a circle, holding hands, and  praying. This absolutely NOT something that I'm used to. The first day, we were in the circle and the teacher went to hold my hand for prayer, and I gave him a handshake instead! The whole class thought it was hilarious, but I was a  little embarrassed.
Also towards the beginning of my exchange, my host sisters took me on the local bus for the first time.... The busses here are crazy! They're really jerky and crazy and a lot of times you have to stand because there aren't enough available seats. So my first time on the bus, I was standing and I was holding onto a poll, but I didn't realize how tightly I had to hold, and when the buss started I completely wiped out. Good times...
But the point is, when you're introduced to something that you are not familiar with, it may take a bit of time to adjust. You will eventually catch on to all of these little things, but there might be a couple embarrassing moments in the process ;)
3.) You may feel lonely. Towards the beginning of exchange, it's normal to feel lonely sometimes. You will make friends, but it does take some time to make BEST friends, espeically when you don't speak the same language as the people you're with. Back home, I'm surrounded with best friends that I've had for years, so it is a bit strange to be here, surrounded by people that I've known for no more than 2 months. There will be times when you just want to be with people you're close to- best friends or family. That's completely natural!! It's not easy to go from seeing those people every day to not seeing them for 11 months. It's a difficult transition, and it's 100% normal to struggle with it a bit.

4.) YOU HAVE TO BE OPEN MINDED! If you are not willing to try new things and learn, this is NOT the program for you. You have to be willing to say YES to everything (unless it's illegal or immoral), even if it's something that you wouldn't do at home, or that's outside your comfort zone. You have to be willing to try new foods, celebrate new hollidays, learn new traditions.. Everything. When your host family or friends ask you if you want to do something, you say yes! NO FEAR, JUST DO IT! This is a seriously important characteristic for exchange students to have. Be open to anything, and you will have a good exchange :)

5.) You will learn. I have been here less than two months, and I already feel myself changing. I'm learning, I'm growing, I'm maturing. I can feel it all happening! I can feel myself learning a new language and culture. I can feel my mind expanding and my mentality changing. I have become so much more open to new ideas and adventures. I am learning who I am, what I can deal with, what I can't, one day at a time. It's really amazing how much I can feel myself growing, and it hasn't even been two months! I can't imagine what I will have learned once the 11 months are up.

6.) Exchange is NOT to party. If you want to go somewhere to get wasted and go to clubs every night, exchange isn't the trip you're looking for. Exchange is a learning experience, and you have to treat it as that. It's fun and you will have a great time, but it's no senior spring break trip to Mexico where you just go get drunk every night. If that is what you're looking for, please... Don't do an exchange.

7.) It is ALL worth it. It will be the best year of your life.... Don't waste it. Don't take it for granted. You have to live every moment as much as you possibly can. You will see some absolutely amazing things, so don't forget to look around and take it in. Experience everything, learn as much as you can. Don't be sad, it's not worth wasting your time on! You will experience something unlike any other.... You are one in 7,000 students that will have this experience, so enjoy it.

Random Thing #1

So the other day the sun was out so my host family and I were outside playing with the random stray dogs at the park outside of my house, naturally. Anyways, some man with a cart came walking down the street, playing a little song on some Peruvian instrument I'd never seen before. My host dad then explained to me that on the man's cart was a wheel that is used to sharpen knives. He told me that all of the knife sharpeners here walk around with their carts, playing that exact tune on that instrument, so that everyone here knows, when you hear that tune, you can go get your knives sharpened. I don't know why, but I thought that was really funny. Just the fact that there are people who walk around on the street sharpening knives is funny, but the fact that they all have the same little jig they play... I don't know, it just made me giggle a little, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

I also didn't know what to name this post, so I figured Random Thing #1 was a good title.. From now on whenever I have a post about something little and random like this, I'll just add it to my list of Random Things! :)

Cuadernos!

One big difference that I've noticed in school since I've been here is that their notebooks are extremely important. Teachers do weekly notebook checks, and our notebooks have to be very neat and organized... Oh, and pretty too. They love using colors to take notes!! It's kind of fun, but it's also strange for me. My notebooks at home are so sloppy, organized in a way that I understand them, even if that means no one else can. But here, they have to be so perfect! It's a lot of pressure for me, as I'm not exactly the artsy, perfectionist type. I'm used to doodling and doing scratch work in my notebooks, but here they don't do that!! If we're doing math problems and need to do some scratch work, they do it on their desks, and then erase it later!

Along with this post, I added some pictures of my notebook, so you can see what I mean. We've got some geometry, trigonometry, biology and music (finally, a language I can understand!)

September 11, 2001 - Never Forgotten

Today marks 11 years since the attacks that tore out the heart of the Big Apple and left so many families mourning. It's so strange to not be in America today... Of course the whole world knows about September 11, 2001, but for most of the people here, it's just something they've heard about on the news, or read about in a text book. As crazy as it sounds, I remember when the towers got hit. I remember coming home from Kindergarden to see the horrifying images of New York's two tallest buildings going up in flames and of all the people affected by it on the news. I remember the panic. I remember the fear. I didn't quite understand it at the time, but I remember it.

I have one very distinct memory of a photo from that day. It was a woman, blood streaking down her face. She expressed a look of pure horror and pain. Being only 5, I remember saying "Wow! That's a cool Halloween costume!". Upon hearing that it wasn't a costume, I was scared and confused. I didn't understand. I was only 5, but I still remember that moment so vividly.

I went through the entire day today without hearing one word about the attacks. That's when it really hit me that I'm not in America anymore. For most of the people here, today is just a normal Tuesday, but not for us. Today represents so much for my country. Today I am especially proud to be an American. RIP to all of those who perished in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. You're gone, but never forgotten.

¡Hay bastante carros!

The traffic here is honestly unlike anything I've ever seen. There are so many cars, busses and motos all "sharing" the road. I put sharing in quotation marks because... Well, let's just say they don't exactly like to share. It's every driver for himself out there. If they can cut another car off to get ahead, they will. If they can swerve around another car to get ahead, they will. They have lanes, but they don't really use them. Seriously, the street will have 3 lanes, but there will be 5 cars across. It's amazing. Quite frankly, it's very scary!! The driving age here is 18, and I can understand why.. In fact, I might even push is BACK a little! As much as I love having my license back home, I would NOT want to drive here!

Safety First!

Safety is always the number one priority, but it's especially so in Lima. There are many precautions that you need to take here to remain as safe as possible.
The first, watch your purse, ALWAYS! When youre walking down the street, always make sure your purse stays right at your side or in front of you. Don't let it get behind you. The same goes when you're on the bus. The busses are CRAZY and always jammed pack. They're similar to subways in New York, where there are many people standing, but they're about 10 times more extreme. They're very small, and it's very hard to maneuver your way to the exit. Because they're so packed, it's not too difficult for someone to casually take something from your purse without you noticing, so always make sure your purse is in front of you, and you can see it at all times! The same goes when you have a seat on the bus. Put your purse in your lap and hold it with your hands. It's rare that someone would just grab your purse off your lap, but better safe than sorry!
Another safety precaution that I've been told to take is to be careful with your phone. If you're on the street and you get a call, it's usually safer to go into a store to answer it. And be careful about taking it out on the bus too. I think the most common crime here is theft, so it's something that you always have to pay close attention to, just like in any big city.
When I first arrived here, I found it strange that you have to do all of these things just to make sure nothing gets stolen. Bexley is such a safe town, and I guess I always took it for granted.

It's not difficult to keep your stuff safe, just as long as you understand the precautions you should take. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm keeping my purse close at all times, and I'm staying very safe :)

Bafa Bafa, Anyone?

At my last Rotary event in the States, we played a game called Bafa Bafa. Bafa Bafa is a cultural simulation game where the group is split into 2 subgroups. Each subgroup is given a culture to take on, and the two cultures are VERY different. Each group is taught every last detail about their culture: language, movements, values, what is considered culturally unacceptable, etc. The two cultures are separated into two different rooms. Once each group learns the details of their culture, members of each culture are chosen one by one to enter the room of the other group and attempt to fit in and understand the other culture.

This game was fun, but at the same time, it was frustrating. It was hard to communicate and hard to understand. Sometimes you would do something that to you was no big deal, but in their culture it was completely unacceptable and rude, and you would be shut out. Sometimes they would do something that offended you, or at least took you by surprise. It was easy to get annoyed or frustrated at these cultural differences, especially the ones that you just couldn't understand.

I didn't understand at the time how accurate that simulation was. All of the feelings I described above I have felt since I've been here. It's hard to understand and it's frustrating! Different parts of the world have different cultures, and when you travel you have to learn how to fit into the new cultures you visit. It can be frustrating sometimes, and there will always be things you don't quite understand, but that's just a part of the adventure!

Internet

So sorry I haven´t posted anything recently, the internet was out for a few days.. We officially have WiFi at my house now, so I will try to post more often. Thanks for reading! :)