TEDxYouth Columbus

Spending a year as an exchange student taught me numerous lessons, but the most important thing that I took away is that life is too short to be afraid. I conquered my fear of public speaking in October at the local TEDxYouth conference. Although it was frightening standing up there with everyone's eyes on me, hearing how much my talk influenced others made it all worth while.

Caroline Shapiro TED Talk: A Leap of Faith

Final Thoughts

Well here I am, down to my final night of exchange. I can't believe that a whole year has passed. It feels like just yesterday, that July night when I was sitting in my bed back home thinking about how crazy it was that I only had one more night before my year long adventure in Peru began. I remember clear as day every feeling and every thought that passed through my mind that night. I was so excited, nervous, happy, sad, scared, intrigued. I wondered if I would make friends, how my host families would be, if I would be happy. I remember thinking, "What I will feel like on my last night there. Will I be happy? Sad? Will I regret it? Or will I only regret that it has to end?" It has been 11 months since that night. And now here I am, sitting in my new house, surrounded by my new best friends, thinking back to every laugh, every cry, every inside joke, every meal, every sleepover, every movie night, every holiday and everything in between.

I almost can't process it all. Eleven months ago, this was all a concept. An idea. Now it is about to become a memory.

I have made the most incredible friends in the world. I've made relationships that will last my entire life. I look at their faces and I am amazed. I never imagined that I would find a group that brought me as much joy as these people do. They're my teammates, my amigos, my family. It's hard for me to grasp the concept that starting tomorrow evening, I'll have to live without seeing their smiling faces every day. To be perfectly honest, I forget what it was like to not know them. They have helped me become the person that I have always wanted to be.

As hard as it will be to say goodbye to my new life, I am very excited to return to my old one. I can't wait to be home with my family, to see everyone again, to be back in my home town. I feel all of the emotions that I felt on that night last July before coming here. I'm happy, sad, nervous, excited- it's all there. But above all, I feel determined. I have learned so many valuable lessons throughout this year, and I am determined to use what I have learned and apply it to my life back home. I never want to lose this feeling of happiness and peace. My goal for this upcoming year is to treat it as another exchange. I want to behave as though I am an exchange student in Columbus, Ohio. I want to learn the culture, learn the ways of the people there, as an outsider. I want to explore the city and see new things. I want to have an open mind. I want to go to every festival and take advantage of each and every opportunity that presents itself. I want to retain the exchange student mentality. I want to feel free and happy, just as I have this year. I never want this feeling to go away. I want to feel like this forever. And I'm determined to make it happen.

Exchange has been the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me. This year has taught me endless lessons, but most importantly, it has taught me how to love life. I now have a much greater appreciation for the world around me. I am the happiest that I have ever been, and I have Rotary to thank for it. I have no idea how to even begin to go about thanking everyone who made this possible for me. Rotary, my families, my friends. Thank you for this incredible year. It was a life-altering experience that I will never ever forget.

The Beginning of the End

326 days gone. 7 to go. It's really incredible how fast the days have gone. The year is coming to an end, and there's nothing I can do but accept it. Five exchange students have already gone home. We have already had all of our official Rotary goodbye parties. There's nothing left to do but wait. Wait until it's my turn to gather up my stuff and drive to the airport. Wait until I'm the one crying and saying my final goodbyes to the people and places that have so quickly become my home. How can you just pack up your things, and leave? How can you just say goodbye to a new life that you've created for yourself, knowing that it will never never be this way again; that you will never be 17 again; that you'll never be surrounded by all of these beautiful faces again? How do you say goodbye to people that have given you endless memories, laughs, and love for the past 11 months? How do you leave it all behind?

I've never been placed in this situation before. I've never had to deal with so many goodbyes. I feel like this world that I've created for myself is slowly crumbling, falling into nothing. Every day just breaks my heart a little more. I've come to the point where every time I go somewhere, the only thing I can think is, "Is this the last time? Will I ever be back here again?" I've woken up each morning and thought, "What can I do with this day? How can I get the most out of every second that I have left here?" And how can I, really? How can I fit in everything in the next seven days? How can I do everything I still want to do here in one mere week?

What I've recently started to discover is that I can't. I can't fit in everything. I don't have time to go everywhere again, to see everything one last time. The only thing I can do at this point is focus on enjoying myself. Take in every last second here. Take mental pictures of every face and every place. Memorize each last word said, and the sound of my best friends laughing. All I can do is focus on being here, in the now, while I still am. Appreciate it, before it's gone. I have no idea how I will say goodbye to these people, how I will leave this beautiful city behind me. Pretty soon all that I will have left will be photos and memories. And as much as it pains me to think about leaving it all behind, I know that all good things must come to an end, and although this year may be over, it's been an experience that will stay in my heart for the rest of my life.

As Winnie the Pooh once said, "How lucky am I, to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard". As sad I am to leave this behind, I know that I am so blessed to have been given this opportunity, and I will treasure it for as long as I live.

Last Trip

Our final Rotary trip of the year took place at the end of May. It started in Lunahuana, a beautiful city in the mountains. All 39 exchange students in Lima threw some clothes into our bags and met at the bus station for the last time. We started the trip by going to the annual Rotary district conference in Lunahuana where we met Rotarians from all around Peru, received awards from the governor of Rotary, put on a group performance of a classic Peruvian song and ate delicious food. After our night at the conference we headed to Ica, a city further south. It was my 3rd time in Ica but I still enjoyed it like it was the first time. We spent a few days there touring vineyards, seeing historical sights and sand boarding. The evening we spent in the sand dunes was incredible. Although it was my 3rd time in the dunes, the incredible feeling it gives you was still there. Being on the top of a huge sand dune with my best friends in the whole world.... It was amazing. Everywhere you look, all you see is more sand. The sun set while we were up there and the sky turned a beautiful shade of orange. We were all running around, jumping, taking pictures, rolling around, screaming and playing in the sand. Being up there we couldn't help but feel free. This picture says it all!

I actually got the opportunity to spend my birthday on the trip, and the night we went sand boarding happened to be my "birthday eve" as my friends and I like to call it. After we got back to the hotel from the dunes, I was just hanging out down in my room with a couple friends when my good friend Brooke came on and said, "Caroline! Let's go to the boys' room. More people are in there!" The door to my room opened out into the patio of the hotel where the pool and dining area was, and when I walked out of my room that night all of the exchange students were out there to sing happy birthday to me! They even bought me a cake. It was so sweet. It's a Peruvian custom that after the birthday candles are blown out the person whose birthday it is is supposed to get a little part of their face shoved into the cake. It's usually just the tip of their nose or a bit of their forehead. After I blew out my candles about 10 exchange students all shoved my entire head into the cake! I couldn't see anything! It was ridiculous, but a memory that I'll cherish forever ;)

After the cake, some of my best friends and I just sat around in one of our rooms, talking and laughing until midnight came and it was officially my birthday. Right as the clock turned 12, my Swiss best friend grabbed out her guitar. She has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard and she has this one German song that she wrote that I absolutely love. She is usually really self conscious about singing it in front of people, but she knows how much I love it and she decided to sing it for me on my birthday. It was so incredible to sit there, surrounded by best friends, all hugging me and welcoming in my birthday, all to the beautiful sound of Lona singing my favorite song. I couldn't help but shed a couple tears in that moment. I was just so happy to be there with them at the start of my 17th birthday.

That day we went to Paracas, Peru. We spent the day walking around on the beach, taking boat tours, eating ceviche and shopping. We went to these beautiful islands full of wildlife. There were so many birds, seals, penguins, etc. and the water was a beautiful dark turquoise. It was an incredible way to spend my birthday.

The final day of the trip was spent in Nazca where we went to see the famous Nazca Lines. The Nazca Lines are giant line drawings in the ground of Nazca that can only be seen by plane. The mystery behind the lines is that nobody knows how or when they were created. We split into groups of about 10 and went up in small planes to get a good view of the lines. It was so cool, but I got a bit sick in the plane. The ride was only about 30 minutes and I think that if it had been any longer I would have passed out!!

All in all, it was a really amazing trip. I can't believe that it was the final trip of my exchange. I am so thankful that I have had the chance to take these 5 trips throughout the year. Each one has been full of learning, laughing, and all around amazing memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Trip to the Amazon!

Last month our group of exchange students took a trip to Iquitos, a city located in the northeast of Peru on the Amazon river. The trip was five days, four of which were spent in a lodge directly on the river. The lodge was super cool! It felt like something you would see in the Animal Kingdom park in Disney world. All of the hallways were outdoors, covered by roofs made of straw. The only indoor areas of the lodge were the rooms. In the center of the complex there was an outdoor pool (it was amazing to swim under the stars at night), a dining room and a lounge area with hammocks, games and a bar. The lodge was completely surrounded by rain forest and when you walk out the front entrance you're right on the Amazon river! We had to take boats to get anywhere. It was awesome. Oh and the food they served was so good. So much fresh fish, fruits, salads, beans, etc.  and it was all buffet! So delicious.

We spent the four days doing activities such as hikes through the rain forest, fishing on the river, visiting Amazonian tribes living in the forest, visiting a local elementary school, and boat safari adventures. Each day was a different adventure! We saw all sorts of exotic animals such as monkeys, manatees, jaguars, sloths, etc. It was incredible. It felt so good to have 4 days away from internet connection, away from city life. It was special to just connect with nature, to be together in the middle of the rain forest.

If I had to pick a favorite moment of the trip it would probably be swimming in the Amazon River. I was with a group of about 10 other exchange students on a boat, and one of my friends asked our tour guide if we were allowed to swim. He said yes and brought us out into the middle of the river. A bunch of my friends all stripped down into their underwear and jumped off the boat. I didn't get in at first because I was down to my last dry pair of clothes and I didn't want to have to deal with more wet clothes. Eventually though, my friend Lea (who was also not so keen on the idea of getting everything wet) and I looked at each other and said, ''Screw it! We're going to regret it if we don't.'' So we climbed to the edge of the boat and one by one, jumped into the river. All of our friends that were already in were cheering and swimming over to us. It was so awesome. We just kept saying to each other, ''OH MY GOD WE ARE IN THE AMAZON RIVER!'' We swam around in there for a few minutes, and then climbed back into the boat, absolutely soaked. It was a total pain to have to deal with wet clothes, but Lea and I were right- we absolutely would have regretted it had we not jumped.

One other moment that was really memorable for me was the boat ride back into the city. It took us about and hour and a half to get from our lodge back to the city of Iquitos where the airport is. We were all exhausted from the long five days so almost everyone was asleep. I was sitting next to Lea in the front seat of the boat. She had fallen asleep so I put in my headphones and fired up one of my favorite playlists. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing our hair, the view was beautiful and I felt alive. I spent that hour and a half just thinking. Thinking about my life, my exchange, myself. It was right there in that moment that I realized how truly happy I am. I had spent so many years of my life, sitting behind a desk in a classroom full of kids wondering why I was there. Asking myself why I was just sitting in a school building learning things by listening to someone talk about them, and not by going out and discovering them for myself. I always used to sit around and think about what I could be doing instead- all of the places I could travel, the things I could see, the people I could help, the lessons I could learn. And yet there I was, waking up in the same bed that I had my whole life, going to the same school I had my whole life, seeing the same faces and the same places that I always had. I wanted to see something else, to learn new things, to see new faces. I wanted to stand out. To be different. I wanted to do more than what I was doing at home.

And then I came back to reality and there I was, sitting in a boat on the Amazon River, surrounded by the largest tropical rain forest in the world... After having lived in this beautiful country for almost 10 months. That's when I realized...I did it. I made it happen. I found my way out of that classroom. I found a way to discover the world in my own way, to see it through my own eyes. I did it and it feels amazing.

Shabbat Shalom!

About 2 months ago a big group of my friends and I went to a live filming of a Peruvian TV show. While we were waiting in line outside the studio, we saw these four girls dressed in school uniforms. When we took a closer look we realized that their uniforms were embedded with the Star of David. Three of my American best friends who are also here through Rotary- Lea, Kate and David- are Jewish too (we like to refer to ourselves as the Jew Crew) and when we saw these girls' uniforms we freaked out!! Other Jewish teens in Lima?! It is such a rare sight.

There is a very small Jewish population in Peru. To give you a sense just how small we're talking.... my sister just finished her freshman year of college at Indiana University and there are more Jews enrolled in her university than there are in the entire 496,225 square miles that is Peru! So yes, we were taken aback to learn that there is indeed a Jewish high school in Lima.

We struck up a conversation with the girls in the Jewish school uniforms and they started telling us all about their school and the synagogues and kosher markets in Lima. We were so excited to learn more about the Peruvian Jewish culture. One of the girls invited us over to her house for a Shabbat dinner (Shabbat is the Jewish holiday celebrated every Friday night as the time of rest after a hard week), so we OF COURSE said yes, and planned it for a couple weeks later.

Going with the Jew Crew over to to our new Jewish friend's house was so exciting. We were all so curious about it!! We were hoping for some good Jewish food, but we weren't sure what Peruvian Jewish food would be like. We arrived at the apartment building and our four new friends were eagerly waiting outside to greet us. The building was beautiful. It's located in a very nice part of Lima, and just walking into the lobby of the building we felt like we had just stepped into a completely different world. It was more elegant than most apartment buildings in the states! We stepped into the elevator and our friend put in her key. When the elevator came to a stop, the doors slid open and to our surprise, we were staring right into the living room of the apartment! I didn't know what to look at first, the beautiful decor of the apartment, the living room table covered in finger snacks (including a delicious chicken pesto dip, that Lea and I are still dying to get the recipe for) or the four Jewish families who were already rushing over to greet the four stunned Jewish exchange students who had just stepped into their living room. Each and every Jewish brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, parent, and grandparent greeted us with the typical Peruvian greeting, the kiss on the cheek, but instead of just the simple Peruvian "hola", we were greeted with the typical Friday night Jewish greeting, "Shabbat shalom!" It felt so great to sit around and talk to these Jewish families about the Jewish culture of Peru. Doing the Hebrew blessings over the bread and wine felt great too. Standing around the big dining room table with three of my best friends and our new Jewish families, I felt so at home. It's incredible how connected you can feel to a group of people, solely based on your religious background.

When they brought out the food, my friends and I just stared at each other. I could almost swear that my friend Kate's eyes teared up. The dining room table was soon covered with bowls of salads, potatoes, meats, gravies, etc. There was even challah, a special type of Jewish bread. We spent the night sitting around, eating delicious food and talking. It was so funny to speak Spanish with other Jews. We would be speaking in Spanish and then all the sudden a Hebrew word would be thrown in there. It was so cool to see that even though we were raised thousands of miles apart, we have so many similar traditions. It was in that moment that I realized how important Judaism is in my life. It is a part of who I am, and being surrounded by Jewish culture suddenly made me feel like I was home again.

Family Visit!

At the end of March, my mom, dad and little brother came to Peru to spend a week with me. We spent half of the week taking in the urban culture of Lima and the other half enjoying the natural beauties of Cusco, including of course, a day in one of the 7 wonders of the world, Machu Picchu. Having my family with me in Peru was such a wild experience. Of course I was thrilled to be reunited with them; it was amazing to be able to hold my mommy's hand, give my daddy huge hugs all the time like I always used to, and play cards and sing along to old Whitney Houston hits with my little brother.. I didn't realize just how much I missed those little things! Waking up that first morning to my mom and dad climbing into my bed and telling me how happy they were to be with me again put the biggest smile on my face. We spent so much time reminiscing on old family memories, laughing together about new ones being made and making plans for the future, when we would all be reunited again, as a complete family. For the first time in 8 months I felt fully complete. I felt at home.

Although it was amazing having my family with me, it was rather strange at times. The way I like to think of it is that I have two separate lives- my life back home and my life here. In each of my two lives I am surrounded by different families, different friends, different places, different cultures. I have different schedules and different priorities. Having my family here felt like a weird combination of these two lives. It was almost like I didn't know who to be. Was I supposed to be the girl I am at home, the girl that my parents remember me as? Their little girl? Or was I supposed to show them the new me? The mature, independent girl who had been living without them for the past 8 months? It was a bit of a struggle at times, trying to mix these two versions of myself. As happy as I was to be with my parents again, I couldn't help but get annoyed when they would parent me! They almost served as a reminder that pretty soon this dream of a year will end, and I'll be forced to go back to reality. I'll go back to high school, back into the college search, back into the same old daily routine. I'm not going to lie; it freaked me out a little. Towards the end of their visit I broke down a little bit. I was having too many mixed feelings! Within hours, I switched from saying "Mommy, can I just come home with you guys? I don't want to be apart from you guys again" to "I love you guys, but I never want to go home! I'm too happy here!" It's a strange feeling, seeing your two worlds collide like that. It reminds you just how much you love each of them, but just how different they truly are.

My family means the world to me, and being able to share this part of my life with them was amazing. I love that now I can tell them stories about my friends, and they know who I'm talking about. I love that I can tell them where I spent the day hanging out and they know where that is. I love that they've experienced some of the amazing things that I've experienced, and I love that I was the one who gave them that opportunity. My family has given me so much throughout the past 17 years, and I am so happy that I could finally give something back.

Visit from Rachael!

Last week my sister (and best friend) Rachael came to visit me in Lima. She stayed with my host family and me for 8 days, and we had a blast. We spent 5 out of the 8 days in Lima (the other 3 in Ica, a city further south), and it was my job to show her the city. I picked a bunch of my favorite spots and we managed to go to almost every one of them in such a short period of time, which was great. She got to meet almost all of my best friends and my Peruvian host families. It was a very strange experience, having her here. I almost felt like I was back in the states, which is a feeling that I haven't had in a very long time. It was a bit strange at times, but it was a blast nonetheless!

One thing that I really enjoyed while she was here was seeing her initial reactions to the city and the culture of Lima. There are many parts of the culture that I am already so adjusted to that I barely even notice them anymore. I've found myself recently noticing logos or stores and forgetting if I've known them all my life or only since I've been in Peru. It's a weird feeling, being so familiar with a culture other than the one which you've lived in for your entire life. After some time, lines start to blur- the cultures begin to mix together in your mind. Having Rachael here helped me distinguish the two cultures and remind me how different they really are. Many of the things that she noticed or did reminded me so much of me during my first couple of weeks here. Little things like how the traffic scared her half to death, or her reaction to the cheek kisses that Peruvians do to say hello or goodbye reminded me of how accustomed I have become to this new culture. My ears have adapted to the constant honking of car horns on the street, and giving besitos (cheek kisses) now comes out of habit for me. I never even notice these things anymore!

Another thing that I noticed was her Spanish. I loved watching her speak Spanish, and I noticed that she often used words that are almost NEVER said here, but that we learned in Spanish class at home. Of course, everyone understood her when she said them, but most Peruvians wouldn't use them. An example of this would be the word "shirt". In Spanish class, we are taught to use either the word "camisa" or "camiseta", but in Peru those words are very rarely used. Instead, we use the word "polo". At the beginning of my exchange I was always messing up simple words like this, because I didn't know the Peruvian dialect. My sister's Spanish was the same! It was very impressive, but it was all based on what she learned in Spanish class back in the states. I loved hearing how much her Spanish improved in just the short amount of time that she was here. If given a few more months, I'm positive she would have been fluent ;)

Being reunited with my sister was such an amazing feeling. We talked for hours on end, and I truly felt like I was home, even though we were still thousands of miles away. I am so grateful to have had her visit me. It was a really amazing time.

I love you sister, see you in July!

3rd Trip!

Yesterday I got home from my 3rd trip with Rotary. I, along with all of the other 37 exchange students in Lima, boarded a bus the night of February 12th and headed up north. We spend 12 days traveling around the north of Peru and even into Ecuador for a couple days. Rotary trips are always a blast, but this one may have been my favorite. It was filled with long days at the beach, shopping, delicious food (so much ceviche!), dance parties and of course lots of ancient Peruvian ruins and tomb sites. The entire trip was full of laughs, exploring, and memories that I will never forget.

One of my absolutely favorite memories of the trip, and possibly of my entire exchange took place in Tumbes, the city at the very north point of Peru. We were hanging out at the hotel one night when we heard a familiar but rare noise... The sound of rain. Let's give some background information right now. There is NO rain in Lima. Almost never. And if there is, it's just mist. It's not real rain. Okay, so back to the story... We hear rain. We run to the lobby and step outside, and to our pleasant surprise, it's raining. Our first rain in 7 months. We automatically all run out into the street singing and dancing and letting the rain drench us. My best friend Lea and I were just wearing long tshirts (no shorts) and some of the guys went out in their boxers. We all looked like CRAZY kids, but it was amazing. We spent a good 25 or 30 minutes just standing in it. Standing in circles and singing songs, running up and down the streets, yelling, dancing. Peruvians were staring at us everywhere we went; some even took pictures. It was truly a perfect experience. Standing with my very best friends, letting the rain pour and hit our skin.. It felt like home. The rain gave us a little feeling of being home again. It was amazing.

Another favorite memory from the trip was in Guayaquil. Ecuador. The whole group boarded a double-decker bus to take a tour of the city. Once the tour guide was finished talking, she let us plug in an iPod and listen to the music that we chose, so we spent the rest of the ride blasting the music and rocking out on the top floor of the bus. All of the Ecuadorians were staring at the group of white kids on the top of this bus singing in English. It was so fun to just stand at the railing and sing at the tops of our lungs to random Ecuadorians passing by on the street. Watching the pedestrians laugh and smile as we passed was such a blast. We rocked out to a LOT of songs, but there was one that stood out amongst the rest- Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. We all sang this song together in a talent show once, and we just love singing it. The lyrics to the chorus are ''home is wherever I'm with you''. This lyric has always meant something really special to us. We're a group of 38 high school students living away from our homes, our families, everything we've really ever known. Because of this, we have acted as each others families. We've leaned on each other, we've supported each other, we've laughed with each other and cried with each other. We've become one big family. We may not be at home, but we have each other.. And that's home enough.

I had the most amazing time on this trip, and it's really made me realize more and more how lucky I am. I am living my dream... I am having the most amazing experiences. Choosing to be an exchange student was the best choice I've ever made, and probably the best one I ever will make. These memories will stay with my for the rest of my life, and I couldn't have wished for anything better :)

Looking Back, Looking Forward

As the half-way point of my time in Peru came and went, I've been forced to think a lot about my exchange- the ups, the downs, the adventures, the lessons learned, the lessons yet to be learned, the laughs, the cries, and everything in between. I've thought back to my first few days in Lima and how I've grown since then. I've thought ahead to what it will be like during my last few days in Lima, and what I hope to have achieved by the time these 11 months are over.

I have spent the last 5 and a half months of my life learning valuable lessons, exploring a new country, becoming fluent a foreign language, making new relationships... It's overwhelming to even think about all that I've done during this short amount of time. I have matured in ways that I wouldn't have been able to at home. I have seen parts of the world that I would never be able to see had I never left Ohio. There are times when all I want is to just open my eyes and be back in Bexley, sitting on my basement couch watching Friends reruns with my little brother like we do every day after school. I would be lying if I were to say that every waking moment here is a happy one, that I don't get homesick every once in a while. I definitely have times where I miss home, but once I sit myself down and think about it, I realize that there is no point in missing home. If I were at home I wouldn't be doing anything special. I wouldn't be growing in the tremendous ways that I am here. I would still be at a high school Spanish 4 level. I would be missing out on the most amazing experience of my life.

I have learned so many lessons, but there is one that has stood out above the rest. Always say yes. When you're presented with an opportunity, you should take it, no matter how scary it may seem. It may be a leap of faith; you may not know how it will turn out in the end. But you'll never know if you never try, right? Even if it isn't some amazing, life-altering experience, something positive will always come out of it. You will learn how to be outside of your comfort zone, how to make the best of the situations you're placed in, and how to use that experience to grow as a person. These are lessons you'll never learn if you never actually get out and do it! You have to take the leap of faith, and trust that something positive will come out of it, even if not every moment is positive. This has become more and more clear to me every day since I arrived in Peru.

My original decision to be an exchange student was not an easy one. I've always had the idea in my head that it would be cool to do, but once I had that application in my hands, it became reality. It occurred to me that I might actually be leaving everything I've ever known to be placed in a completely different world, knowing no one and not speaking the language. That's a scary thought. I had a couple moments where I broke down.... I didn't think I was strong enough; I didn't think I would make it. But here I am, almost half of a year in, and I can easily say that the choice to turn in that application over a year ago was one of the best choices I've ever made. I took the leap of faith, and it has paid off.

I am hoping to use these lessons that I've learned thus far as a guide for the second half of my exchange. I've gotten through the hardest part, and now I can take what I've already learned and use it to my advantage. There are still lessons yet to be learned and experiences yet to be had, and I'm ready to go into the second half of this year with a smile on my face!

Feliz Navidad!

Spending Christmas away from home was interesting. There was a part of me that was sad to be away from home during that time, but I really enjoyed spending the holiday with my new family, and I know that I will not forget that experience any time soon.

Peruvian Christmas is such a blast. The most important part of the holiday is right as the clock strikes midnight. Each family serves a big Christmas Eve dinner late at night on the 24th, around 11:30 or so, and once the clock changes to 12, everyone jumps up, hugs, and  goes outside to watch the fireworks. The streets are full of all of the neighbors, everyone is hugging and wishing each other a ''Feliz Navidad!!!', even if they've never met before. The fireworks fill the skies. No matter which direction you look, you can see the colorful explosions. People light sparklers and drink champagne.

Standing outside of my new house, with my new family, watching the fireworks, I felt a great sense of tranquility. It was one of those perfect moments, where you forget about the things that are worrying you, the things that are bringing you down. The only thing I could feel at that instant was joy. I was very happy to be there in that moment and I never wanted it to end.

After watching the fireworks for a while, we went inside and opened presents, which was very fun. My little host brother, Mathias received so many gifts that he was thrilled about, which was very cute to watch, and it was just an all around good time. I really felt like I was a was a part of that family, and that meant so much, considering the fact that I couldn't be with my real family. I had a new family to share that special day with, and I loved it.