2/12/14
Today was my first day of school! I woke up feeling sooo nervous. I almost felt like puking as I rapidly chewed my cereal down. What seemed like a short walk down the dirt road by my house yesterday turned into a very long one today as butterflies danced in my stomach and we walked to my first day of school. We couldn't find a school uniform shirt when we went shopping so I had to settle on a white t-shirt. That paired with my pale skin, hair, and blue eyes left me feeling very, well... White. I waited in the office for awhile for the administration to sort out my schedule and the school secretary set me up with a little guide. In Latin America, most schools have kids in high school sit in one class and the teacher moves around to each class. But this one had us moving classes with the same class. I was introduced to a very nice girl named Noilyn who I then followed around like a lost puppy dog for the rest of the day. She was awesome in making me feel comfortable and speaking very slowly. The first class I had was music! We didn't go over any music, really. Or at least, no music that I could understand, the teacher talked super quickly and I understood absolutely none of it. The next class was P.E. which I was very much not looking forward to. Luckily, the P.E. teacher seemed to not be looking forward to it either, and he ditched. That meant that the whole class just hung out in the quad/cafeteria area for what felt like a very long period. Luckily I had Noilyn to cling onto, and we conversed quite a bit in my struggling Spanish. During our break some random stranger came up to me and gave me a very big bear hug. I was a little shocked, but it's totally normal here. Next we had English class. English was awesome. It really upped my ego. In the middle of class the principle made an announcement that school would end at lunch time. Usually classes last until 5pm (which is gross.) I didn't understand this, obviously, but my good friend managed to explain it to me, so I headed home, still feeling a bit confused. When I attempted to tell my host-mom she was even more confused than I was, and we had to make a series of phone calls and online translations in order to figure things out. Oh, language barriers! Over all, it was a pretty good first day of school.
Now on to the less rosy part of my day, second guessing myself. If you have ever been around people speaking a foreign language you can't understand and giggling to themselves it's easy to convince yourself that they are indeed talking about and making fun of you. This feeling amplifies when you're the new kid in school. And there were a lot of snide-sounding Spanish comments and laughing when talking to me. Yeesh.
I keep reading all of my fellow AFSers blogs and FB posts and comparing our times, seeing how excited their host families are and wondering if mine feel the same. If there are any potential AFSers out there, let me tell you, NEVER compare your experiences with other kids. It'll just leave you feeling down. I'm in an amazing place with beautiful scenery, a friendly and welcoming family, and experiences ahead. Not to mention four ADORABLE puppies! It's not going to be a good experience if you keep comparing it with other people's experiences.
Another thing that had me second guessing my being here in general was a comment a kid made. "Esta emocionado?" they asked me, asking if I was excited. Sí! I am excited! "Oh, well, you're not going to like it here. Sorry." a kid from Pennsylvania (who isn't with AFS) tells me in a dead voice. Oh. Thanks, bud.
Actually, I kind of take this as a challenge. I am going to enjoy it here, it will be exciting, and you will watch me have the time of my life!
...If not, I can change schools right?
EDIT: I had a nice little conversation with my English teacher today. Apparently school is so confusing because no one has a schedule. No one. I didn't want to complain about how unorganized the school is, but having two classes in the space of ten hours really just... I'm frustrated. And tired. But things will get better. I'm sure of it.
