If someone would have asked me what i expected my exchange to be like before I left, i would have probably said something along the lines of it being difficult, interesting, exciting, life changing blah,blah,blah. I have come to see that my exchange is all that and sooo much more. words are not able to describe everything that goes through my brian on a daily basis, my emotions and moods change hourly, i go from having a crappy day to the best day all with a trip to the grocery store with my family. i have come to apprecieate small things, like being asked if i want to help cook, or a kiss on the cheek. things that were never a big deal at home suddenly mean the world. I know that i have changed in the short time that i have been here, i like to think for the better, i have a new apprecieation for good friends, my family, simple gestures and acts of kindness. manners and gratitude are something that i express alot of here, my parents taught me well, but i have come to see that that is not always a common practice here, please and thankyous go a long way, but sadly they are not very common.
I like to believe that i am representing my country well, i am the only person from Canada in all of my club and district. There are 15 of us total, 6 from the United States (4 of which are all from New York), 4 from france ( yes i get to speak french with them), 2 from Bermuda..., and 1 from Belgium. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have a spanish class with some other exchange students, they are with a Program called AFS, they are all from Belguim or Gremany and are all super awesome, they like to have a good time and that is a good time! as of lately our spanish class is more like a social get together than a learning experience but it is still educational...ish.
On Wednesdays we have Rotary meetings at night, we all show up with our blazers in toe, we eat yucca (it is a root from a tree that is like a potato but sooo much better), listen to people and talk, we get dinner and dessert( people always eat dessert here, im not complaining but my jeans might soon) then we get to go home. I like it mostly for the socializing part...and the yucca!
we have all gone to the plaza together and hung out, we have gone to parties, and we have hung out at eachothers houses and had random goodtimes that will be for another time. bottom line, i love these people and they are a major part of why i am loving my exchange so much!
In the city there is one thing that i have really noticed that is different from alot of places in Canada, there are plazas everywhere! Each "barrier" which is like a giant neighborhood has a plaza, it has chairs and trees and little stores and usually a church in it, they are great social places and are occasionally really sketchy but they are one thing that i have not seen much of back home. in the center of the city and in the big important regions there are huge central plazas where all the stores and important things are and they are absolutly beautiful. BUT COVERED IN FREEKING PIGEONS!
i don't like pigeons! i dont even know if that is how you spell pigeon, i thought there was a d in there somewhere but the little autocorrect man says otherwise. meh!
Today was election day in the city, that means that EVERYONE who is 18 or older MUST vote, if not all cellphones,bank accounts and anything else is shut down for that person for 3 months, unless they vote by the eloted time. its serious stuff here, there are fines and huge messures taken on and before election day. For example, for the last 3 days no one has been able to legally buy or cell alcohol, not even in restaurants or bars. also as of midnight of last night, all cars were prohibited from driving on the roads, no busses and no taxis. strictly motorcycles, quads, bikes and walking. Im not sure why but it was a huge deal, there were a few taxis that had permission to drive but they costed about 5 times as much as they usually would. after the election closed at 6 the cars were aloud back on the road tho. in order to vote everyone had to walk to the closest school to their house, which is like nothing because there are schools EVERYWHERE! and there are like a million of them!
feel free to ask questions, not sure what you want to know about this crazy place, after all this is a blog for you guys not me, it just helps me from repeating myself like a million times!
xoxo
P.S no comenting on spelling or grammar, we all know i suck at it!:P
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