Hola a todos!
Sorry I haven't been writing much. I've been pretty busy getting everything ready to go. The Friday before February break was my last day of being a junior at an American High School. All that week I was stressing to finish all the work I needed to hand in to get credit for the trimester. Not a fun week by any means. Even though I had been dying to be done with school, I still felt a little sad leaving. There are a lot of people there that I'll really miss while I'm in Chile. This past week has been filled with visiting friends and family and final preperations. Lots of shopping. I did a practice packing a few days ago and my suitcase was only 36lbs!
Today is my last day at home before I leave for Miami. Tonight we're going to stay with some friends near the airport and tomorrow Mom, Dad and Asher are bringing me to the airport. Ahh!! I'm so excited! I'm really nervous too. I still have a lot of packing to do, which I should actually be doing right now. It's weird thinking I won't be back here for 5 months.
I've been in more contact with my host sisters through Facebook. It's really cool talking to them and I'm super excited to meet them on Sunday!
Alright, I should go back to my packing. My next post will probably be from Chile!
Chau,
Sela
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Getting closer to departure
I’m leaving in 25 days!! On February 2th I fly to Miami and I will stay overnight there for an orientation with all of the other Latin-America-bound AFSers. I don't know exactly what we're going to do there but it'll be cool to meet other exchange students, especially the ones who I'll be in Chile with. The next day all of us exchange students fly to our respective countries. When we get to Chile, we'll be having a two day orientation with all the inbound AFSers before we go to our host families.
I can’t believe that it is so soon. I remember how a long time ago I would say “I want to go on exchange when I’m older.” Then when I was in early high school, it'd be like “yeah, I’m going to go abroad to Latin America junior year.” Then earlier this year I would say “I’m going to Chile next semester.” Then it was “I’m going next month.” Now it is only days until I leave. This is so crazy. It's starting to feel real that I'm actually doing this. It’s a little overwhelming actually...overwhelming but exciting. I have so much to do before I leave, in terms of both school and packing. Today I made a to-do list and a packing list and bought my suitcase. It’s the first real suitcase I’ve ever had and it’s pretty cool. I’m not really looking forward to packing though. I can only bring one 44lb suitcase. I’m not sure how much 44lbs is but I don’t think it’s that much, considering I’m going for five months. It’s good to pack light though.
Good news! I heard from my host family! We’ve been in touch for a few weeks now. I received a long, incredibly nice reply to my first email from my host dad. He told me the school I’ll be going to, what the family is like and what Quillota is like. Turns out I am in the city. He and his daughter have both been on exchange to English-speaking countries so they speak English but he said that they’ll speak Spanish with me, which is great. I’m so, so excited to get to use Spanish all the time. I’ve also emailed with the 18yr old daughter, the 12 year old daughter and the son. They all sound incredibly nice and welcoming, and I’m really excited to meet them! I got to see some photos too, which was pretty cool. It sounds like I’m also going to have another exchange student in my school but I’m not positive.
Other good news: I got my visa! I was really worried about it because the visa process is supposedly really hard but I went in and got mine in a single day. It was an enormous relief to have it stamped and in my possession. I’m that much closer now to being ready!
That’s all for now!
Chau,
Sela
I can’t believe that it is so soon. I remember how a long time ago I would say “I want to go on exchange when I’m older.” Then when I was in early high school, it'd be like “yeah, I’m going to go abroad to Latin America junior year.” Then earlier this year I would say “I’m going to Chile next semester.” Then it was “I’m going next month.” Now it is only days until I leave. This is so crazy. It's starting to feel real that I'm actually doing this. It’s a little overwhelming actually...overwhelming but exciting. I have so much to do before I leave, in terms of both school and packing. Today I made a to-do list and a packing list and bought my suitcase. It’s the first real suitcase I’ve ever had and it’s pretty cool. I’m not really looking forward to packing though. I can only bring one 44lb suitcase. I’m not sure how much 44lbs is but I don’t think it’s that much, considering I’m going for five months. It’s good to pack light though.
Good news! I heard from my host family! We’ve been in touch for a few weeks now. I received a long, incredibly nice reply to my first email from my host dad. He told me the school I’ll be going to, what the family is like and what Quillota is like. Turns out I am in the city. He and his daughter have both been on exchange to English-speaking countries so they speak English but he said that they’ll speak Spanish with me, which is great. I’m so, so excited to get to use Spanish all the time. I’ve also emailed with the 18yr old daughter, the 12 year old daughter and the son. They all sound incredibly nice and welcoming, and I’m really excited to meet them! I got to see some photos too, which was pretty cool. It sounds like I’m also going to have another exchange student in my school but I’m not positive.
Other good news: I got my visa! I was really worried about it because the visa process is supposedly really hard but I went in and got mine in a single day. It was an enormous relief to have it stamped and in my possession. I’m that much closer now to being ready!
That’s all for now!
Chau,
Sela
Thursday, January 15, 2009
To begin...
¡Hola!
For all of you who don’t already know, my name is Sela and I’m a junior in high school. This February I will be leaving New England and traveling with AFS to Chile where I will spend the spring semester of my junior year. SO PSYCHED!! I’ve wanted to go on exchange ever since I was in the third grade and my teacher told me about his daughter going to France. Back then I was taking German so I wanted to go to Germany, but after I started taking Spanish I decided I would rather go to Latin America instead. I have been taking Spanish for four years and I am completely in love with the language. I am so excited to be immersed in it for five months. I already find myself thinking in Spanish sometimes. I’ve heard that Chilean Spanish is wicked hard, but once you master that accent you can understand any of them. Plus they use a lot of slang, which sounds cool.
Why do I want to go on exchange at all? For a lot of reasons. I have always been really interested in other cultures and languages. I love meeting people from different countries and learning words from their languages, even if I forget them soon after. Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica, Switzerland and Mexico and I discovered how much I loved traveling and experiencing other places. I was in Mexico for a month, stayed with a family and made friends who spoke only Spanish. I got to try new foods, see other customs and expose myself to a different way of life. When I came home from Mexico, I was incredibly excited to study abroad and again get to experience a different way of life.
I applied to go on exchange back in March. It involved a HUGE application and a lot of waiting. My first choice country was Chile, second was Paraguay and third was Argentina. Originally I wanted to go to Paraguay, but in the end I decided on Chile because the AFS organization there seemed very solid. I’m really glad that I picked Chile though. I chose Chile for a lot of reasons actually. For one thing, they are a Spanish-speaking country and I want to become fluent in Spanish. The culture sounds uniquely Chilean without a ton of US influence, which is also something that really appealed to me. According to the pictures I have seen and books I have read, Chile has an incredible landscape with mountains, forests, lakes and penguins! I really hope that I see a penguin while I’m there. Anyways, I sent my application in my application for Chile in April but AFS-Chile didn’t start looking at applications until September so I had to wait all summer to find out. Turns out I wasn’t officially accepted into the Chile program until mid-October. Then came the fundraising. I worked all summer and fall at a café to raise part of my tuition. This basically meant having no social life on the weekends all fall but I made a fair bit of money, and I think that working so hard for it made it that much more worth it. I also received a merit scholarship from AFS, which helped me tremendously. To raise the rest of my tuition I wrote to friends, family and people in the community asking them for contributions. I got no responses back from the businesses and clubs I asked, but my family and friends were incredibly generous in their support, which meant a ton to me. To everyone reading my blog who contributed to my trip: THANK YOU!!
Once I got accepted to Chile, it was really open about when I would find out about my family. I waited and waited and waited, and explained to my parents over and over again that I didn’t know when I would find out. I got my all of my visa stuff ready but still no family information. Finally last week during English class I was working in the library and checked my email for news, even though I wasn’t really expecting any. I was surprised to see I had an email and shocked to see it was from my adviser, with the subject: AFS Placement. It was super exciting! I’ll be living in Quillota, which is in between Santiago and Valparaiso. Quillota is both a region and a city so I’m not sure if I’ll be in the city or not because I don’t know how to read my family’s address. I’m going to have five siblings. Two brothers, ages 2 and 20 and three sisters, ages 8, 12 and 18. I’m glad that I’ll have siblings because coming from a big family it’d be strange being an only child. I emailed my family but am still awaiting their reply so not much else to report there.
I leave in one month, one week and four days. I’m super excited! I’ve already gotten in touch with a lot of AFSers from all over the world who will be in Chile with me. There is still a lot to do to get ready though…
That’s all for now!
Hasta luego,
Sela
For all of you who don’t already know, my name is Sela and I’m a junior in high school. This February I will be leaving New England and traveling with AFS to Chile where I will spend the spring semester of my junior year. SO PSYCHED!! I’ve wanted to go on exchange ever since I was in the third grade and my teacher told me about his daughter going to France. Back then I was taking German so I wanted to go to Germany, but after I started taking Spanish I decided I would rather go to Latin America instead. I have been taking Spanish for four years and I am completely in love with the language. I am so excited to be immersed in it for five months. I already find myself thinking in Spanish sometimes. I’ve heard that Chilean Spanish is wicked hard, but once you master that accent you can understand any of them. Plus they use a lot of slang, which sounds cool.
Why do I want to go on exchange at all? For a lot of reasons. I have always been really interested in other cultures and languages. I love meeting people from different countries and learning words from their languages, even if I forget them soon after. Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica, Switzerland and Mexico and I discovered how much I loved traveling and experiencing other places. I was in Mexico for a month, stayed with a family and made friends who spoke only Spanish. I got to try new foods, see other customs and expose myself to a different way of life. When I came home from Mexico, I was incredibly excited to study abroad and again get to experience a different way of life.
I applied to go on exchange back in March. It involved a HUGE application and a lot of waiting. My first choice country was Chile, second was Paraguay and third was Argentina. Originally I wanted to go to Paraguay, but in the end I decided on Chile because the AFS organization there seemed very solid. I’m really glad that I picked Chile though. I chose Chile for a lot of reasons actually. For one thing, they are a Spanish-speaking country and I want to become fluent in Spanish. The culture sounds uniquely Chilean without a ton of US influence, which is also something that really appealed to me. According to the pictures I have seen and books I have read, Chile has an incredible landscape with mountains, forests, lakes and penguins! I really hope that I see a penguin while I’m there. Anyways, I sent my application in my application for Chile in April but AFS-Chile didn’t start looking at applications until September so I had to wait all summer to find out. Turns out I wasn’t officially accepted into the Chile program until mid-October. Then came the fundraising. I worked all summer and fall at a café to raise part of my tuition. This basically meant having no social life on the weekends all fall but I made a fair bit of money, and I think that working so hard for it made it that much more worth it. I also received a merit scholarship from AFS, which helped me tremendously. To raise the rest of my tuition I wrote to friends, family and people in the community asking them for contributions. I got no responses back from the businesses and clubs I asked, but my family and friends were incredibly generous in their support, which meant a ton to me. To everyone reading my blog who contributed to my trip: THANK YOU!!
Once I got accepted to Chile, it was really open about when I would find out about my family. I waited and waited and waited, and explained to my parents over and over again that I didn’t know when I would find out. I got my all of my visa stuff ready but still no family information. Finally last week during English class I was working in the library and checked my email for news, even though I wasn’t really expecting any. I was surprised to see I had an email and shocked to see it was from my adviser, with the subject: AFS Placement. It was super exciting! I’ll be living in Quillota, which is in between Santiago and Valparaiso. Quillota is both a region and a city so I’m not sure if I’ll be in the city or not because I don’t know how to read my family’s address. I’m going to have five siblings. Two brothers, ages 2 and 20 and three sisters, ages 8, 12 and 18. I’m glad that I’ll have siblings because coming from a big family it’d be strange being an only child. I emailed my family but am still awaiting their reply so not much else to report there.
I leave in one month, one week and four days. I’m super excited! I’ve already gotten in touch with a lot of AFSers from all over the world who will be in Chile with me. There is still a lot to do to get ready though…
That’s all for now!
Hasta luego,
Sela
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