I have been in Ecuador for nine days now, and I have started to get comfortable. I have tried things I never would have back home, things like tomato juice or a cold soup consisting of cilantro, shrimp, and onions; I also have somethings that I still have to work up the courage to try, like ketchup on my rice. But tomorrow is my first day of school. Up until now, I have had my host mom and sister to help me figure out what is going on, but tomorrow, it's just me. My sister, Ari, goes to the same school, but we are in different courses of study; so, I won't see her.
I have never been nervous when starting a new school. But this time, I am just not sure if I'm nervous or not. On one hand, I could completely embarrass myself in front of my class, but by doing so, I would probably make quite a few friends. I could show up to the wrong classroom, but everyone else will know I'm in the wrong classroom before I do, so I probably wouldn't even realize my mistake. No, none of those are why I might be nervous. The reason I might be nervous, is that I have no one to explain to me what is happening. My Spanish is far from fluent, and right now, what makes me nervous, is the thought of sitting in a class for eight hours having no idea what is being said. Some people don't understand that repeating what I didn't understand slower and speaking louder doesn't help me understand you any better. However, I am hoping that any friends I will make tomorrow will have the patience to explain to me what the teacher is saying.
People have said that a year abroad is not just a year in your life, but your life in a year. The first time I heard that, I figured, yeah, you pack a lifetime's worth of memories into a year. But boy was I wrong. This year will be like a lifetime. When I got off the plane, I was like a newborn. Helpless, unable to communicate, and frustrated. Now, I'm like a two year old. I can say what I need to, I'm learning the culture while making a fool of myself. I hope that in six weeks, I will be fluent. Two months, that's all the time I want to spend as a "toddler" in my year. God has taught me a lot of patience and trust in the past two weeks, and He knows how much more of both I will need to learn over the next eleven months.
I have never been nervous when starting a new school. But this time, I am just not sure if I'm nervous or not. On one hand, I could completely embarrass myself in front of my class, but by doing so, I would probably make quite a few friends. I could show up to the wrong classroom, but everyone else will know I'm in the wrong classroom before I do, so I probably wouldn't even realize my mistake. No, none of those are why I might be nervous. The reason I might be nervous, is that I have no one to explain to me what is happening. My Spanish is far from fluent, and right now, what makes me nervous, is the thought of sitting in a class for eight hours having no idea what is being said. Some people don't understand that repeating what I didn't understand slower and speaking louder doesn't help me understand you any better. However, I am hoping that any friends I will make tomorrow will have the patience to explain to me what the teacher is saying.
People have said that a year abroad is not just a year in your life, but your life in a year. The first time I heard that, I figured, yeah, you pack a lifetime's worth of memories into a year. But boy was I wrong. This year will be like a lifetime. When I got off the plane, I was like a newborn. Helpless, unable to communicate, and frustrated. Now, I'm like a two year old. I can say what I need to, I'm learning the culture while making a fool of myself. I hope that in six weeks, I will be fluent. Two months, that's all the time I want to spend as a "toddler" in my year. God has taught me a lot of patience and trust in the past two weeks, and He knows how much more of both I will need to learn over the next eleven months.