My time in Colombia so far has revolved around meeting new people, going to new places, and trying new things (specifically food). I arrived in Bogota on a redeye flight without a wink of sleep. From when I arrived at my host family’s apartment to when I slept, I was on my feet: going to eat, visiting the local country club, and shopping for groceries. Thankfully, my host family made it all enjoyable and entertaining. I arrived on the day of my mom’s birthday and it was very difficult and emotional as I called my family in the afternoon. In Colombia I would be missing my mom’s birthday, Mothers Day, my 16th birthday, and my brother’s birthday. Knowing this made the start of my exchange a little harder to cope with, but I did my best not to let that stop me from enjoying the time I had in Colombia.
The next day started at 5:00 in the morning because of the traffic in Bogota and the 7:10 start time for Los Nogales (the school I’m going to) but getting enough sleep hasn’t been a problem during my exchange. My exchange partner, Emilio, is not in the same grade as me so I was assigned a mentor, Mateo, to introduce me to teachers and accompany me in classes. The way Colombian school works is that high school consists of 10th-12th grade while middle school is 6th-9th and in turn means I hardly get to see Emilio. My mentor made up for this by introducing me to his friends, making jokes, and providing a positive atmosphere that kept me included. My first day wasn’t perfect but very enjoyable, consisting of random people introducing themselves to me, meeting my teachers, and everyone telling me the same thing, “Wow your Spanish is so good!” and “Where’d you learn Spanish?” I was lucky enough to have learned Spanish from my parents, but it soon became evident that even my level of comprehension wasn’t enough to get through the students’ slang and conversations riddled with inside jokes. Strangely, I wasn’t nervous or scared for my first day. I guess some part of me had understood that I would be in a lot of uncomfortable situations during my exchange so I might as well embrace it and not worry.
I’ve only been here for two weeks but I’ve already made so many memories. I didn’t know how to list them all without being boring so here it is. I’ve made a bunch of new friends and met lots of new people. Mateo and I are more like good friends now instead of mentor and padawan. I’ve tried so many kinds of arepas, a Colombian flatbread bread made out of ground maize dough, such as arepas choclo, arepas de queso, and arepas de huevos. I tried a dish of ground beef, chicharon, beans, rice, and arepas called bandeja paisa. Emilio took me to an unlimited taco restaurant where I ate 20 tacos. I went to a chiva, essentially a party bus, a soccer game where the Millionarios, a local team, played and won. I gave a presentation about Athenian to the entire school, and ate at the restaurant Crepes and Waffles with the other exchange students here. I visited a Finca (country house) in the outskirts of Bogota with an incredible view where I had burgers, rode and almost crashed an ATV, and played on a very dangerous swing. I’ve gotten invested in basketball, watching Emilio’s matches and playing during class. And all of this was in the first two weeks. Next week I’ll go to Santa Marta on the coast of Colombia to enjoy the beaches and relax with my host family. In the coming weeks I have two quinceañeras along with multiple dance lessons to prepare myself and a lot more memories to be made.
Colegio Los Nogales is not too different from Athenian except for their 50-minute classes, 7:00 am start time, and extremely efficient bus system that drops me off at my host family’s apartment after school. The campus is similar to Athenian, large but not difficult to navigate. There are buildings that have more than one floor, a lot of the architecture is really beautiful, and all my classes occur in one building. The atmosphere is very welcoming. Everyone here was eager to meet me and learn a little bit about California. There is a uniform, but it makes choosing an outfit each morning so much easier–and pajama days here have real meaning. In the end it’s a normal school like any other where students strive for good grades and enjoyment, but their life outside of school is much more lively with weekly parties and events. After two weeks I was almost fully accustomed to life in Colombia, waking up, going to school, doing something fun, and sleeping. (It’s more interesting than it sounds.)
My host family has been one of the biggest highlights of my time in Bogota. Since the first day I arrived, they treated me like one of their own and our conversations at dinner are always lively. Both of my host parents work in education (the dad is the director of Colegio Los Nogales) and have interesting perspectives and questions about my life in California. They’ve taken me to eat and watch movies, always making sure I’m comfortable. Emilio has also been like a brother to me, chatting and laughing about whatever comes to our minds.
I don’t think I could ever regret coming here. It wasn’t easy to assimilate into a culture so different from mine and it can’t be made easier. That’s the beauty of exchange. The amount of times I’ve had to go out of my comfort zone has only ever made my experience better and everyone has been happy to help me out. In the end, if anyone has any doubts about going on exchange I’d tell them one thing. Just give it two weeks.
The Athenian School Exchange Blog 