Go on exchange!!!

Deciding to go on exchange was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The world is so big. There is so much to learn, so many people to meet, and so much food to taste! I have been able to enjoy Colombian music, learned how to dance the Rumba, and have picked up on a lot of the local slang and Colombian culture. This experience has taught me that there is so much more to life than the stresses that we worry about in our daily lives. The exchange experience truly exemplifies multicultural awareness and extends learning beyond the classroom.

The Colombia that I have experienced is so different from the country that many people in the U.S. imagine it to be. I have had many eye-opening conversations about Colombia’s image to the rest of the world. The school which I attended, Anglo Colombiano, and Athenian are significantly different. For example, there is much less homework at Anglo, which allowed me to spend more time with friends after school and over the weekends. In addition, the vast majority of the students have been attending Anglo since they were four years old, so they have very close relationships with each other. At times this was difficult for me, but it also made them more excited to make new friends.

During my time in Colombia, I was able to visit Villa de Leiva (one of the oldest pueblos in Colombia), Ana Poima (tropical rainforest), and Lake Guatavita. In addition, every day after school I was able to enjoy time in downtown Bogotá with my new friends. Some highlights of my exchange were attending my first quinceañera, going to a costume party, and being a part of the school’s Oscar’s Night (a showcase of the movies which we had directed and preformed in).

The people I have met while on exchange are the some of the most compassionate, open, and loving people I know. It is amazing to see how much my Spanish has improved while being in Colombia, and to see how much more independent and outgoing I have become. One of the hardest parts of exchange was pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to make new friends. There were many “jokes” that I found offensive, but were culturally appropriate in Colombia. However, I have been able to have very meaningful conversations with my friends about the intent behind these jokes.

Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I would not trade my experiences during these past six weeks in Colombia for anything. I know that I will return soon, but it is so difficult knowing that this Monday I will not be at the Anglo with all of my friends. I know that the relationships that I have made will not end when I leave, and that the people who have defined my exchange will continue to define the rest of my life. It is impossible for me to wrap my head around the fact that my new best friends were complete strangers less than two months ago…

Some final tips for going on exchange:

• It’s okay to feel awkward.
• Push yourself–try new food, initiate conversations with new people, speak the local language if it’s not English.
• Try not to spend a lot of time on your phone and limit social media.
• Try not to compare it to home; it will obviously be different.
• Make the most out of every moment.

My trip has gone bye so fast. The past two months feel like only two weeks. While I am excited to be going home, I will definitely miss the friends I have made at King’s. During my time at King’s, I have made many friends and many memories. Once I am home, I will try my best to stay in contact with most of them. Living as a full border at King’s gave me the opportunity to live with much more responsibility. I had to be more self-sufficient and find things to do on my own. The only real problem I encountered was on the weekends when there was not much to do in the dorms. Most of the students went home and there were only a few activities each day. While the weekends could be uneventful, I still had a great time and got to know most of the other full borders pretty well. As most of the borders were from all over the Middle East, it was very interesting hearing the students’ views on the region as well as the US. I learned a lot about Palestine and Israel as many of my friends were Palestinian whose grandparents had been displaced.

Being a full border, I was really able to get to know the campus. While it is quite an elegant campus, it also has many quirks. The thing that first stood out to me were its lawns of grass that are not unlike a golf course. This is very odd to see as the school is in the middle of a dessert as the lawns must require a huge amount of water. The other outstanding thing about the campus was that there were about twenty cats that lived on the campus. Originally strays, the cats are now taken care of by the school’s cat club. When you walk around the campus you see boxes full of hay that the cats theoretically sleep in (although I never saw a cat in one).

One of the best things about the dorms was that everyone was super outgoing and I was able to get to know everyone very quickly. Some nights, we would spend the time before lights out playing cards or chatting about the day. I believe I was very lucky. I lived in Meissa South which was considered one of the quietest dorms. The other dorms, like Nihal, were notorious for the lack of studying that happened. The only complaint I had was that there were several nights where someone set the fire alarm off in the middle of the night, which was less than ideal.  (Usually it was students, but sometimes it was a teacher who was cooking something.)  Besides the rude awakening every so often, some of my best memories from the trip are from that dorm. I really enjoyed the times we would all order a ton of food for everyone and have “a feed” or when a friend and I would watch a movie and order Dominoes.  A lot of my best memories involve food.

While I didn’t spend a huge amount of time off campus, I really loved visiting Petra with the other exchanges and seeing Jerash and parts of Amman with a family friend. Walking around Amman, I loved the smells of spices and hearing stories about the different shops and restaurants. My family friend, Asma Khader, has lived in Jordan her whole life and worked on women’s rights in the region. She was very knowledgeable about Amman and it seemed that Amman was very knowledgeable about her– everywhere we went, someone seemed to know her.

Again, it is crazy to me that my exchange to King’s is over. I have had quite an amazing experience. I have learned so much about the region. I have made many friends who I hope to see in the future and keep in contact with. While this adventure is over, I will remember it for the rest of my life. Goodbye King’s, thank you so much and off to the next adventure.

It’s coming to the end of my exchange here at Felsted; I go back to California in a few days. I feel like my departure will be bittersweet. Although I am excited to go back to California, I will still miss the new friends and connections that I have made here… It’s actually now my last day and I’m a lot sadder than I thought it would be. I’m honestly going to miss everyone here. Today, Thorne is having a pizza party for me and they’re going to sign my flag.

We recently had a house feast. It was amazing. Everyone got dressed up and we all had fun. There was dancing, singing, embarrassing videos, and speeches of everyone. I’ll really miss the Thorne girls, Dr. MacGuire (the Housemistress), and Mrs. Donaldson (the Assistant Housemistress).

In the past two weeks, I’ve had two firsts. First, I went to a place called Sky Ropes with another exchange, Meg. When I signed up for this event, it didn’t really register in mind what the name of that place meant. Ropes…in the Sky. When I arrived at the place, I remembered that I’m moderately scared of heights. After looking up, I didn’t want to do it anymore, but Meg persuaded me. Although we had harnesses, I was still super nervous. I looked around and there were little kids doing it like it was nothing, so I thought “okay, I can do this.” After a few trials, I got the hang of it and it was uber fun. The teacher who took us had a little daughter and she became my walking buddy. She loved destroying dandelions 🙂

Secondly, I went to Cambridge with a couple of friends and went punting. Punting is when people sit in the boat and then someone stands on the little platform at the end of the boat. There, they have a long stick they push into the ground of the lake to move the boat along. Being the adventurous teenagers that we are, we decided not to get a chauffeur and have one of the guys do it. Both boys were in year 9, so they decided to switch. The first half Sam did it and we were so scared of the boat moving, but we got used to it. When it came time to switch, the boat was moving so much and we were begging them to stop. Justin finally got on and stayed for literally two meters and they switched again. But overall, it was an experience that I wouldn’t change for anything.

For people who are on or will go on exchange, I would like to tell you that at first it may seem like you’re never going to make friends or memories that matter. It most likely will get better, but to be honest, for some it doesn’t happen and that’s okay. Either way, give it a chance. Things didn’t really start happening for me until halfway through. Although it was short, I will cherish the memories that coming here on exchange has given me. Thanks for everything England.

After two months in India, my exchange has finally come to an end.  It seems strange to think that I have come full circle and write this while sitting by my fireplace, exactly where I was two months before my journey started.

Traveling to India this spring was the most transformative and life-changing decision I have ever made in my entire life. Going into the experience, I based this decision on logic, presuming that exchange would benefit me in a number of ways. I would gain independence, learn responsibility, and learn more about the world outside of the bubble I had been raised in. I knew going into the experience that I wouldn’t return home the same person I had formerly been upon my departure—and I couldn’t wait to see who I was going to become. And yet, although I knew I would be forever impacted by the experience, I couldn’t possibly imagine the extent of the transformation I was about to undergo. Now that my journey has come to an end and I am reunited with my community and my former life, I know that my perspective on the world around me, and on myself, has been shifted beyond what I could ever have anticipated.

My experience on exchange was intense to say the least. It was the first time I had ever been separated from my family. Prior to exchange, any experience I’d had with traveling involved me staying with an adult I knew well. As soon as I passed through airport security, I was hit with the realization that, suddenly, I was my own responsibility. It wasn’t something I had ever had to deal with before. Before, I had always had someone to look to for directions or advice, whether it was a family member or even a friend my own age. Now it was up to me to take care of myself.  The responsibility was thrust upon me before I was even fully aware it was happening. It was daunting and disorienting.

Throughout my exchange, this was the thing I struggled with the most: learning to be responsible for myself in an unfamiliar environment. How to take care of myself, not only physically but also emotionally, when things began to feel outside of my control. While it was one of the most difficult aspects of my exchange experience, it was also one of the most valuable lessons I took away from it. Being thrust into the unknown is never easy and never comfortable, but it’s the only way to grow and to develop a strong and healthy relationship with yourself. It tests you in more ways than you imagine. It teaches you more about yourself than you previously thought would be possible. It will benefit you more than you can possibly foresee.

On my exchange, I had experiences that were amazing and fun, and others that were difficult or even painful. Now that I have come full circle and am reflecting back on my experience, I am grateful for all of it, for every single challenge I faced. Because it is the challenge we encounter that forces us to look within ourselves and discover the strength we have within each of us. It’s the only way to truly get to know ourselves and the people we are becoming, as we step outside of our routine and force ourselves to discover more.

If exchange were simply easy, there would be no benefit in the experience. In reality, it’s more than just a fun vacation where you meet nice people that you’ll reflect on pleasantly in the years to come. It’s a period of self discovery, where you are forced to step outside of your comfort zone and see the world outside of what you are familiar with.

It’s one thing to read or watch about the outside world in the media, but nothing compares to immersing yourself firsthand. It can be a daunting prospect to be alone amongst a community of people who share a common culture you are unfamiliar with and may even at times feel isolated within. However, it is the most effective way to gain a more accurate perspective on your own culture and community. We become so comfortable within our natural habitats that we often begin to take it for granted and complain needlessly. Once we take a step back, we can view our lives more clearly and accurately. We can see the aspects we are most grateful for that we had overlooked, the aspects we disagree with and desire to change, and the small blessings we never fully appreciated until we were deprived of them.

Upon my return, I experienced a bittersweet influx of emotion. I was, of course, devastated to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I had come to know in India, and all the beauty I had been introduced to in my new community; however, I was simultaneously filled with appreciation for my own community that I had been separated from and all the wonderful people in my life who make up both my literal family and the one I have created for myself, who support me through every challenge and mistake, and who make me feel loved each and every day.

*g’thunk* *g’thunk* *g’thunk* goes my bike as I cascade down the jungle. My hands, slippery with sweat, white-knuckle the worn rubber handlebars. I can’t see the end to this downhill through the thick layers of vegetation that blind me, but the metallic gargling my bike-chain is making tells me that I may not be seated for much longer. “At least it’s not raining anymore,” I think to myself while my front tire momentarily loses its grip on the earth. *thud* I can already feel the bruises forming from continuously landing back on the seat. The slope gives way to flat ground and I find myself rolling into a small clearing populated by two men on the porch of a shack. There’s a white cat by my tire and some suspiciously skinny chickens strutting around by a row of crops. Luckily, the mosquitoes that have peppered my arms and legs with bites must’ve decided that this pause in the jungle isn’t the place for them. When the rest of our caravan of bikers arrives, we set off again, back into the brush. I felt uncomfortable showing up unexpectedly into someone else’s front yard anyway.

Now, in contrast to that adventure, I’m sitting in a comfortably air-conditioned library typing out this blog entry (my computer kinda broke down the other day… :/). It’s perplexing, imagining that in such a short amount of time I’m going to be launched back to America, when I’ve been gone for so long. I think about all that I’ve missed, all the potential memories that I could have made had I not taken leave. Memories alternate to the ones I’ve been given at Epsom. I don’t regret missing the last month and then some of school, it’s simply a hypothetical question I’ve been pondering for the last couple days. “What if I hadn’t gone on exchange? Who would I be that’s different than who I am now?” I’d certainly still be Diego Eligio Rodriguez. But I wouldn’t be the Diego Eligio Rodriguez who lived in Malaysia. The one who thought running for two classes a week didn’t sound too bad, until he realized that sprinting up and down a hill six times tends to induce the desire to vomit. Or the one who is becoming more in touch with his differences from other people, and embracing the parts that make him who he is. I might’ve been the Diego who shaped up in Algebra class, had a really insightful People’s Project, or any number of other things. But who can know?

When I awake tomorrow it’ll be May 25th, 2017. That’s my birthday… or is it? Because May 25th, 2017 in Malaysia isn’t the same May 25th, 2017 where I was born. When I awake tomorrow, it’s still going to be the 24th in Martinez, California. My sister will be on the bus home from school, my mom saying goodbye to her students for the day, my dad still working at bike repairs, and my brother might be at work, I don’t really know his hours. But regardless, this will all be happening on the 24th of May for them. They won’t join me on the 25th until the clock here hits 3 pm, at which point my plane will be taxiing for take-off. So when can I celebrate? At morning registration in Propert house or with the people seated next to me on the China Airlines flight?

Yikes, looks like I sidetracked a bit… where was I? Let me check that email from Mark for some inspiration. “Would you recommend going on exchange to 9th graders or have any tips for them?” Well, it’s hard to recommend something to someone you don’t know. But yeah, I think as a general statement, I would recommend exchange. There isn’t one definite thing that you’ll gain on exchange. Most of the time you won’t even know what it is you’ll find. Maybe you’ll find a friend that you come back years later to see, maybe an eye-opening perspective change that’s gonna alter the way you view the world and the way you live your life. Hell, I met someone who was just here to put “exchange in Malaysia” on their college application and couldn’t give a rat’s hat about the former two things I mentioned. So it really is a smorgasbord of possibility, going out and living somewhere new. Your best bet stepping off that airplane is to dump your expectations like a ten-ton stone and brace yourself for what comes next. If you’re stuck at whether or not to fill out the application to get shipped off abroad, remember, you might never get an opportunity to do something like this again. Admittedly, that line of reasoning has led me to some questionable decisions, but it’s been worth it all.

I should probably start to wind down this entry, considering that I’m going on one-and-a-half pages and the library closes soon. So, lemme tell you about one last thing: home. Home really is where you make it and I haven’t been living there for the last month. My home is a little stuccoed brown house on 1950 La Salle Street, Martinez, CA (come drop by sometime if you ain’t too busy). It’s got a side yard full of chickens and a front yard full of flowers. It’s filled to the brim with animals; probably too many for our own good, but I love em’ all to death. The six rooms of my house are constantly transitioning between hey-we’re-makin’-some-progress and wow-I-didn’t-know-we-got-tornado-season-in-California, but I wouldn’t dare live anywhere else. My family is a melting pot of emotions, happy and sad. With five people at once, it often is tiring to keep up with who’s-feeling-what, but I know that my we’re always gonna be there for each other. What I don’t know, is where else on this 7 billion person planet I would find that. And that’s led me to one last decision for my journey in Malaysia:

I’m ready to come home.

 

As I walked outside of the airport, I thought to myself, “It’s not as cold as I thought it would be.” My first two weeks at Birklehof have been very smooth. The first day was probably the hardest one. My luggage came on a different flight and arrived the next day, meaning I had to wear whatever I was wearing on the plane. Once my luggage came, I was able to set myself up in my dorm room and finally relax in fresh clean clothes.

When I arrived in Germany, I had to get used to the language barrier since the main language everyone speaks is German. Most, if not everyone, can communicate in English but only speak in English when needed. Sometimes some of my friends start talking to me in German and I have to remind them that I can only speak English. Settling into the school was comfortable and I did not have any other challenges adjusting to my new life in Germany. The curriculum is similar to Athenian, as well as the campus itself (very outdoorsy). One thing I noticed is that they split your grade up into 2 groups (10A and 10B). Each group has their own different schedule, but everyone in the same group follows the same schedule. Finding my classes wasn’t too hard since I would follow my friends. That made me realize that there isn’t as much freedom to make your own schedule and pick what classes you get to take as Athenian.One of the biggest challenges I had throughout the school day was the time and schedule. Every single day was a different class with different teachers all at different times. What made it more confusing was that my schedule was given to me in German. Sometimes school ended at 7:00 pm and sometimes at 2:00 pm, which was super difficult for me to figure out. After the first week of finding out where all my classes were and time my classes were, I finally was able to settle into Birklehof.

My first experience outside of school was visiting a city near my school called Freiburg. The first thing my friends and I did was visit a massive Catholic church. This was the biggest church I have ever been in. After walking around the city for a while, I realized that almost every single street had a McDonalds. I was super confused because why would you need so many McDonalds in one area? Later in the day, I got to try a Turkish sandwich called a Döner (which tasted amazing). My time in Freiburg was really fun. I certainly will be going there often in my free time or during the weekends.

Being able to experience Germany inside and outside of school with my friends is amazing. Hopefully I can explore more of this beautiful country with the time I have left.

It is coming to the end of my third week here at Felsted and I’ve finally settled down. When I first arrived, I was jet lagged for about three days and I was homesick for a week. But my family and friends here and in Cali really helped me through that.

I experienced my first moment of culture shock at Heathrow airport. When the person who was picking me up led me to the car, I naturally went to the right side of the car. But noooo, there was a steering wheel there. I was confused, so I decided to sit in the back, but then I was invited to the front seat, which was on the left side. So for the first 20 minutes of the 90 minute drive to Felsted I sat, staring at the dashboard, thinking: “there’s supposed to be a wheel here.” You might think that it’s not a huge difference. It’s just a steering wheel. I knew English cars drove on the opposite side, but you won’t understand until you see it. My mind was absolutely blown.  (And I just wrote a whole paragraph on steering wheels… Whoa.)

One of the major differences between the two schools is that Felsted has a uniform. Here secondary school is from year 7 to 11 our equivalent of grade 6 to 10. I’m in sixth form at Felsted, our equivalent of grades 11 and 12, but here it’s classified as college. After this they go on to university. The uniforms for prep school year 8 are all red/yellow kilts and red/yellow blazers. The uniforms for year 9 to 11 are green and blue kilts with a blue blazer. The sixth form uniform is a black/blue/gray shirt or pant suit. This was a huge change for me. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but then I got used to it and now it’s the norm. It’s weird to be able to tell something about a person just from their uniform.

The weather has been fun. It’s May. You’d think there would be sun, but no. People, it’s not Cali. A week ago it was hailing, and there’s so much wind. Being here has made me realize how much I love the Californian sun.

The food here is amazing. Like wow. One of the things I didn’t expect is the important role that ketchup plays in every meal and I mean EVERY meal. When there was no ketchup there was panic.

Like the food, the people here have been amazing. I live in the Thorne House which has greeted me with open arms since I first arrived. Thorne is a lower sixth house, the equivalent of a junior house. It’s a house of around 20 girls, which is relatively small compared to other houses that have around 60. There is another exchange named Meg from South Africa who came two weeks after I did, but she’s in a different house.

So far, being in England has been a positive experience. I am looking forward to the three weeks I have left here.

It has been just over two weeks since I arrived at the airport in Melbourne. I was greeted by my exchange Sophie Goldsworthy, her mom and her two sisters. I think leaving the airport was the moment that I really realized that I would be spending the next two months in a country almost 10,000 miles from home, across an ocean, where I knew no one.

We got to her house in a small town in the middle of nowhere, about two hours away from where we would be boarding for school. The town reminded me a lot of where my grandmother lives in Virginia, but smaller. My host family needed to pick something up from Sophie’s grandmother’s house and so we headed into town. On the way we stopped twice because they saw a friend walking down the road. They yelled out of the windows to greet others. When we stopped at the local market, Sophie made small talk with many of the other customers and the cashier, asking them about their plans for Easter or how their brother, sister or parents were doing. I felt completely out of place. She had known all of the people around her since she was born and I was a stranger.

When we got back to her place, she introduced me to all of her animals:  two goats and two calves, two dogs, three cats and a rabbit. The animals on Sophie’s farm are all ones that I have seen before, but most of the animals here in Australia are completely different from back home. On my second weekend here I went to the Halls Gap Zoo to see native animals up close. At the zoo I had the opportunity to feed the kangaroos!!! I was a bit taken aback by their odd appearance. They have disproportionately long feet and a thick tail that they will sometimes stand up on.

The first Tuesday after I started school was an Australian holiday called Anzac Day. Anzac Day is a day to remember the fallen soldiers of war, especially those that died on the 25 of April, 1915 invading the Gallipoli peninsula. This day is extremely important to Australians. They spend the day going to memorial services and marches.  I myself woke up at 4:30 am to attend a dawn service. It was freezing outside and in the pouring rain I stood with hundreds of people from all over Ballarat. It struck me that, while it has been more than 100 years, the people of Australia still feel so deeply about this day. It is important enough to make hundreds of teenagers choose to wake up before 5:00 am. The sense of community was much different than anything that I had ever felt before. I simultaneously felt very out of place and as if I was right where I was meant to be all along, huddled with four other people under a tiny umbrella, singing the national anthem in the pouring rain before the sun had even begun to rise.Another unique opportunity that I have had was to participate in a school athletics day. The day after Anzac Day was Lap Of The Lake. Every student wore their PE or House uniform to school and after lunch we all walked to a lake near the school. Every student had to run 6 kilometers around the lake to gain points for their house. Before the first batch of kids started, each house did warm ups and house chants together. It was interesting to see how such an activity really brought all of the kids together. Neither I nor any of the other exchanges knew what was going on as large groups of teenagers essentially just screamed at each other. The girls from my boarding house invited us to join in and it was pretty easy to catch on with their actions, if not their words. It was also really cold outside and we were all wearing shorts and t-shirts, so occasionally all of the girls from my house would sprint into a huddle from wherever they were.

One thing that has been difficult to adjust to is the attitude around sexuality, gender and race. Living in the dorms, there is an extremely heteronormative attitude. Any interaction between boys and girls is automatically seen as sexual or romantic by both teachers and students. In the class rooms as well as dining hall, boys and girls sit completely separated. On my first day a boy walked into the dining hall talking with a girl and the entire room went dead silent. Then many students all yelled ‘oh!’ together at them. In some scenarios the separation is caused simply by cultural norms, but in many scenarios the gender segregation is enforced by the teachers. The second most common type of question that I have been asked are those regarding relationship status; however, the frequency of that question still doesn’t even compare to how many people have asked about my opinion on the current political situation in America. I often panic and try to gauge what way to answer best. Should I answer neutrally or express my frustration? Most of Australia is anti-Trump, but I do not want to offend anyone accidently. I have been lucky enough to have had several amazing discussions with the locals about American politics and government, whether it be current events, the workings of American government, or something else.

Another thing that I did not expect to be difficult was wearing a uniform. I have never worn one before. When talking to the Round Square director at Ballarat Grammar I was told that most exchanges end up wearing the Ballarat school uniform by the end of their stay, saying that they felt out of place without it. As Athenian does not have its own uniform, I was required to wear theirs from day one. Almost everyone here is white, blond, and has light eyes. One of the other exchanges told me he had never met anyone with brown eyes before. And the Indian and Colombian exchanges have both mentioned that I am hard to pick out in the crowd because of my hair and skin color. On my first two days, many Ballarat students came up to Cristina in her green uniform and introduced themselves, excited to meet a student from another country. They didn’t even realize that I too was out of place. On those first few days I felt extremely out of place, but very few people saw me as an outsider since I was wearing their uniform and I look quite a bit like most of them. Wearing a uniform everyday has made me appreciate Athenian’s lack of one that much more. I feel as though I can be an individual at home, not just another school girl in a plaid dress.

I arrived in Jordan about three weeks ago and so far I have been having a terrific time. I will admit I was wary when I first heard that I would be going on exchange to Jordan. Jordan is a country basically surrounded by war. With all the news of warring and terrorism in the region, I had a stereotypical view of the Middle East as a whole, which only made me more cautious. In my first few days here, however, I quickly learned that my understanding of the region is very “Western.” Most Kings’ students were very surprised when they heard about my initial reaction to being given Jordan. While there are many issues in the region, Jordan is safe and the school is very safe.

While I am having a great time now, my exchange got off to a rough start as my luggage had been left at my connection in New York. For the first few days I found it hard to settle in or feel particularly comfortable, as my luggage had not yet arrived. With a lot of help from my mom, we were able to get a hold of where my luggage was and we were reunited. Despite not having my luggage for that time, I was still able to get to know the people in my dorm and began to make friends. The main issue I have found (which has not been big) is that practically everyone speaks Arabic, which can sometimes create a language barrier. So far I have not seen that much of Jordan, as in I have not spent time in the cities. I have gone on trips to the Dead Sea and to Petra. While I did find the Dead Sea a little underwhelming (and I got the salt water in my eyes, which was terrible), I thought Petra was amazing. The carvings in the stones were unbelievable. I had not realized that there was more than the one main carving/building. There are actually hundreds of carvings that go on for miles. The other cool thing about Petra is the natural rock formations that Petra was carved into. There were large caverns carved by water erosion from when the sea level was so much higher. It was truly an amazing experience and I wish I had had more time there.

In summary, I am having a great time. I have a bunch of friends and I am making more. I have already done a lot, but there is still more for me to see and do. I do miss my family and friends and cats back home. but I am still really enjoying myself. I look forward to what the future holds and I can’t wait for my next adventure.

 

Stepping off the airplane, the first thing that hits me is the humidity. The thick feeling of the air envelops my sweatpants-clad body and I realize I’ll really be needing those shorts in my suitcase. I sweat my way through immigration – the officer gives my passport a once over before letting me through, no questions asked. After wandering around the airport lobby for an indiscriminate amount of time, I hear a British accent address me from behind. “Hello, are you Diego Rodriguez?” inquired a man holding a sign with my name on it. He introduced himself as Steve Capon, however I reminded myself that I’d be addressing him as “Mr. Capon” or “Sir.” I’m still getting my “sirs” and “ma’ams” in order, two weeks later. We began our short drive to Epsom International from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Looking out the window, I can see through the rows of palm trees that appeared as an endless grid from my view in the airplane. I await what lies ahead.

Two weeks into my stay at Epsom, I’ve more or less adjusted to life here. My daily act of waking up and getting dressed (in what I see as much too formal for school) falls into a carefully crafted timetable that allows me some free time but for the most part guides my day through activities until after dinner. Because Epsom is primarily a boarding school, I’m living in the dorms with maybe fifty other boys (I haven’t counted). The school’s population is divided into multiple different houses that provide an instant community and participate in house related activities, earning awards and points for doing well; much like a wizardry school we are all too familiar with. I live in house Propert, which is, ironically enough, the ‘sports’ house. I think I’ve gotten past the point of having people ask me which sports I play, only to return with “none.”

And I suppose that leads me to another topic: the questions. There are oh so many of them. At least five times I’ve been presented with “So you’re from California? Oh so do you surf then? ‘Cause you’ve got that surfer hair thing goin’ on. No? Okay, I see you’re more of a skateboarding person then. Oh you don’t skate? That’s cool.” I guess I’m a bit less California then I thought. Upon entering the classroom of year fives that I help manage, I was immediately hit with a wave of “TRUMP OR HILLARY? TRUMP OR HILLARY?” Having  to answer for a government I don’t personally agree with is an interesting experience. In the Government and Politics class I participate in, I always look for opportunities to bring on that American perspective, as it is a class centered on UK politics. I was also asked if San Francisco was near Georgia, if I’d been to all 50 states, and had a sit down with a girl who must’ve had a list prepared because the amount of questions about American high school seemed endless. While I enjoyed answering them, it was hard to reply as Athenian is so radically different then the stereotypical American high school one might see on TV. Some of the questions included “Does everyone have a locker”, “Is everyone really divided into cliques?”, and “Do you sit at those desk seat things?” I recall these questions not to poke fun at the people who asked them (although some of the questions are a bit out there) but to look at how different an outside perspective of California and America sees these places and the people that inhabit them.

Now that I’m a bit into my stay, the adrenaline of being somewhere new has started to wear off and I focus less on the new things here because they aren’t as new to me anymore. It’s getting to the point where I look back on my life in America, thinking about when I return. I see pictures of my dogs from my family, I just missed one of their birthdays the other night. And on a more poignant note, over the weekend I got a call from my dad. I picked up the phone to the sound of muffled speech and crackling noises – he had accidentally pocket dialed me. I sat there in my bed calling out to him, “Dad! Dad look at the phone! I’m right here Dad!.” The only response I get is a quiet “Hi, how can I help you?” in his usual warm voice. He was at work with a customer. The next noise from the speaker is the tone as his pocket un-dials me. Something about that moment – calling into the void for my father who cannot hear me, while he is a pocket reach away – brought a tear to my eye. I thought about how fortunate I am to have such a close family. It’s something I’ve thought a lot about while at this boarding school. I don’t know if it’s a life I could live for much longer than my exchange, as I fear the separation from the people I love most would be devastating. While they may be a phone call away, it’s the physical isolation that gets me. Not being able to crawl into bed every night next to my dog, not being to give my mom a hug when she gets home from her long hours at work. To know that their lives continue without you; it’s not as if I get back and the timeline un-pauses. Memories are being made each day I’m away from which I am exempt.

However, I hold solace in the fact that these are passing feelings. Not that I won’t miss my family, but that it will eventually occupy less of my mind in the future. I have ~3 weeks left in my exchange and I’m so thankful for all those who have helped me get here, I never thought that I’d be able to participate in this kind of experience. I’m hopeful that these next few weeks will provide new and formative experiences to help me better understand who I am in an environment that is, for the most part, foreign. Until the day that I board that plane coming home, I’ll be writing and taking pictures to share my adventures with those back home, more than I — oh, looks like it’s raining again. Well then I suppose that’s it for now. See you then.

Signing out,

Diego Rodriguez m/