The Beginning

Hi!

My name is Darcy.

I live in California, and I (hopefully) will be spending my sophomore year (09-10) in Argentina as a foreign exchange student.

I submitted my full-application on January 11 and had my interview with my local AFS volunteer the following day, January 12. As of now, I'm not officially accepted. Buuuut, I think I have a pretty good chance. Four weeks of the four-to-six week waiting period have passed, so I guess I'll know soon!

I want to keep a blog of my experiences throughout my eleven months (and before and afterward!) for my friends to read so they don't forget about me entirely (ha!) and so they can keep up with what I'm doing.

I've told several people about my soon-to-be adventure, and the same questions pop up. So here ya go. If you have any more, comment :)

FAQ

When are you leaving? Getting back? I'm leaving late July. Dates are not sure yet since I haven't gotten my "you're in!" call yet, but roughly late July '09 to late June '10. Long time... I know!

Why Argentina?! Well, one reason... I really want to learn Spanish! So I looked at the Spanish-speaking countries available for my age (not all countries accept 15-year-olds for some reason), and it boiled down to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru, and Spain. For some instinctive reason, I chose Argentina. It just seems to match me the best :) (Peru was my second choice.) And I love the idea of going to South America- I've never been there before.

Are you going to boarding school? Where are you living? Nope. I'm going to a regular, typical, normal high school in a regular, typical, normal city. I'm going to live with a host family.

Wait... so you have to live in someone else's house? Like, a random person's? Yea. Well, AFS interviews the host family too, so they're not exactly random. So I'll have host siblings and host parents and a whole new set of rules and expectations. But they'll provide me room and board for free, not to mention become somewhat of a second family to me!

Are you going to an English-speaking school? No. Regular, typical, normal, average high school... So all classes will be taught entirely in Spanish (except for my "English as a foreign language" class, haha!).

Then how will you learn the language? How does anyone learn a language? I guess it will be somewhat similar to how I first learned to speak English when I was a baby. Immersion, practice... I've talked to lots of people and most said they were more or less fluent in the native language halfway through the year, and definitely by the end of the program!

Won't you miss your family and friends? YES. Yes. Yea. Aaahhh. I'm probably going to be really homesick while I'm there and definitely a complete mess at the airport, and the weeks before I'll be crying nonstop... But... The way I see it, everyone I love will still be here when I return. No one's going anywhere. (deep breath... trying to convince myself.)

How do you feel? Aren't you scared? YES. More than you will ever know. Honestly, sometimes I just get so down about going on an exchange, so scared and frightened and emotional, but it will be good. When I'm there... settled in... it'll be good.

How can you just take a year-long vacation from school? Do any of your classes count? Though not a vacation... I doubt any of my classes will transfer over. (But it depends.) Most likely I'll spend the next two years of high school taking classes at IVC, taking online courses, and packing extra academic classes into my schedule in high school. Darn.

Are you going to have the Internet or phone when you're there? Yup. I'm not going to be isolated or anything. Email me at blueeyes@gmail.com, or Facebook me. Or call me, hahaha. I can still keep in touch and all.

Can you come home to visit? No. Actually, I can't. I won't see California for eleven months. (my stomach flinches just thinking about this...groan)

Umm... why do you want to do this?! It seems... difficult... Yea, but so life rewarding. (Is that worded right?) Looking at the big picture, this isn't something I can't not do. It's in my blood, and it's an opportunity I can't pass up. Language fluency, newfound independence and maturity and all that good stuff... an eye-opening experience... I just have to do it. Several months ago, I was struggling with the choice of whether to do this or not, aaaaand I think I finally just convinced myself that as hard as it will be, and as many tears that I will cry, everything will be worth it. You see... I never want to regret not doing this. So I'm going to take every chance I get. Whenever I feel nervous or stomach-squirmingly anxious I just remind myself of this, the big picture, everything I will gain from being a foreign exchange student... and I love it.

I didn't even know you could do this. Where did you hear about AFS? My fifth grade teacher's son was a foreign exchange student in France with AFS during sophomore year. After learning that it was possible for you to go away for a year, the idea stuck in my head, and... here I am!

Where's Argentina? What's the time difference? California is about five hours behind Argentina (referencing to Buenos Aires, the capital city). However there may be a four-hour time difference, depending on where I am placed. Not too much of a difference- it's not like I'll call home and wake everyone up!

Argentine flag:


Map of Argentina:


Argentina in comparison to the world:


Where are you living in Argentina? Don't know yet. And I probably won't find out for several more months... like, until May. Or even June. That's when I get my host family and begin the laborious visa process. However I gotta say that I am SO excited to find out where I'm placed... because Argentina is gigantic! I could be living in the rainforest, desert, cattle farm, big city, the freezing snow, an island, the tropical heat, the mountains, the beach, or on the borderline with the countries that touch Argentina- Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Bolivia!

This sounds cool. What's the website? Go here for AFS's international website and here for AFS-USA's website.

And finally, some quotes I love that make me happy about my exchange :)

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -Helen Keller
"Not all those who wander are lost." -J.R.R. Tolkien
"A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for." -William Shedd
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -Caskie Stinnett
"Sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to come full circle." -Lost in Translation

I hope you keep up with my blog while I'm gone, keep in touch, and comment! Don't worry, it won't be all boring stuff like this :)