Attempting school…round three.

                Well today is the T – 99 day mark before departure to United States. I am not counting because I want to leave I am counting to make sure I can squeeze every last trip, experience and friendship in before I have to go. In order to make the most of my time I went against every teenage instinct I have and I decided I wanted to go to school.

                Going to school in Paraguay before my current school situation, is considered unsuccessful… in the least of the terms. It was a disaster. Wasting away hours, simply sitting in the classrooms: talking, eating and to be honest, doing every activity but, learning. So I took a slight leap to enter the school of my host sister Saida and go to a high end private school called Colegio Del Sol. I knew it would be different considered it is widely known throughout the country. However, it was a tough choice because it is an hour and a half commute every morning and it is from 8am to 3pm which is very uncommon in Paraguay, most of the schools end at noon. Therefore, my friends are all having fun without me. However, I decided this would allow my Spanish to progress immensely, along with make new Paraguayan friends.

                I entered the school on a Thursday, and just as the other Paraguayan schools I entered the classroom to find the boys on one side of the room and the girls on the other. Not because it is mandatory it is just the way of the students; they are all friends but they simply separate when the time for learning, quite strange. However, one thing that was lacking was the hideous clothing of all the students! This is a none-uniform school!  (In all honestly %50 of why I picked the school was no uniforms other %50 is because there is air conditioning.)

                I was instantly greeted by a flow of my classmates and questions, which are always fun. However, the best part of it all is not that I have fantastic classmates, an actual opportunity to learn, but that I can understand! Considering all the differences from the past schools to the present this was the biggest change. I am able to sit in class, take notes and answer questions in class. Being able to follow along in ALMOST any context and talk about life and goals with all my classmates, using complex worlds and full sentences. It is the best feeling in the world. Though I cannot say my Spanish is perfect, it is far from perfect; it has come so far and has opened up so many new doors in just these past days, I can only imagine what it will do in the future.

                But, though rite now all is fun and games between school and birthday parties with friends, me and all the other AFS students are being haunted by the return date. It is unimaginable what it will be like to go back. I personally think it will be harder to adjust in the states than it was here. Simply because of the mentality of the people that have not seen the things I have seen or experienced the things I am experiencing. Though, at the same time, it seems as if I will never leave, because this is my new life. The hardest part will be saying good bye to my friends because we have gone through all of these times together. Nevertheless, the time will come and my family will welcome me with open arms that I will fill. Because I miss them more than anything in the world. 

eating lunch with my classmates! not exactly my usual Chipolte off campus lunch.