Tonight was the first night I had a full on conversation with my host mother! I cannot believe I was able to speak in Spanish for two straight hours and follow a whole conversation. This may sound silly, but I am so proud of myself right now!
The first couple weeks were rough. Listening to Spanish and trying to get around made my energy drain super fast. For a whole week I would come home with headaches and I just needed to sleep. Also for a few weeks or so I felt like I couldn't speak Spanish nor ENGLISH! I would forget words when talking and I wasn't able to complete a thought (very scary).
But now I am muy contenta! My thoughts in English are coming together, fully which is reassuring and my Spanish has improved immensely. Although I still cannot talk well I am able to hold a conversation and usually get my point across which is what matters.
Living here has not been easy. Studying abroad at any age is challenging. I thought it was going to be easy to not miss costumes of the United States and family culture in general, but I was wrong. I have never gotten homesick while away, and here I need to talk to my family daily. This is probably a change for them... hahaha.
Anyways I am very excited and proud of myself so far. I am also proud of everyone here in the program. We all have battled culture shock daily and we have still managed to survive.
Living here is the biggest step I've ever taken alone. I am truly "alone" in the sense that I came here knowing no one. I had no friends coming into this and no family. NOW I have made friends with everyone in the group and have a home away from home here.
Don't get me wrong, I know I will still have my up and down days. But for now I will enjoy feeling at home :)
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