The Struggle is REAL

This is where we play volleyball during the breaks.

Do you know how many times I didn't/hesitated to join, and how many times I stopped playing because of the pressure to not be worse than all the guys who've been playing their WHOLE LIVES? Even better, it feels like if the guys kick the ball too hard, miss a pass, or yada yada, it's FINE, but if I do it, I'm just a girl who can't play. The GRINGGA who can't play.

In other words, I need some new skills.

I need to learn how to juggle a soccer ball, serve a volleyball, score in a basketball hoop, do cool tricks like rolling the ball over my shoulders, etc. I need to be able to keep up with the locals—catch up on a lifetime of practice. Edit: I’m a fast learner ;)

So, about 2 weeks ago, I decided to do something about that. This is how I know I'm an introvert: I’ve started spending HOURS in the backyard, well after sunset, jamming to Spanish music and practicing. And it. Is. FUN. The little victory of juggling a soccer ball 7 times in a row after trying LITERALLY a hundred times feels SO AWESOME, and every time I achieve a new little victory, I set up a new challenge for myself. I have no one to share my little victories with, but I think I prefer it that way—no one needs to know how many times I hit myself in the face with that darn ball.

This is my playing field, so it's no surprise that it's so easy to spend hours here.

Tribulations

I always thought that once immersed in a new country for enough time, one would just "catch on" to the language. While that's not exactly WRONG… it takes time. The process is slow and painful—and there are times when I can comprehend with ease and times when I understand people about as much as I can understand squirrels.

Ordering a coffee is easy now, but at the beginning... nightmare-ish, I swear.

Also, I am in love with coffee.

I've been talking to my fellow exchange students, ones in Chile with me and others in Indonesia, and Thailand, and… well, let's just make a lil summary. There are some days we feel on top of the world and times when life seems like WAYYYY too much to handle. For some, it shifts by the day. For others, by the minute. 

I’m not kidding.

There are days when I’m just… tired. When I zone out in conversations, toying with my little rusted flower necklace; when I don’t do school work, hunching over my drawings instead; when I fall asleep at the table, having not said a word the entire meal. Thankfully, my friends here often take my moods in stride, offering me cookies, braiding my hair, and such.

On the bright side, my drawing skills are improving.

In my opinion, we're all just living a normal-ish life but with emotions far more intense than usual.

Win

There’s one thing I’ve done that I literally don’t know how I would live without.

I learned how to take the bus. 

It returned my ever-so-loved sense of independence, and gave me the opportunity to explore my surroundings without being dragged around by other people. What y’all probably don’t know: I’m so bad at navigation it’s practically a disability. Or—if I wanna be all positive—I have the superpower to have adventures without ever trying to :)

This picture is completely irrelevant here, but it's prettyyyyyyy (and supposedly the ugliest part of town).

The public transportation system here works well, but it’s a bit messy. The buses don’t have stable intervals; the bus stops don’t have names; there are no announcements of any sort; and you have to wave hysterically in order to get on (AND OFF) the bus—they literally will not stop otherwise (been there, done that). 

I’ve gotten off at the wrong stop a couple times. At this point, I think my host-family is getting used to all the heart attacks I give them. That’s what happens when you try to keep track of me, lol.

I present to you ✨ a bus stop ✨