Well, back in the States! (Photos now included.)

[thelonetiel]

Some of you might remember me posting back in August that I was going to Argentina for a year as an exchange student. Well, in short, I'm back home! It ended up being about 10 months, but in reality I'm a homebody and that was about the perfect amount of time for me.

I got back home yesterday, in DC the day before that (perfecting timing to have a beautiful day free in our long layover, then massive storms start up two hours before our scheduled flight). My parents came down to see Argentina for 10 days, then flew back with me, which was nice. It's pretty strange to be back in the US, I keep wanting to say little things like "gracias", "permiso", "chau", "Cuanto sale este libro?" in Spanish, but I haven't made too much of a fool of myself yet.

The exchange itself was really great. The first few months were hard (and they always warn you they are) because everyone wanted to practice their English with me and so I learned Spanish pretty slowly. And my host family was a quiet bunch, so I didn't really start learning the language until I was put in a family with a (spoiled) 7 year old daughter, who drove me insane, but made me talk all the time. I had luckily had a couple years of Spanish in highschool, which helped with vocabulary and made learning the verbs a lot easier, and being well read in English meant that the majority of words were cognates to something. So by the time I left, I was talking almost naturally and thinking in Spanish the majority of the time.

I had a few problems with my Rotary counselor (she thought it prudent to sent me emails with caps lock bold size 24 font telling me my problems, a tactic which totally backfired but no one else thought was that bad), but otherwise I had a great time. I made friends from around the world, stayed with four different families which each gave me an entirely perspective on life, and learned a culture that is a very strange mix of European and North American habits. Plus being fluent in Spanish is really awesome. :3

My computer is practically broken, giving me very ugly blue screens when it does start up, and telling me in a variety of error messages that it doesn't have a boot sector on the hard drive when it doesn't, but hopefully I'll get it fixed soon. Then I'll start getting back into my normal bad habits of internet. xD I'll probably never be as common around here as I was, mostly because Neopets is lacking interest for me without as many pretty pet goals and losing a year's worth of free clothes on Subeta annoys me too much. As well, I learned this funny technique of going out and chilling with friends offline, which can be pretty entertaining. So less computer for me. I still love you guys though, the thread a while back about what animal you could kill naked had me in stitches, though it made for awkward conversation when people wanted to know what was so funny.

Anyway, I thought you guys might like an update. When I can (read: stop being lazy), I'm going to upload pictures, of things like glaciers, Tierra Del Fuego, and the Andes. I had some camera issues (I had not one but two digital cameras lost/stolen) but still have lots of photos. :3

[kuri]

That sounds like fun! So being there helped you speak Spanish a lot better?
How many families did you stay with?

Nice to have you back

[Alecko]

Sounds like you had an amazing time. I'll keep an eye out for those photos as well!

[thelonetiel]

I think I'm effectively fluent in Spanish now, though I'm not sure where that certain point is classified. My last few months I was definitely thinking in Spanish as easily (though not as elaborately) as much as English, though of course surrounded by English I don't do that much now. I'm looking forward to going down to Mexico with friends and testing how big the regional variations are. :3

As for families I stayed with four, the norm being three. My counselor put me in one family where I could only stay for a few weeks without explaining herself. I'm a bitter at her for that, but the family itself was super nice and it was just another experience.

Photos I will work on.

It still feels strange to be back, but also like I never left.

[Monkeyguy]

Welcome home! I think what you did is really cool and I wish I had taken an opportunity like that! I guess if I really wanted to I could just pack up and move to a Spanish speaking country for a while...

[Alicorn]

Tiel, yay! Good to see you back. ^_^ Glad to hear you had such a good time. Sounds like such an experiance. I'm so glad to hear everything went well and all is well with you. I can't wait to see pics!

[Chandi]

Argentina must have some surging popularity as a place to study abroad right now or something... I'd never thought of it, then my boyfriend studied abroad there this semester, and I have a friend there right now, and you turn up from there. I'd love to see your sets of pictures, especially if you went different places than my boyfriend did. Did you stay in/around Buenos Aires at all? That's where his homestay/schooling was. He also felt really weird to be back in the states, but grateful for some things... working internet, people speaking English, less questionable food (he ended up with either testicles or brain on his plate a couple times without realizing it...), and other things. Welcome back, though. And pictures, please! *prods*

[Kamil]

Tiel! I'm so glad you're back! *snugs*

It sounds like you had an amazing time; I can't wait to see the photos and hear more tales of your adventures.

[thelonetiel]

^^ Sorry, I've been lazy, but I finally got some pictures up.

Not too many, only 25 out of the bazillion I have. More photos of nearly everything can be uploaded upon request, of glaciers, pretty Andean lakes, whales, waterfalls, and dinosaurs.

Yay 4 Facebook!

I had lots of camera troubles, so that's missing all my photos between Christmas and late May. xP But you get the idea.

And Kamil, if you want to hear adventures, you have to ask specific questions, cause there was soooo much I could go on for hours and hours about the differences and things we did. xD I need a jumping off point though.


I'm also super happy, I've lost 7 pounds since getting back (I gained almost 20, stupid dulce de leche). :3 I'm embarrassed by these photos, especially because I always used to rag on my friends about eating healthy and exercising. ^^

[Jamie]

Oh, so THAT is who Shannon Simpson is! Apart from that I'm very jealous and it looks/sounds like you had an amazing time!!

[Huggles]

Dulce de leche ice cream by Häagen-Dazs is pure evil. I can't imagine what I'd be like if I lived in Argentina or anywhere dulce de leche is common. I'd probably die a very fat and happy death in a matter of months.

Pictures! You make a very adorable witch. Dinosaurs, flamingos, and teeter-totters? I am terribly envious.