Diahann's Thoughts About Her Exchange Year

January 7, 2004

December 28, 2004

January 6, 2005

D ECEMBER 28

Feliz Navidad a todos!!!!!! Y Feliz Año Nuevo!!!!

Wow it’s been a long time since I wrote my last report….sorry but I’ve just been a little busy with the family reunions and parties and sad moments.

Well my last report I wrote about my time in Quito with my family and gave a brief update on my adaptation here. Since then…I went on my second Exchange trip to the Sierra (which is basically the northern part of the country). Not all the xchangies came but nevertheless I had a great time. No need to get into details with that….just look at the pictures. I also hosted a party at my house which ended at 5 in the morning…but that’s a secret.

Moving right alone…when I arrived in my city there were 10 exchange students total…Jessi and Roanna who both were here for almost a year already…and then the newbies (Chelsea, Meagan, Justine, Me, Tyler and Leandro). Then at the beginning of September Hubsi and Hajo came…that’s 10 right? Ok…well Jessi left after a really long and very “nasty” battle with our host club…about 2 months ago. Meagan left because of personal reasons the day after we left for the second Xchange trip, Hubsi is leaving tomorrow because of an equally “nasty” but not as long battle with our host club….and Roanna is scheduled to leave on the 13^th…well that’s only because her year ends then. So how much of us are left in Portoviejo ???  Yea maybe that’s not a lot but it’s a really low blow to our alliance here. Yea…alliance. That’s what every group of xchangies in a city is…an alliance. To be perfectly honest…despite the fact that not all xchangies will get along with each other… we are still an alliance. An alliance against enemies like depression, and homesickness; against overbearing host families and host clubs…which seek only to secure the reputation of themselves instead of helping us cope with the fact that we are thousands of miles away from the people who have been by our side for umpteen years. Yea…some xchangies are blessed to get the great host family…the cool host club…and they have a wonderful year. Then again there are some xchangies who get the broken end of the stick and are stuck for 6 months (sometimes the whole year) with a bad family and even worse…a whole year with a self-involved host club…(where 80% of the members are too self righteous to LISTEN and understand  what we saying because they are NEVER wrong). Yea I must admit there are some xchangies who just cant or better yet WONT adapt to the fact that they are in another country and that they can’t expect things and people and rules to be the same…it just doesn’t work like that. This year is suppose to be about developing your ability to adapt to different situations when forced into one; it’s about appreciating what you have even though it might not be much; it’s about a lot of things for a lot of people…but most importantly it’s about learning. Learning to share…learning responsibility…learning to find yourself…and who you are and what you’re capable of doing. And everyday I learn something new. Everyday I appreciate my Bahama Islands more…some people call my islands rocks…yea they are rocks…but they’re MY rocks…and I love them. Everyday I see something different that I don’t see or will never see in my country…then again I don’t see and probably will never see things that are in my country but aren’t here. But that’s the beauty of all of this… individuality. Yea maybe everything isn’t as picturesque as I imagined BEFORE I came…but I still love it.

If, for some reason, I gave you the impression with we have a problem with our host club…that is a yes and no situation (which I won’t get into right now). But I do have a bone to pick with Rotary. Why is it that just when we finally get comfortable with our host families…and school…and friends, you make us switch??? Personally I think that is CRAZY!!! Here, well at least in my host club, we have 2 host families. So basically you spend 5-6 months with each family (generally speaking). Look…for most xchangies it takes at least 4 months to get comfortable with these people who we’re suppose to call mom and dad, brother and sister, grandpa and grandma and cousins. So it’s really hard to just pack up and say goodbye when you finally do. I refuse to switch families and I will fight my club on this one…yea I know that may just put me in bad standing with my club (the xchangies that were hosted by that club knows what I’m talking about)...but I’m happy here. I’m not trying to be rebellious or anything and I don’t have a problem with my next host family because they are great people…but I have a very close “connection” (so-to-speak) with my host family now because of personal issues…and so that’s why I don’t want to switch…and they don’t want me to either. We have a meeting on Thursday with my Counsellors, so we’ll see how that goes then my Counsellors will take it from there. I’ll keep you informed.

Ok besides the heavy drama…I had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Riochico…where my grandparents live. They had a programme and I sang a Christmas melody for them. I was a little down because I thought about my family back home…but eventually I got my spirit back. For New Years, we’re going to spend it with my dad’s side of the family. They have a programme scheduled too. It’s kind of like an awards ceremony because they give prizes for the best aunt and uncle…cousin…political figure (the Moreanos are into politics)…and other things like that. I’m looking forward to it.

Finals start on Wednesday…I have 5 months to catch up on. But it’s ok I wont take all the exams though…but I’ll let you know how I do. Summer vacation starts soon and I have 3 months to have fun. Me and some friends are gonna go on a road trip…and maybe if we’re lucky my host club’ll let the xchangies go to Columbia for a week…wish us luck on that one.

Well that’s it for now folks. I’ll keep you up to date on my happens…if I can. Thanks for listening. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wanna wish everyone a prosperous and blessed new year!

JANUARY 6

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! I spent my New Year with my host dad’s family at the grandma’s house. There was a huge family reunion. All 14 of the grandparent’s children came and the grand kids…it was quite a party. It started around 11pm but then get this…me and my family left at 7 32am the NEXT morning. That’s not even the fun part. When we got home we had 5 minutes to change clothes and we were headed to Crucita to spend the day with the family on the beach. Guess what time I got home…let’s just say 24hrs later…my head did not reach a pillow. Sunday was truly rest day for us. But on the whole I had a lot of fun.

Well my school is having their FINAL exams…and guess who’s NOT taking em…ME!! Yea I’m gonna sleep these ones out... I decided. School closes next week Friday and before today I had no idea what I was going to do for summer except the road trip idea but that’s just an idea…nothing concrete. But I had a revelation…I am going to take a dance class, an art class and drama class. And yes…ALL in Spanish..clearly!

Anyway, I’m gonna make this report short. Thanx for listening. Take care!

(Hey Jeremy!)