Exchange?! Slovakia?! What?!

Three months and nine days have passed by and just looking back one year ago I couldn't have seen what the future had in store for me. I have learned so much and continue to everyday I wake up here in this "not so foreign land" to me now.

I think that myself and many more in the world deserve gold medals or trophies or some type of award. I have talked to many people about going on exchange for a whole year and even just for the summer. I gave some good advice (hopefully) and told them to keep an open mind ALWAYS.  

I have learned that some of my schoolmates read my blog which is honestly nerve racking. My blog is an area where I can rant about almost everything that happens on my exchange good or bad. I was surprised to know that they read my blog because I didn't expect them to take time out of their day to read about well, my life. Many of them said that they just wanted to know what I thought of them, honestly I couldn't think of anything negative about them because they've done more for me than they or I could imagine. They've been helping me survive here by being my translators, teachers, and most importantly my friends. Being an exchange student and not having friends besides the people your host family introduces you to can become very lonely. When my classmates acknowledge me with a simple "hi" or ask "how are you," it makes me feel wanted. My favorite reaction from a schoolmate that has read my blog was that he couldn't stop smiling and there were even parts that made him laugh. I know by the end of my exchange they will be a huge reason for me not wanting to go home.  

The questions I have gotten more than a hundred times would have to be, why Slovakia? Or, why not somewhere useful? And of course, why not somewhere popular? My response to those is, why not Slovakia? It's still in Europe like I wanted and it has amazing areas to explore, so why not? This is MY exchange and I wanted my OWN experience. I wanted something rare, unique, DIFFERENT. Coming to Slovakia was such a wonderful decision because I've gotten to meet some unforgettable people, and see some unforgettable places.

The job as an exchange student is to be a positive representative for your country but also to be a positive representative for your host country once your arrive back from your time abroad. How am I supposed to represent a country that only had a small part of my lifetime but, also left a HUGE impact on my life?

To answer my own question and probably many others that are wondering the same, the answer would be, to just live life. Take everything that you've learned this year and use it in your everyday life in the future. Don't forget the time you have spent abroad, the faces you met, the mistakes you made, and your biggest and smallest accomplishments. You are now a citizen of the world not just one country or two as others are but, you are a citizen of the WHOLE world and that's because you decided to take a leap of faith. You decided to take off the label. The label that says you are an American or a Mexican. You decided to become a new you. A better you.

I've heard that exchange isn't about finding yourself but, creating yourself. So, that's what I'm doing. Creating myself. A new and totally improved self.

Thanks for letting me create myself, and as always, thanks for reading.
-Emani