Bonjour!
Last weekend was amazing. Words cannot completely describe it, but I'll try my best. Sorry this post is late, but I've been sick and I wanted my writing to be as positive as possible! First off, I didn't go with my host family, I went with my third host family. I spent the night with them on Friday and we left on Saturday around 2 pm. The car ride was long and uncomfortably warm. I was also coughing, which didn't help my mood.
When we finally arrived, I did a 180. As soon as I stepped out of the car and put on my blazer I was overcome with emotions. All happy, of course. I couldn't wait to find everyone and get some HUGS. First, we checked in and I got my room number. (By the way I had the best roomie ever). As I was walking up the hill to the room, I saw them. My perfect exchange family was taking a picture. I basically dropped all my things and ran. Everyone was telling me to hurry, but there was no American flag, so I had to run back to everything I dropped and grabbed mine. After the picture, I got a few very important hugs. The first one was from my best Brazilian friend and the second was from my best Canadian friend. They both live on the opposite side of the district, but I finally got to meet them. Now, my Canadian friend basically tackled me. She warned me that it would happen, but that didn't mean I was prepared.
Eventually, we all made our way down to the information session. It was long, and I'll admit it- a little boring. I just wanted to talk to people! When it finally finished, we all went outside and met each other. There were so many wonderful people, including a hilarious Aussie. No wait, make that two hilarious Aussies. We also met the Rotex, who are all super nice. We then went to dinner and I sat with a hilarious group. We literally laughed the entire time. After dinner we had a dance party. Everyone ended up getting all gross and sweaty, but no one cared. Also, I'm just going to say, that all the South Americans can dance and I can't and that was kind of annoying. They were all like perfect without trying. But anyway, it was a lot of fun, and it was really easy to find your place, because your place was anywhere.
When the music stopped, people pulled out guitars and we continued outside. I took out my mandolin and finally sang with my Brazilian best friend! We had skyped so much before, but it was way better in person. A few people went to sleep relatively early, but most of us were scattered in groups talking. I ended up in a wonderful group of people. I talked with two of the Rotex guys, the two Canadians, the only Finnish girl, a couple Brazilians, an Aussie, and a few others who were inconsistently present. We talked until past three in the morning. I finally went to sleep around 4:30 am.
I woke up the same day at 7:30 am. I sat with a nice group for breakfast. Everyone was seriously so awesome and I honestly miss them so much. After breakfast, we waited for a bus that would take us to where we were going to hike down to Lake Annecy and then eat. The bus was near 3 hours late I think, but we got to stand around and talk more. I got to know so many people in such a short amount of time. On the ride to the lunch spot (we weren't going to hike anymore), I was bus sick because the universe does that. Thankfully, the Aussie I was sitting next to let me borrow his shoulder. People are wonderful, aren't they?
When we finally got to the lunch spot, everyone talked more and took more pictures, and it was just perfect. Words cannot describe it. After lunch, we took the bus down to the Lake. I sat next to one of the Rotex, and once again, borrowed a shoulder. I hate busses, and yet every trip is one a bus. Yikes. Our arrival at the Lake did not go unnoticed. We were all wearing flags and being super foreign. The thing is, we didn't care. We were all finally together. We hardly noticed the beautiful landscape surrounding us because we were to busy talking, talking, and talking some more.
I could not have asked for a better group of people. Everyone was so nice and no one was out of place. I wish I could relive the weekend, but I can't and that sucks. I just want to be with my new family. I feel like I'm in a box now. As soon as we all realized that we were a family, we got ripped away from each other mid-hug. It has been really difficult to not be around everyone. Nevertheless, I get to see them in a week! I can't wait for October 6th! Au revoir!
Amelia
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