Día del Amigo

Habiendo recibido del Institute of International Education 8 volúmenes vía mail titulados Before You Go, You Should Know con consejos bastante obvios, el día viernes 20 de julio, día del amigo en la Argentina, todos los becarios recibimos un volumen especial, redactado por Daiana Vázquez, becaria de Mar del Plata. Acá está para que todos lo puedan leer también porque, sinceramente, no tiene desperdicio:

BEFORE YOU GO, YOU SHOULD KNOW

Special Volume!!  :P

 What will you get out of this experience?

You´re all about to depart from your home country now! There are a couple of things you should´ve solved by now:

1^st-  Be ready to miss your family, friends and students (well… maybe just cool students!)

2^nd- Plan how the hell to get souvenirs, clothes, pills, light-blue and white handkerchiefs, tons of forms and documents and Argentinean food in a single 23kg bag to avoid paying extra money at the airport!!

3^rd - Dodge the law, marry someone in a high office of government or sell a kidney in order to get dollars… but try no to pay a fortune to an illegal money changer!

In addition to the aforementioned arrangements you should think of how you plan to go through this once-in-a-life-time experience, in order to get the most out of it. While living in the US, you may find it difficult to adapt to the different customs of the new culture. How will you manage those feelings? How will you overcome those difficulties? Each FLTA will shape their experiences in unique ways; however, these general pieces of advice can help you:

- You may feel you´re alone dealing with issues you would´ve never expected (like gaining weight after becoming a new pretzels or fried chicken addict). Don´t panic! Remember that in fact you´re not the only one going through that… There are 16 other people who will be in the same boat as you!  We´ll all roll back down to Argentina together!  ;)

- Don´t keep to yourself all the amazing feelings and happiness you´ll have, share it with the other FLTAs, we´ll be glad to know how joyful we´re all feeling!  The more anecdotes we share the more enriching this program will be for all of us… and the better Flor´s blog will be!  :P

- Make plans to visit other FLTAs Colleges, we want to travel, know people, and party all around the US!! :p

- Be ready to enjoy each day as if it were the last one, the experiences we gather along these 10 months will mean a lot for us forever, but one day, in a long time, will be summarized in just a few sentences …

- Start saving money for National phone cards ´cause there´ll be a bunch of new other people you´ll have to call and talk to once you come back. I´m convinced that this will be (and already is) a fountain from which lasting friendships will flow!

- Try not to cry, not to be sad, not to complain… We won´t have many opportunities to make up for the time we waste.

- And finally, I´ll quote my favorite writer, Jeannete Winterson (who I strongly recommend if you don´t know her!):“You play, you lose, you win, you lose. You play. It´s the gambling that´s irresistible”.   I guess what she means is do whatever makes you happy and squeeze your brains to make the most out of your experiences, regardless of the results.  What´s the use in being  afraid to run risks?  If we think it´s worth it, we should all go for it; we won´t regret it!

My BEST wishes to all of you, from the bottom of my heart. We don´t know why life chose us in particular right now, but here we are. Our lives were matched, let´s make the most of this and enjoy the life-changing experience I´m certain we´ll all have. GOOD LUCK FELLOW FLTAs, NICE TRIP, AND SEE YOU SOON!! HAPPY FRIEND´S DAY!!

Best,

Dai