Few people know what an exchange is really about – it is not a year in a life – it is a life in a year.

When I first found out about exchanges, I thought that it was about going to a different country and learning a new language and just traveling and having fun, but after applying for one I realized that it is a full commitment opportunity, where you are able to discover a new culture and the differences between your home country and your host country, and appreciate them to find that now your heart and mind are in both places at the same time.

My first reaction when I knew that I was going to spend a year in America as a Rotary exchange student was complete excitement and nervousness, and multiple new feelings that I had never had before and that I didn’t even know existed. After filling out stacks of paperwork, applications, writing essays and more, I finally flew to Wenatchee on Sept. 21 and it felt like a dream coming true. Meeting a family that I’ve never seen before, going to a totally different school, missing my family, losing all the knowledge that I thought I had about English, and starting a new life from nothing, it was completely scary and at the same time exciting even to think about it.

Everything has been so new, starting from the school aspect. In Ecuador, we usually have the same classmates for almost all high school years and every year we have a different classroom where teachers come to us and teach the class. In Ecuador, we all wear a uniform to go to school, and here I don’t need a uniform, I walk to my different classes and of course all the classes are with different people. Oh, I love it here!

Getting used to life here at first was really hard because I was homesick all the time, but it was just a matter of time before I adapted and made some friends. Being busy and looking forward to trying new things was what really improved my exchange and I was able to do it, thanks to my host families and to Rotary people who granted me this opportunity.

Ecuador is very different from the U.S., in that we say “hi” normally with a kiss on the cheek and guys shake hands with other guys. We also tend to live closer to family so we have a lot of reunions and lunches together because students are usually out of school at 1 p.m. The weather is also different – I would describe it as a spring. The most important meal of the day is lunch and the food is normally a piece of meat and rice with salad or our representative food, which is hard to describe, but is based on roast beef with potatoes or beans.

Although I had studied English for four years, it wasn’t enough and I struggled at first at WHS because I was lost in some of my classes. I discovered a lot of new vocabulary, but the teachers were definitely really helpful and I always carried my English-Spanish dictionary, even if it looked old-fashioned and a little bit damaged.

Since arriving, I have been doing several activities, including travels to: Leavenworth, Yakima, Seattle, and British Columbia, Canada. I’m still looking forward to visiting more places in the U.S. because by traveling, I learn more and more about American culture.

I have a lot of favorite things to do and places to go in Wenatchee. My favorite place ever is Pybus Public Market and I enjoy a good meal at the South restaurant. I’ve done zumba, hiked Saddle Rock, walked the loop at Walla Walla Park, went ice skating and one of my very favorites, skied at Mission Ridge. Although Wenatchee is smaller than my city in Ecuador, it has a lot more fun things to do.

When you are an exchange student you know that your life is full of funny stories because you don’t know the language or you just forget how to do things, and that’s the funniest part of it. When I was at Mission Ridge the first time I decided to take a big risk and go to the “Bunny Hill” without taking a lesson and try it by myself, so my host dad was helping me go up, and then I was skiing down. He helped me to do it a couple times and then he said that he was going for his gloves, but he never came back again, so I knew that he had to go to work on his property. So there I was all by myself going up and down for two hours and then I thought that by that moment I was a professional skier, so when my host brother and his uncle came for me they asked me if I wanted to try to go to chair one and as always I said “yes!”

It was my first time going on the chairs up to the mountain and I was all excited until I realized that I had to jump to go down. When my brother told me to jump, I was just frozen and holding the tube of the chair. To bring me down, they actually had to stop the chairs and go the other direction so the staff person could help me get out of the chair.

It was very embarrassing because later, I didn’t have any idea of how to go down the big mountain skiing and it took me about an hour. After that I learned that spending two hours at the bunny hill is not enough and that I was pretty much a terrible skier.

Being an exchange student means being curious to learn more and more about your host country, and the only way that you can do that is by exploring and living your life one day at a time.

After having the courage to come here without knowing anybody, I can truly say that I’ve come out of my shell and become way more independent, ready to take on the adventures that God has prepared for me.