Back to School!

Okay, well I have obviously been back to school for quite a while. After having around three months of summer, I thought it best that I started school. Before we could start school, all of the exchange students had to take another Spanish exam. The results of the test slightly went into our chances of going to University. I did fairly well on the Spanish exam, testing having a high intermediate level. With my level of Spanish and my age, this meant that I could go into University here in Lima if I wanted. However, the plans of the university had been changed a lot before starting, and I decided that I thought it would be best if I went back to colegio. While I had a horrible experience in my first colegio, I was now living far away from my first school and I knew I would be changing schools. With this information, I requested to go to a specific coelgio that I knew had kind Peruvians and was in general a much better school. The Rotary was completely cool with it, and they started talking with the school to arrange my attendance. While I knew I would hopefully be starting school soon, the Rotary never got around to informing me about things. So one Wednesday night I asked my counselor when I would be starting. She talked to Charo (one of the head Rotarians), and called me back saying I would start school the next day (at this point it was 10:30 p.m., we love organization here in Perú).

So, the next day I started colegio. We had a presentation in the morning, and I started my classes around mid day. When I went to go start my class, my classroom was currently in an exam, so I went to the other classroom of the senior class. It was an English class and was obviously quite fun, I introduced myself, and the students asked me question. Personally, my favorite question was if I would go to Prom with a certain boy. I had to politely decline as I won't be here for the school's prom, but the offer was appreciated. After the period ended, I ended up going to my class. I was a little nervous, but instantly put at ease upon talking to my new classmates. The entire vibe of my colegio was completely different from my first one. The day flew by, but the most memorable part of my day was when Fiorella (a friend who will be going to Belgium), called out to the class that Peru no longer had a President. Having met the guy, it was kinda confusing, but so many lies and accusations of corruption had been in the news of Perú it came to no surprise.

Having been in school for a few weeks now, I feel like I am ready to talk about the differences of my two schools in Perú. My first school in Perú was a terrible experience. The school was very unorganized and the teachers were rude to all of the exchange students. We were yelled at, insulted, and overall I felt very dehumanized within the school. The teachers wouldn't call me by my name (they never bothered to learn it) and if they wanted to tell me something, they would tell Tiia to tell me something (even though after some time I was perfectly capable of understanding and responding). I began to feel a bit depressed going to the school, and I think it definitely contributed to some homesickness I felt in my first months of Perú. My new school is completely different. The school is larger, with more classes and students. The teachers are all much kinder and nicer. They talk to me, ask me questions (even simple ones, like how am I), and they genuinely want to improve my exchange. The students themselves are a dream. I felt disappointed in myself for never really having made Peruvian friend in my first colegio. Having only been in this school for a shorter amount of time, I already have made some friends that I think I will stay in contact with after I return back home. S/o to Fiorella, Aranza, Lorena, and Yumi, you guys are all amazing!! :D