It was great! I liked it a lot!

It's been a little over two months since I got back from my exchange year - a year which now seems so blurry and as if it only happened in my head or my dreams.

"How was it? How was your year in Germany?" People ask me this as if it were so simple to answer. I usually just give the most generic answer out there; "It was great! I liked it a lot!" But the reality is that my time in Germany was really more than just great. It was a year in which I experienced so much, grew so much, matured so much, learned so much, felt so much. The past year was not just an "exchange" year. In the past year, I built a life. I gained a family (multiple families actually). I gained so many great friends. I gained a home.

My last two host families (missing my older host sister) and my parents.

The year definitely had its many downs but the ups were so rewarding that it literally makes the downs so worth it that I would go through it a million times if it leads me to the things it led me. At first, it was tough. At first, it felt as if I was alone. "Yhan allein in Deutschland." But as time went by, I became part of a community; I became part of a family. A family that truly made it so easy for me to feel included, to feel as if I actually belong to the family. A family that made it extremely hard to say goodbye. For that and everything that they did for me, I will always be grateful. To the Fidlers, the Hübenthals, the Schultes, and Calli's family, I thank you for making me feel at home and for making my exchange year an amazing and memorable year. You really are extraordinary, humble, helpful, caring, and extremely kind people. I feel extremely lucky to have gained such tremendous people as a family. I miss you and I cannot wait to see you guys again!

I hung out with so many different people, and so many different groups of friends until slowly, I found my real friends. A group of friends that ventured with me for a weekend to Bavaria to take me to see Schloss Neuschwanstein and Munich. Friends with whom I got lost in the forest. Friends whom I constantly annoyed. Friends who unknowingly would cheer me up with the crazy and stupid things they said or did. Friends who tried to roll their R's and couldn't but looked super funny trying to. Friends who were (and still are) real enough to piss me off, and about whom I care enough to try and work it out. Friends who taught me what a Geocache was and took me Geocaching for the first time. Friends with whom I got completely drunk and walked for hours in the rain trying to find a train station. Friends whom I plan on visiting wherever they are in the world and who I hope come visit me. Friends that I didn't want to leave. Friends that I miss a great deal. Friends that I will never forget.

Some of my awesome friends!

There's something about having multiple homes that is comforting. However, at the same time it makes it so difficult because you are constantly missing home. Prior to my year in Germany, I had two homes: Fajardo, Puerto Rico and Orlando, Florida. Despite the fact that I only lived in Hemer/Ihmert for less than a year, I came to think of it as my home as well. I didn't just stay there, I lived there. The neighbors knew my name and even sometimes received a package to my name because no one was home. I would walk around town and recognize the people. I would go into the supermarket and run into someone I know. I would stop and say hello or sometimes I would simply try to avoid them because of that one thing that happened and that everyone was talking about for a while after it happened and now it's just a bit awkward so it's simply better to lay low for a while. I know the fastest route to get someplace. I know the shortcuts. I know the times things are opened (which in Germany aren't that extensive lol). I know the best Döner places in town. I know when they are closed and the owners and cooks know me so well that I don't even have to tell them my order. I know the bus routes and the time they come. I know how to find your way even when the Deutsche Bahn breaks down and I get stuck in a city near my town or when a friend parks in a parking garage that closes (yeah that's a thing in Germany) and we get stuck once again in a city near our town. Sauerland was not only the region I spent my exchange year in, Sauerland became my home. Mein Herz schlägt für das Sauerland.

Hemer (lower right) and Ihmert (rest of the pictures).

An exchange year is a tough and extremely difficult endeavor. Not only do you venture to a strange land, alone, homesick, and are forced to build a new life, but you are also forced to leave that new life you build. However, if you do it right, you'll have such great memories and experiences that impacted you so greatly that you think about the year all the time, dream about going back, and in most cases you actually do go back.

Deutschland, ich werde dich bald wieder besuchen. Ich verspreche, dass ich wieder dahin werde, um alles noch mal zu sehen und mehr zu erleben. Danke, dass du so nett zu mir warst. Danke, dass ich dich Heim nennen darf. Danke Deutschland!

For all these reasons, when people ask me how my year in Germany was, I answer with a huge smile, that probably makes me look like an idiot, "It was great! I liked it a lot!"

Die Leute, The People, La Gente

It's scary to think that this will probably be my last post in the town that went from being just a town/village in Germany to being my home. I have two weeks left in Germany, and as I think of going back to my home in the States, a deluge of emotions flood every fiber in my body: excitement, nostalgia, sadness, happiness, apprehensiveness, relief, pride, vulnerability, fear, anger. Think of an emotion and I can guarantee you I'm experiencing it at this moment.

How do you leave behind a life that you built from scratch? How do you leave behind all the people who made you laugh, made you cry, made you do stupid things, saved you from doing the stupidest things, encouraged you to try new things, took you to new places, introduced you to your new favorite foods, stayed up all night to make sure you sobered up, went to the woods with you at 3 am while it was pitch black even though they were pissing their pants, introduced you to new music, introduced you to a new way of life? How do you leave behind classmates, teammates, pets, friends, and family? How do you leave your life behind? You don't!

I think exchange students can agree with me when I say that the hardest part of an exchange year is not coming to a strange land, being alone, having no friends at the beginning, being away from home, or being away from your pet or your friends or your family. The hardest part of an exchange year is the end. When you start packing and realize that you have to say goodbye to people. The same people who made your year unforgettable. A friend of mine, who is also on this scholarship with me, asked why did we decide to do a whole year? Why didn't we do an exchange for just two weeks where we wouldn't really make real friends or get attached. I don't think she could have been more right. The people I met this year are the ones who make my return home so difficult.

I now have 3 new sisters and 4 new brothers. I also have 3 new moms, and two new fathers. I have another best friend who stuck with me when I was struggling, when I was homesick, and when I needed a place to stay because the bus that goes all the way to my house didn't come for another hour, always told me to go to his house and wait even when he had to study or do homework. I have another extremely close friend who is always willing to have a good time/cheer me up and when I need him, he's there. I can't wait to visit him in Brasil next year!

I learned so much about people and how important and meaningful they can be. This year has shown me how valuable time can be. It has also shown me that people can be so different; some can be caring, and some can be extremely indifferent and even careless. However, without these people, even the indifferent and careless people, my year would have not been the same.

As I prepare to go home, I get excited because I know that leaving here is going to be so hard but at the same time, I'm relieved because that only means that my time here was completely worth it. Not only did my German improve greatly, but I also found a new home. I cannot wait to come back next year to visit, and I cannot wait to see some familiar faces come visit me in the United States. I can truly and honestly say that I love and care so much about these people even if some don't love/care as much about me back (which I hope they do!).

Die Leute, von wem ich spreche: Ich wünsche mir, dass ich mehr Zeit mit euch hätte. Ich wünsche mir, dass uns die Zeit davon nicht gelaufen ist. Ich wünsche mir, dass wir mehr zusammen machen können hätten. Es tut mir richtig Leid, wenn wir die Möglichkeit hatten, etwas zusammen zu machen, und wir es nicht gemacht haben. Ich bin immer hier für euch. Ich werde euch nie vergessen und ich hoffe ihr werdet mich nie vergessen.

Ich liebe euch alle!

Time

I have a little over two months left. That scares the crap out of me! To think that I have the same time left as the time between my last post and this one. This makes me feel so many different things; most of which are polar opposites from each other.

Time is so much more valuable when is so limited. I was told by at least 100 people that my time here would go by faster than free Chick-Fil-A. However, I didn't realize how much it sucks to have such limited time.

My tiny yet awesome town, Ihmert.

"You build a life for a number of years and leave it for 10 months. You build a life for 10 months and leave it for an indefinite amount of time. Which one is harder?" As an exchange student your faced with two possibilities: You can either just stay in your room and live in your own world back in your old home or you form a new life, with a new home, new friends, new school, new favorite restaurants, new favorite spots, new favorite hobbies, new favorite bench . Like me, most exchange students pick the latter. The problem with this is TIME.

A BVB (Borusia Dortmund) Soccer Game!

Unlike back home, here when you meet someone new who you think, "damn this person is so cool! I really think we can become really good friends" or "dang, this girl is awesome. Maybe I should try and have something with her." your time is still limited. Meeting a new friend or getting close to someone late in your exchange year makes you contemplate how you don't really appreciate how much time you have until the last moments are not knocking on your door but rather slamming your face trying to wake you up while you dream of the weirdest and most insignificant things.

The weird thing is most people around you, and most time even you, are not aware of this problem. You think to yourself, "yeah we can do that next weekend or the one after that." However, when you postpone things you postpone making the best out of these limited 10 months. You postpone creating memories and further developing relationships with the people you wish you will have around for a longer time.

One of the most beautiful cities I've visited: Hamburg,

The funny thing is that I've heard this exact same thing millions of time. I've heard about how life is too short and you never realize how precious time is. However, it wasn't until I experienced this, this year, that I completely and truly understood it. There is never enough time to do everything that we enjoy. We just need to be proactive and try to take advantage of every single moment to the fullest. YES it sounds extremely corny and over played, yet it is really true and it makes so much sense. All I can do from now on is to enjoy the last moments I have here in Germany and make the best of it before I apply this approach to the rest of my life.

Путаница

Confused? What the hell is the title supposed to be? Why is the title of this post in Russian?

You're reading the blog of a native Spanish speaker who writes his blog in English about his experiences as an exchange student in Germany, yet the title is neither Spanish nor German nor English. If you're not feeling confused or intrigued then man, you're not easily confused.

Путаница means confusion in Russian. In this post I want to talk about some of the different types of confusion I, as an exchange student, have experienced so far.

Confusion when it comes to communicate.
I think it's pretty easy to assume that as an exchange student you will be so confused when trying to communicate with people. The first couple of months, I got by pretending to know what people were saying and saying the occasional "Ja!" or "Genau!". Well, that doesn't always work. Sometimes I got a question where I needed to elaborate, and I simply said "Ja! Genau." Needless to say, I got blank faces staring at me waiting for me to continue. The first couple of days I was here, I took the train to Essen from Dortmund. I thought that my ticket was valid, and I was allowed to take this train. However, I was unknowingly being a "Schwarzfahrer" which basically means that you're riding the train without a valid ticket--Yes, Germans have a word for everything. The guy from the Deutsche Bahn comes up to me, asks me for my ticket, and then starts screaming at me in German. I had no idea what he was saying so I just told him in German that I was an exchange student and asked him to slow down. He immediately told me very slowly and enunciating every syllable that I needed to learn German and that I needed to get off the train at the next station. I think he was having one of his best days! If I had more time to get pass the screaming and the mean facial expression, I think I would have seen that he may be a really sweet guy! To this day, I have no clue what he said. Anyhow, this is the most evident form of confusion any exchange student may experience. It's makes for awesome stories later on.

Confusion when it comes what you want.

 Laugenecke (My favorite bread so far)

Some days I wake up and I'm in love with the German language and German culture. I can't get enough of German stuff. I could listen to schlager music all day. Other days (although not that often), my brain does not what to process anything German related. Okay, so maybe I'm always up for Brötchen or German chocolate or Laugenbrötchen or Currywurst or Döner or German Beer no matter the day or time. But some days I just want to speak English or Spanish all day and the smallest things trigger a deluge of memories from back home. BAM! It hits you and your homesick.

Just being typical Americans

I think being an exchange student/living abroad is one of the few times where experiencing all emotions in less than an hour is not abnormal and it's not a sign that you suffer from bipolar disorder or some other psychological problem. What helps me get through this emotional meltdowns is to meet up with other 'Muricans and do typical 'Muricans stuff like eat Mac & Cheese or be loud in a train and get the German stare from everyone. If you're not familiar with the "German Stare", brace yourself. It is the most intense stare you can get from a stranger! You'll know if you get this stare! You'll feel them examining your soul through your eyes. No matter how awkward you try to make them feel, they will not break eye contact. They will look you straight in the eyes and make you feel like they are invading your mind and reading your thoughts. It's actually awesome. I think I'll try to master it before I leave.

This group has made this year so much easier! Gotta love them!

Confusion when it comes to thinking about going home.
Lately, I've been thinking about how little time I have left. Before, I thought going back home was going to be the easiest thing out of this whole exchange year. I actually now think that coming here was the easiest thing this year. While I hang out with my American friends here in Germany, I can't help but to miss some of my German friends and constantly think about how this person would have found that funny and this other person wouldn't have understood that. I think of home, and again I get on the emotional roller coaster. I can't wait to see my family, my friends, and MY DOG!!! But I'm not ready to leave this place, and leave my new found family, friends, neighbor's dog! I'm not ready to leave my new home.

A bunch of Americans and a couple of Germans at a bar! Definitely a fun night!

My neighbors' dog and I

This is actually a picture of what I described on my last post. Here we are pretending to row as we listen to this unique song. I'm the guy with his hands WAY UP high at the beginning of the furthest row. As you can see, I was really into this song!

When I think of going home, it is like seeing a wall filled with the word "Путаница". I just get confused.

Here is to Awesomeness!

If you read my last post, you'll realize being an exchange student is hard. After reading this post, however, you'll realize that being an exchange student is simply awesome.

As exchange students we get a clean slate. From the beginning, we are forced to create a new life in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. We get to be whoever we want whenever we want. We are pretty much allowed to do anything, and when we mess up, we get to pull the "I'm-an-exchange-student" card. We get to live a different and foreign culture so well that it stops being foreign and different; it becomes our culture. We gain a brand new family and a great group of friends. We dream in the foreign language. We fall in love with the food. We make a different country our own. We make a new life out of what used to be unfamiliar.

But here is why being an exchange student truly rocks:

Food
An exchange student gets to try so much new food in a year that by the time the year is over you pretty much don't remember if you have tried a dish before. For me this is more than great! You don't really have to be my best friend to know that I have a deep, delicious, and beautiful relationship with food. I love to eat and try new things. It's like milk and cookies; they go perfectly together. It if it wasn't for this year abroad, I wouldn't have discovered my love for Döner. I eat it at least once a week. It's SO GOOD! I actually think I might have withdrawal symptoms once I go back.

Heaven on a plate!

Germany is not known for having the best cuisine, but the food is actually delicious. I've had things (many of which I can't even pronounce) that I just wanna stuff my face with until I explode. True story! There is a thing called Exchange 20. It's similar to freshman 15 where you gain 15 pounds the first year of college. As an exchange student, however, you are more likely to gain 20 pounds rather than just 15.

I sometimes think there are more bakeries here in Germany than there are people. In every corner there is a bakery filled with deliciousness. I eat at least one or two "snacks" from a bakery a day. This, my friend, is pure awesomeness.

Culture and Beer

Cutting up a log at a party!

In general, wherever you go as an exchange student you get to actually live the culture, and if you are lucky, you get to drink beer. German culture is a very happy and interesting culture. I wouldn't say it's completely different from american culture, but it is definitely fun! They have interesting things they do at parties. For example, at the New Year's party in my small town, they were practically chopping up a log. Also, they have songs that tell you what to do similar to songs in America. In one song, you have take off your shoe (preferably a boot) and wave it up and down. I didn't have to take my shoe because one random and kind guy gave me one of his boots. Another example of why being an exchange student rocks. One of the songs got almost everyone to sit in three rows and pretend we were rowing in a crew team with the occasional leaning to the sides and raising your hands in the air and screaming. I believe beer played a role in this awesome and funny madness. But who can blame them, it's amazing German beer.

Germany. If you are looking for a synonym for beer, you can use Germany. Germans love their beer, and I must say they have all the reasons to do so. German beer is, well, awesome.

Amber and I at Oktoberfest

Being an Exchange Student
Once an exchange student, always an exchange student! For some unknown reason, exchange students just love other exchange students. You get to be part of this group of people from all over the world who are going through and experiencing similar things. You get to be part of Facebook groups and Couch Surfing groups with people from all over the world. If two people are stranded in a strange city without a place to sleep, and one of them is an exchange student, I would bet my money on the exchange student finding a place before the other person. You automatically become so much more interesting and simply awesome when you are or have been an exchange student.

Four awesome exchange students in Dresden

There are some many reasons of why an exchange year is such a great and awesome thing to do. The positive things greatly outnumber the negative things. It actually makes the negative aspects seem trivial. However, one of the things I find to be the best thing of being an exchange student is the ability to find a group of people (host families, friends, other exchange students) and making them family.

Although I still have a couple of months left, the thought of leaving is terrifying! I can't wait to be home and see my old friends, but at the same time I'm not eager to leave behind this new life. Here is to Awesomeness for making this actually possible!

The Struggles of an Exchange Student

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year! Frohes Neues Jahr!

Warning: this post may be a little long and a little boring but I guarantee you'll fall in love with my writing. Ha! Just kidding.

It's been three months since my last post but hey, here I am. You may be wondering how my year is going, if I'm still alive, if I have already learned the ways of yodeling, or how many Bratwursts or bread I eat a day. As shocking as it may seem, yes I am still alive and no I have not learned the ways of yodeling. My last post described what I did that past month and similarly, I'll engulf you with details of the past three months but first I want to mention the major struggles an exchange student goes through.

I think the hardest thing for an exchange student is coping with all kinds of  loneliness.

Family:

You know when they say that Hispanics usually have big enough families to make a soccer team (or any kind of team by that matter)? You know, since there are always like 10 or 20 cousins, not to mention all the aunts and uncles and grandparents and neighbors and family friends and pets and the brother of the sister's best friend's cousin's son. Well, you can say I have the typical Hispanic family. For any type event (a birthday, a baptism, graduation, Christmas, or any single event that can lead to a party) we always get together and celebrate.

Here we are at a cousin's wedding (Only mom's side of the family)

Needless to say family is super important to me, and spending big holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year without them was rough. Luckily, my host family was beyond what I expected and thankfully my homesickness was not as bad as it could have been.

Friends:

Another huge problem I think every exchange student experiences when coping with loneliness is finding good friends in a country where the language, culture, and traditions are different.  It took me a while to realize what exactly was difficult about friends. The first time you start school, everyone is interested in you since you're an exchange student and foreign and stuff. And making friends is not hard at all. You tend to make a couple of good friends who turn out to be the group of friends you hangout with most of the time. You'll eventually find that good friend who you consider to be "best-friend" here in Germany (or insert the name of the country your in) aka your person (the person you can count on pretty much always being there for you regardless of the time/situation).

However, there's a slight problem. You came in to the lives of people. These lives have long been established and people already have their person. You're only going to be here for one year. Consequently, you never become someone's person. And this my friend, SUCKS! If someone here in Germany is stranded at 3 am or simply needs someone to talk because they are bored, chances are they will not think of the exchange student. I can't complain with my group of friends. They really are awesome. However, I know for a fact that I am no german's person. People are really friendly and open. If you text them, they reply. If you invite them someplace they'll most likely go. Being proactive is the key to cope with loneliness in this case. However, most exchange student will not truly be satisfied with the level of friendship they've attained since, again, most of the time the exchange student is no one's person. Although it is completely understandable, it truly SUCKS.

Now that I've told you about some of the struggles we exchange students go through, I'll tell you about the awesome things we exchange students go through...

On my next post ;D

Ein Ende in Sicht

So many things have happened since I last blogged. I left my homeland, met amazing people, learned more German, had a glimpse of German culture, tasted German beer, and met my host family. When I got to Germany, I moved to Schloss Wittgenstein with my 49 American counterparts.

Us with the Mayor of Bad Laasphe

We knew we only had three weeks in this American bubble which basically created our own tiny world within a tinier village known as Bad Laasphe. We had multiple weird, fun, creepy, scary, exciting, and emotional activities. As well as over 60 hours of classes. Those definitely we're my favorite 60 hours of camp. Waking up early to go to school during the summer and having your brain and energy drained because everything is in a foreign language and you're trying to understand your teacher. Fun! Despite the difficulty, the class was actually fun. I must say Experiment e.V. did a great job selecting the teachers and teamers for this language camp. I've never met a group of German people as fun, caring, loving, open, crazy, and interesting as this group of people which I will miss immensely!

The teamers and teachers

I can't really talk about the things that happened at Language camp since whatever happens there stays there but I can say that I will never forget those three weeks. They were so much fun. Jedoch war ein Ende in Sicht. We knew the three weeks would come to end we just didn't know the end would come so quickly! Those three weeks we're over faster than free Nutella. Scratch that, they flew by quicker than a cat running away from water. The 31st of August came by and the time to say good bye to the teachers, teamers, friends, and Schools Witti had arrived. Living with a group of people for 24 hours a day for 3 weeks makes you grow close. Who knew?!?! This closeness made saying goodbye really difficult.

            

 

Now, I'm in my hometown Hemer with my Host Family. They're extremely nice and are trying really hard to make feel at home. Although at first I felt like a giraffe among zebras, I'm feeling more comfortable and at home as the time goes by. I start German high school in two days. This actually terrifies me! However, I'm going all in and hopefully everything works out. Wish me luck!