Day 19

It seems Sundays are about the same routine. We go to church, and then off to a restaurant for lunch with the family. We went to this place that had Tarijeña food.. Which was all meat, so the family took me to Subway beforehand, and I got to eat my bought food at this restaurant. Apparently not an insult in Bolivia. Later that evening, I was invited to go to the Tentayape Festival.. Which is a cultural dance festival that goes on every year in Santa Cruz for about a week. I went with a few school friends, and it was pretty cool. Reaaaally bad acted intro though, and the speakers gave me a huge headache. For some reason, Bolivians seem to feel the need to turn their stereos up just a few notched past what is needed.. But other than that, I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice to get out with friends, and just hang out for the evening as well.. Especially after a cold, slightly uneventful weekend. Coming home, I passed the heck out :) Today has been a normal school day. I was in a slightly bad mood when I got up, because my dad had me believing that I was going to the lab to get another HIV test, even though I got one before I came here. Yet.. I really don´t want to. I´ve heard the place is super dingey, and I know that I already got a test done, approved by the Bolivian consulate. It ended up that I didn´t have to go, and having PE cheered my mood up slightly (who the heck is this Chelan?!?). Mostly because I got stuck on a really good volleyball team, and we didn´t have to do the 100 situps required if you lost a game. We also did some ab and back work outs, so I have this feeling that I´ll be supremely sore by tomorrow. The rest of the day was completely uneventful. I then got to go to my spanish class, which was horrible as usual. We learned how to tell time.. There seems to be three other kids in the class that are in the same situation, that don´t want to be in the beginner class. Hopefully we´ll be put into the intermediate class soon, or else these classes seem to be a waste of my time. I talked to my host mom about it, and she´s going to talk to the school. I also went to a spinning class with my brother today. Complete and utter hell, to tell you the truth. I was feeling a little sick, and pushing yourself to your full physical limits is not too good of an idea. But I know that it´ll help me get in shape. Hahah who knew that I´d be more physical on my exchange than at home? I guess it´s because I now have the time to do it.. I am very lucky to be in the school that I am. Everyone is SO nice. Not one person is rude. I talked to a few other exchange students, and apparently kids call them fat etc.. Thank goodness! I once again realized today in art class that I´m in South America. It´s like every week or so, I have to take my surroundings into perspective and reality hits. I don´t know if it scares me or not. I mean, I look around and I´m achieving a lot more than many people I know. I mostly understand everything that´s going on around me. I´ve made new friends that don´t speak the same language as me, and yet we still get along fine. I guess this is the moment that I realize how great of an opportunity I´ve been given. At times, things seem so difficult, that I won´t be able to get through the next year.. But then I think about some of these factors, and realize that they are so small. I need to get over myself and grow up.. Take all of this experience in, not for granted. Because I´ll never get another opportunity like this again. When I´m not allowed to go out at night, or there´s some sort of miscommunication, I need to remember that it´s not the end of the world! Tomorrow is always another day.