when september ends..

My class.

Notice that I am by far the tallest girl on the team. 

Wake me up. Okay not the best song to quote, but it's actually relevant to my first month here. And it makes me think of Nate :). The truth is, I have spent a lot of the month of September sleeping. There's something about doing an exchange that makes you tired ALL THE TIME. Now that I have a routine and friends and a bit better grasp on the language my tiredness seems to be subsiding a bit, but I still find myself taking little naps in school when I can't bear to listen to another word of Spanish.
So I have officially been here for over a month (it was a month yesterday). I can't help but feel exceedingly proud of myself. Month #1 is the hardest and longest month and also the month in which the most weight is gained. I am pleased to report that despite consuming copious amounts of dulce de leche, I don't think I have gained any weight (I don't know for sure since my family here doesn't have a scale, but I am currently wearing my tightest pair of pants which fit quite comfortably). It would be a complete lie to say that this month has been easy, because the truth is far from it. But it would be the truth to say that in this month I have learned the most I have ever learned in my life. I have learned things about my new country, my new city, my new culture and my new language but I have also learned quite a lot about myself and my home country. I have come to appreciate Kamloops, BC and Canada in a whole new light. Before I left choices like 'leaving home to go to university' had a pretty simple answer 'yes, no problem'. But after being here, I'm beginning to think twice about moving across the country and away from my family again. I know I'm not a homebody, I love to travel and I'm loving this experience, but why am I in such a rush to move so far away? Maybe by the end of this year I'll know the answer.
In other news, I joined a field hockey team! It's great playing an organized sport and it's an awesome way to make new friends. Josefina isn't exactly the athletic type, so it's just me but that's totally fine. We practice about 3 times a week which it gives me something to do most days after school. I like to keep busy; it makes the weekend come faster! Next week I'm going to go see if I can join the handball team too since handball isn't a common sport in Canada and it'd be cool to learn a new sport while I'm here. I also might get to play soccer a bit. My gym teacher is the coach of the girls team in town, and he says that when the season starts up again he'll invite me to come join. Between new sports and fully booked weekends for all of October, I have a feeling that November is going to be here in a flash.

District inbound t-shirts.