Cass and her school mates
Hola! While my second month on exchange is drawing to a close, I am definitely getting an understanding of what people mean when they say time flies on exchange. It really it feels like I’ve just blinked and its already nearly April! I’m so busy and full on that it’s sometimes overwhelming but I really am loving my time.
As far as health and wellbeing goes, I think I’m doing very well. For physical health, since the beginning I signed up to the gym and I was taking the bus in every day. Now, I’m going everyday after school as well as on a Saturday if I don’t have extra plans. I also signed myself up to dance classes which I have been attending for two weeks now! It’s advanced level dancing which I have never done anything like before but I thought to myself, life is short and I want to do something I just have to do it, and I love it! It’s exposing me to a lovely but different group of people and it’s nice to be in a team for something. As it is two nights a week and finishes at 9.30pm, I stay out of my house for these nights so sometimes I stay at a friends or at my second host families house who I love! It is so nice to build a relationship with them from the start and I feel like I already know them.
School is going great. My whole year has 36 students and we are all in one class which makes us kind of like a small family. There is a large group of around 15 girls and a smaller group within it I have really bonded with, and we go out for a coffee/coke, lunch or to each other's houses which is so nice. Most of the girls in my class speak english which means the friendship for me has come easier however they are so encouraging with my Spanish so I am still learning, speaking and listening. Everyone in my class finds me learning Spanish so entertaining and they are so fascinated by it that most classes turn into 'let’s teach Cass Spanish’! I am quite often sitting with a lot of students sitting around me while I read out loud or get tested by them on my verbs. The schooling here is very, very relaxed and sometimes the teachers don’t show up for lessons so we can just do whatever we want which is great!
Most days I play an Argentinian card game called ‘Truco’ that is very difficult but very fun. It took me about two weeks to actually get good at it and to understand everything but now I can play with the rest and they love it that I play! It’s really nice for me, because it’s not something that I have to understand or speak advanced Spanish to be included in. I’ve become quite obsessed with it and I think it’s something I’ll definitely bring home with me! At school we are also currently practicing for our ‘Promo’ which is the presentation of our leavers gear that we show to the whole school. We are making and learning choreography to surprise the whole school with. To make this even cooler, we are opening with a Haka that I am teaching the class! It’s honestly such an emotional and passionate experience for me and I love sharing this part of my culture with my class and school. After leaving my country, I feel so much pride to be a New Zealander. New Zealand feels like my family as well as my home and I have such an appreciation and pride of where I am born and raised.
Aside from adventures with school friends, I went to the town where my friend Malena lives! She went on exchange to New Zealand last year and it’s so nice to be with someone who not only gets where I come from but is in love with New Zealand and her own country too, just as I am! Her town is called Calonia Coroya, and I absolutely loved it. I felt indescribably welcomed by her family and loved being with them for the weekend. They cooked my favourite foods, took me on a hike, took me to an Italian wine/family festival where people crushed grapes with their feet (!!!) and showed me all the ins and outs of their town. I’m sure I’ll be back soon!
Cass with Malena Fantini (who was hosted by Parnell in 2018) and her family
My language has definitely improved and I’m writing this down because sometimes I second guess myself about this. After coming here with ‘Hola’ two months ago, I am able to have a basic conversation with people if they talk slowly and pronounce their words. This entire month I have asked my host family to speak in Spanish, so now the limited times I am home (8pm - 6am on school days!!) we communicate only in Spanish! I go to the same place for lunch and coffee almost every day after school if I am not with friends and am able to have conversations with the people serving me. From these conversations I have noticed a definite improvement from the blind panic I would have a month ago if I was asked any question other than ‘How are you?’. I feel like I’ve built some little connections for myself, and everyone here is so encouraging and patient with my language! I have fallen in love with the society here and how warm and friendly almost every single person I meet is! My friends and their family's treat me like another daughter and even the people selling the bus tickets are so friendly! I speak and practice as much as I can and am currently reading Harry Potter in Spanish, despite it being very stilted. I can understand quite a lot of what is going on but find young people very, very difficult to understand! I have a new understanding of how fast I probably talk in my own language.
Practising her Spanish at the local coffee shop
I haven’t had many bouts of homesickness or struggles, aside from the Christchurch terrorist attack. This hit me very, very hard and when people were talking and asking me about it at school, I cried. My friends were very supportive and amazing really but it was one of those times I just wanted to be at home standing with and supporting my people. I learnt that really I can send love from anywhere but after being away from New Zealand, all the people in my country feel to me truly like my family and I felt an overwhelming amount of sadness and hurt. I think it was hard for people to understand why it affected me so greatly, but I am so, so proud of how New Zealand society reacted and am forever proud to call myself a New Zealander. The other things I found myself a little homesick for were cooking and eating meals with my family, as it is such a huge part of my life at home. In my host family, we all eat different meals and at different times and so there is very little family time spent together which has been a little hard to get used to.
All in all, I am loving my exchange. The growth and independence I am gaining as a young person, I couldn’t get any other way and I have already met so many amazing people on this adventure that is my life! Once again and forever really, I want to thank Papakura Rotary for providing me with this opportunity!