I woke up barely awake, my eyes heavy and surrounded by my friends who were still sleeping. It was 6am, but we went to sleep at 2am since we got home from a dinner gathering late that evening. Cata and I stayed the night at Justi’s house along with Lula and Saron. Long story short, I was very tired. It took a while for me to get up, but when I did, Saron and I headed to the bathroom and got ready for our day. While I was packing up since Cata and I would not come back to Justi’s house to get our bags, I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful sunrise. I was in awe. I didn’t have much time to admire it though, as we were in a rush. We left at 7:30; however, we were supposed to leave at 7:20, so we were running a bit late. The car ride to school was silent. Everyone was exhausted from the night before.
Our first activity of the day after the daily morning assembly was to present to another class of 9th graders (level 3 in their secondary school). It was my group’s turn to present, and it went very smoothly. They asked many questions and were very attentive. Although I was very tired, as were many of my peers during the presentation, I managed to pull through. Not to name any names, but one classmate in particular fell asleep during our presentation, but I can’t even blame them because I definitely would too. Anyways, after that, the head of the school, Silvina, gave us a presentation about the geography of Argentina. Since Ms. Toreson specifically charged us with not falling asleep and being engaged, I obeyed her and didn’t fall asleep, even though it was very challenging for me. Next on the agenda was learning how to tango, which thankfully woke me up. I had a lot of fun learning and watching other pairs struggle while Deven and I glided through it with ease.
Then… it was time for lunch! Right when the bell rang, Cata and I and a group of people headed to Tati’s house to have lunch. When we arrived, I was amazed to see such a pretty house. I was greeted with a warm hug from her mother and shortly after, we ordered McDonald’s delivery. Unfortunately, Tati ordered from the wrong McDonald’s, which caused our order to take a tremendously long time to arrive. Everyone was gathered at the table. Which table you ask? The table full of hangry people. The food arrived very late, so we inhaled our food and headed back to school. We were a bit late, but oh well.
Our next activity was writing thank you cards to our host families. Right after I was handed my paper, I began planning out what I was going to write on the card. My mind flooded with appreciation and sadness as I explained my gratitude to my host family but also thought about how sad I’ll be on Sunday when we have to leave. It was a great moment of silence throughout the room. I could tell everyone was pouring their hearts into their cards, which made the moment even more heartwarming.
After that I changed into another shirt for people to sign and the T-shirt signing began. Everyone wanted everyone’s signatures – it was quite chaotic, but I loved it. After a while of signing, we went to the ping pong room to do our handprints on the tree. Cata and I made our handprints pink, of course. Shortly after, my closest friends from the exchange put their handprints on my shirt, and I did the same. It got very messy within seconds. In no time at all, our last day of school at QHS was over. It didn’t hit me that it was our last day of school. I was still so happy because of the t shirt signing and handprints that I didn’t think much about it.
When we were leaving school, a few younger students asked for my picture. I felt like a celebrity again! After that, Cata and I walked to the car where her mom greeted us. I didn’t know where we were going, but when we arrived, Cata told me we were at stores for me to shop at. I wasn’t complaining. We went into two different stores. The second store was where I found things I liked; a leather jacket and a top. I tried it on, but after looking at the price for the leather jacket, I started contemplating. As I stared at myself with the jacket on in the mirror, I thought, ‘why not buy it since it’s Argentinean leather’. We walked back to the car where I gave her mom a quick hug and then we headed to Starbucks.
When we walked in, I quickly noticed the many different food options compared to the Starbucks near my house. Everything looked so good! I decided on a hot vanilla latte with almond milk and a chocolate pretzel croissant. It was very yummy. We then headed home where we took a nap in my room. I was exhausted, so the nap was very much needed. Cata and I woke up to my alarm, which meant we had to get ready for the party that Melu’s family was hosting (MeluFest). We got ready and headed to the country club. When we arrived, I gave lots of hugs and the fun began. Everyone was talking, listening to music, and eating. We had vacio, which was delicious. To top it off, we had ice cream. We then stayed until 1am, just hanging out and enjoying everyone’s company. I was exhausted. We then went home and quickly went to sleep. It was a very long day, but super fun as always. Cata and I always have the best time together. Love her lots!!! -Mindy
