User:Tati la yankee

Hi! I'm Tatiana and I have just started on this, so please, give me some slack. I am not sure how to create new pages and if you can help, I would be very thankful.

Are we supposed to write about ourselves in this section?

This is a letter i wrote while in Argentina on my short term. Enjoy!

Before I came to Argentina, I had a few expectations. One of these many expectations was that my Spanish was horrible. I didn’t believe I would be able to get past "hello, my name is" but after driving 4 ½ hours from the airport in Cordoba to our house in Catamarca, I had learned a few words from my little sister and big brother. I learned that the most important thing to know was "¿como se dice..?" which means, "How do you say..?" It was very helpful because I could say that and then point to something to explain something. I also found that I could understand the people as long as they spoke slowly and I listened. One thing I have done that I never thought would be possible was for me to write, rehearse, and give a speech in Spanish for the rotary club here. In Estados Unidos (United States) I was very scared of talking in front of people and here I was too, but I got through it and now that I’ve done that, I don’t think I will be as scared the next time I give a speech. Another thing I have done here was to try everything. Before I came, I promised myself that I would not stay home and be lazy even for one day. Every day here I have done something I will never forget, weather it is with the family or with my cousins or with other exchange students. I have gone to festivals, dinners, shops, walks, sleepovers, Rotary meetings, airports, friends’ houses, hiking, and many other things while I have been here. One day, I even went to church! While I was trying to think of how this experience had impacted me, I got a phone call from my "prima" here asking me, "¿que haces ahora?" Before I came here I would have been like, "umm no comprende," but I just told here that I was writing a paper for Rotary and I would call her tomorrow. That amazed even me when I realize how much I could comprehend and say. Another way that this experience has impacted me by is the fact that here as an exchange student here, everyone knows you. I didn’t think this place is so small, but for them it is and here everyone knows everyone. So, when there’s a new person walking around speaking Spanish with a really funny accent, people get suspicious. One of the craziest things I have said with my crazy accent was when I was talking to my host brother here and I asked, "¿tienes hombre?" which I thought meant, "do you have hunger?" I was right, but it was the word hambre that means hungry and the word I said, hombre, means boyfriend. He got very defensive and started blabbering in Spanish, so I was like, "ok, ok you aren’t hungry. I get it." Later I found out what I had said and the family laughed and told my cousins, who laughed, and told everyone else. So now I get a lot of, "do you have a boyfriend?" and giggles but it makes me laugh too.

The friends I have made here are amazing. They are all very happy people who I just can not get enough of. I have become friends with Abbey, another exchange student from New Zealand (did you know it was two islands?) and another student named Glenn from South Africa. Glenn is Jewish so we just clicked and Abbey was my height (yep, very tall), so we had fun walking around and getting lots of stares. I have also become very good friends with my cousins here because they all live within 10 minutes drive from our house. The outbounds here are very easy to come across because... there are 16 of them!!!!!! Just for Catamarca! One of them is the mayor’s son, and he is very shy and is going to the north part of Estados Unidos, so I am hoping to see him when he comes to visit. Others are going to Germany, South Africa, Denmark, Australia, and many other places. The most amazing thing I found here was that they take in as many as they send out, so they are getting 16 inbounds from all over the world. But one thing I have to say and will always be proud to say is that I am travelling with Westerville Sunrise Rotary club, district 6690. And they made all my dreams come true.

Here is a letter i wrote for the program Rotary. I deleted some parts for my safety, but besides that, its all original.

Dear Host Family, Hello, my name is Tatiana, and I hope to get to know you as a rotary exchange student next year. I am from Ohio, and I am 14 years old. I go to Westerville North High School and am in grade 9. My school has grades 9-12, and I am in 6 classes there. My classes consist of Geometry, English, History, Spanish, Orchestra, and Science. Each class is 45 minutes long and has about 27 students. Between classes I have a 4 minute break to go to my locker and get to my next class. My chosen classes are Spanish and Orchestra, while Geometry, Science, English, and History are mandatory. I will be graduating in 2012. On a typical school day, I wake up at 5:47, take a shower (if I didn’t take one the night before), and then blow dry my hair. Next, I spend 30 minutes getting dressed and getting all my school work together. After I’m ready, I go upstairs to the kitchen to eat, help my mom make lunches, and put away dishes from the day before. After I’m done eating, I walk over to my neighbor (and best friend) Eleanor’s house, and we wait for the bus to come. We are at the second to last stop, so it is a quick ride to school. As soon as we get there, I go to my locker, get my stuff, and the go wait in the café. The school day officially starts at 7:25. My first class is Geometry, and after that class I have 4 minutes to go to my locker and then to get to English class. We have vocabulary tests and read a lot. Next, I have another break in which I head to my advisory which is for roll call. For third period I go to history and listen to Mr. Hartenell talk about world affairs of the past. His class is one of the most interesting classes because he has a giant projector and a loud, booming voice. For fourth period I go to my locker and get out my lunch box and head to the café. At lunch I sit with my friends and talk about school, life, etc. As soon as lunch is over, I go to science with Eleanor and Danny. After science we go to Orchestra, and I play my viola for 45 minutes. My friend Gregg is in Choir across the hall and sometimes comes in to teach me the piano. For seventh period I have study hall during which I talk with my friends and study. For the last period of the day, I have Spanish 2. My teacher, Señor Gilkey, was rotary exchange student to Mexico a few years ago. After the last bell of the day, Eleanor, Florence, and I get on the bus to go home. When I get home, at 2:30, I do my homework and get ready for crew (rowing team). Twice during a week, we go running before crew. Crew is from 5 to 7:30 and takes up most of my day besides school. On regatta days I am at crew from 6:00am to about 7:00pm. In the winter we erg (rowing on rowing machines), and in the warmer months we row on Hoover. When crew’s over, I go home and eat dinner with my family, help clean up, and then finish my homework. At 10 I take a shower (if I have time to) and am in bed by 10:30. As I said before, I live in Westerville, Ohio, which is a suburb near the capital, Columbus. I live about 20 minutes away from Columbus and 15 minutes from the mall, Easton. In my house there are 4 bed rooms, one for my mom and dad, one for each of my brothers, and one for me. My room is in the basement, and I have my own bathroom. I like to study and do my homework in the kitchen on week days, in my room on weekends. My father is a business owner of a small phone company and works from 7:30 to about 3:00. My mother is a homemaker and drives my brothers and I to where we have to go. She is very nice and cares for everyone. Although I dislike spiders and tests, I think I have many strong characteristics. I am very outgoing and love to help others, but I am a procrastinator, and I am very dramatic. I would like to go to an out of state college and maybe study abroad. I am not sure what my main goals would be, but the vast plan is to help people and have fun at what I do. Also, I would love to travel as part of my job. I believe that if I try hard enough, I can do anything, so my main plan in life is to succeed, and I try to help people do their best at all times. I have been to many countries and places for many different reasons. My family and I have been to Sweden a few times because my father is from there. By the time I was 12, I had been to every continent except for Antarctica. Most of the places I have visited are the places my family and I had visited during our 2 year boat trip that started when I was eight. On this trip we went to 22 different countries, including Turkey, Italy, Spain, Tunisia, France, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Grenada, Dominica, and Barbuda to name a few. When I was 11, I went to Australia with People to People, an exchange program for groups of kids, and met many new people, some which I still stay in touch with today. Two summers ago I went on my first trip alone to Spain. I went there to visit Maria-Jose’, who was an exchange student from Spain that stayed with our family in 1999-2000. In the summer of 2007, I went and stayed with her and her family for 15 days. This was my first trip all on my own, and I didn’t speak Spanish at the time, so this was quite an experience. I ended up having a great time and hope to return there again. Last summer I went as a rotary exchange student to Argentina for 40 days and had the time of my life. I had already had a year of Spanish, so I caught on pretty quickly and made many friends. My host family was very kind, and I became very close with my host-cousins. The city I stayed in, Catamarca, was a small town where everyone knew one another, so I eventually met all the other exchange students and had lots of people invite me to go places with them. There were a few language barriers, but I soon found that my Spanish was improving more than I had imagined possible. I am happy to report that a 16 year old girl named Julieta will come to visit my family in December. Finally, I would like to say that I can’t wait to meet you and that I hope you are as excited as I am to meet you and learn about your culture and language!

Sincerely,

Tatiana

Thanks for reading!