The Little Things

After being here for a week, I have realized how many conveniences from America I take for granted. For example: in home washing machine, fully stocked fridge, online class registration, you know the little things in life that make everything so much easier. Never before have I had to walk multiple blocks to do laundry, shop for every meal I need to eat, or walk to building after building just to find the times and places that my potential classes will be held. This time spent in a new continent will for sure be a learning experience, for countless reasons. I am learning about a new culture at the same time that I am learning about myself.

Now, so far it may seem that I am only experiencing things that I do not enjoy, or that are simply making me frustrated. That is totally not the case. There are plenty of little things about this place that I am falling in love with as well. In just a week being here I am already loving the fact that there are mountains all around when I wake up every day, seeing zoo like animals in the wild, and also being an ignorant American (more to come on that side note :D )

Wild animal count:
Zebra: 1
Ostrich: 1
Penguin: 100
Pigeon: 1,000,000

There are about a million pigeons that reside in and around the food court building on campus, and as I have been told and partially experienced, they will eat food out of your hand. Quite scary if you ask me.

As for the ignorant American tidbit, it is just amusing to me how easily you can pick out someone who is not from here. Since most of the study abroad students are from the US, therefore it is easy to pick out the Americans walking down the street. I haven’t quite figured out what makes us so noticeable, because I mean we aren’t the only white people who live here, but at the same time it is quite obvious who is a local and who is not. Hopefully I/we will be able to blend in a little bit more as the semester goes on and we won’t stick out like a sore thumb all the time!

Warning mom, I am going great white shark cage diving on Sunday!