Lena: Homestay

Posted 10:59 AM, July 05, 2006, by lenawine

Before coming here, I had expected to be living with a family for the majority of my time here. Then when I spoke to the course director on the phone a few weeks before leaving, I found out that we would be spending most of our time in dorms.

Now we have just been informed that in less than a week, we will be moving in with our host family for the next 3 weeks. The center is overcrowded and they no longer have space for us. My initial instinct is of course to throw a fit... how can they simply kick us out? How can an organization make arrangments and then simply change them without any notice or compensation?

Then I took a deep breath and a step back and reminded myself that I in fact hadn't made any arrangements with TCDC, nor had I paid for anything. I took another step back and reminded myself that I had initially been disappointed to discover that we wouldn't be staying with our host families for longer.

For me I think it's all about expectations. I try to go into my international experiences with as few expectations as is possible. I think I was relatively successful in that regard and I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that our accomodations closely resembled a hotel or a summer camp.

I would have been perfectly fine without any of our numerous amenities, but now the thought of not having constant internet access, hot running water, a choice of food at every meal, and the security to go running in the early morning is a bit daunting.

Right now, I am just struggling with all the unknown... I have no idea what to expect.

Comments

I feel you babe. Homestays definitely have their plusses and minuses. I've definitely encountered all those downsides you mentioned: no running water, weird (often delicious!) food, no morning runs. But the major plus from my perspective has been that I've gotten a first hand feel for how people here live, and coming away from this experience with that lesson will be invaluable, I think. Ironically, my host family will be leaving for Nigeria in two weeks, so I'll be moving to the Marathon plant (with workout room, ac and a pool) for the last two weeks of my time here. No expectations is the way to go.
See you on the 16th! (Let's chat about airport business.)

Comment by: JoAnn at July 7, 2006 12:43 AM

Hi JoAnn and Lena,

Just want to let you know that I enjoyed looking at your blog and also thought you could use a "hello" from half way across mother earth. Lena, those were great Safari pictures. And JoAnn, I am glad you had a good July 4 celebration--makes up for the lights out experience. In fact, it looks like you are both having very interesting and great experiences. Very much look forward to seeing further blog entries.

O. Salvatierra

Comment by: O. Salvatierra at July 10, 2006 04:21 PM