AFS Student Exchange Blog

Che! Amigos, como andan? Tanto tiempo! A lot has happened since my last post. Let's start with Mendoza. Mendoza is another provience here in La Republica. It's right under San Juan, but waaay bigger. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs departing this Spring to Argentina.

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Cassie (exchange student from France) and I went to an event at a "sister school", called the Fruits Festival. Here in Malaysia everything is very formal, so when we got to the other school (after driving for 1 hr), the principals of both schools gave speeches. Then they took us outside and gave us lots of Malaysian fruits to eat. I tried this small citrusy fruit (don't remember the name), rambutan, mangosteen, jackfruit, and of course, durian - the king of fruits! Read more.

AFS offers year programs departing this Spring to Malaysia.

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See more of Nicole's photos from her summer in Japan.

AFS offers full scholarships to Japan for the 2011 Spring year program.

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Seven weeks ago, when I was contemplating what would be a good present for my host family, my mom and I came up with the idea of s'mores - america's favorite camping food, and probably something they don't eat in Paraguay too often. So, I bought a box of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, and two bars of hershey's chocolate. Read more.

AFS offers semester and year programs departing this Spring to Paraguay.

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It´s gone by so much faster than I thought. I´m halfway through. Halfway. That´s a lot of time! Of course, I know that that means I have a lot of time LEFT, but not as much as I had thought. I have so much to see and so much to do!!!

Anyways, at the beginning of July (starting the 3rd I think) we had our mid-year vacations; a full 2 weeks!!! I went to the thermal pools and to the beach (Uvita Beach with my mom, sister, cousin and one of my sister´s friends) and I got to hang out with everyone. It was nice to relax after exams and nice to be at home without having to worry about school. Of course, by the time school DID start again, I was ready to see all of my classmates again. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs departing Spring 2011 to Costa Rica.



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With less than one week remaining in Italy, I've begun to pack and organize my suitcase. On the 29th, I leave the Arena family and will spend the last three days in the OP Hotel with the rest of the AFS students. Yesterday we celebrated Federica's 13th birthday, last Sunday we celebrated their cousin Filipo's 11th birthday; and today we are celebrating the Auguri of Santa Anna because the mother's name is 'Anna Maria.' It's a special day because the mother of Fedele is also named after this saint.

The past couple of weeks have been busy. We've visited the ocean several times, we've seen San Pietro and we climbed to the very top - which was several hundred steps. We've also grown closer and gotten to know each other a little better. Read more.

AFS offers a semester program departing this Spring to Italy.

1. You consider rice and beans a food group.
2. You consistently crave coffee at three in the afternoon.
3. You can sleep through the sound of radios blasting, dogs barking, the lorakeets next store chirping, and your sister singing in the shower at six in the morning.
4. You too develop a habit of singing Shakira very loudly in the shower.
5. Watching TV becomes an active dialog( A character in your favorite telenovela is contemplating breaking up with their girlfriend. You tell him not to[it was all a misunderstand!],forgetting that they can't hear you. He doesn't listen. ¡Hombres!)
6. You actively look for excuses to say "Pura Vida."
7. Anything that costs over two thousand colones(the equivalent of four US dollars) seems expensive.
8. You instinctively reach for your raincoat when going out after 2;00PM.
9. You begin replacing the "S" at the end of some words with an "R"
10. Your answer to "¨¿Que hora es?" is "Hora Tica." In other words, it doesn't matter. Sit back and relax, you're in Costa Rica.

Read more.

AFS offers Year and Semester Programs to Costa Rica.


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