the flight

Since I only talked about my feelings in my last post I'm gonna start to tell you a little bit about my flight today.

I had to get up really early so we could get the train to Hamburg. At the train station I had to say good by to most of my closest friends. It was one of the hardest goodbyes I ever had. It was the only time I had to cry to be honest. 

After a long drive my aunts, my best friend and I arrived at the central station in Hamburg where I met my father and his family. I saw them only a really short time because they had to leave... 

Then we drove to the airport, where I met Inken and her family. Inken is going to Argentina, too with the same organisation. 

After a while my grandparents arrived at the airport, that made me really happy because I can't see them that often... 

After saying goodbye to everyone and passing the security I talked to the other exchange students flying with me:) We were 4 (including myself).

Together we flew to Frankfurt. It was a horrible flight with many turbulences. Finally in Frankfurt we met the other exchange students and waited for our flight to Chile.

I had never been in such a big airplane but I really liked it and felt more safe than in the smaller ones.

The flight was really long but it wasn't that bad. 

After about 15 hours of flying we had some time in Chile. By the way Chile is a beautiful country.

I spend some of my last euros there (yes, I was able to pay with euros)
Then our flight got delayed and we had to change the gate.
We were really confused but we managed to get into the right plane:)
It was amazing flying over the Andes. It's a feeling I can't really describe. The flight was over really fast and the first thing I saw in Argentina was field! There was nothing but field. I even thought there wasn't a real landing strip. Don't worry there was one but you weren't able to see it from the plane:)
The first thing we had to do in Argentina was showing our passports with the visa. When it was my turn I gave the women my passport. She looked really angry and after a while she went away (yes, with my passport).
About five minutes later she came back and told me that there was a problem with my visa but she was able to manage it.
I was really relieved when she let me pass. But right after that I got nervous again because I was afraid that my suitcase wouldn't arrive...
But I was really lucky that day:)
The last thing we had to do was passing the security. It took so long! The people working at the airport were really slow and there were too many people that wanted to leave the airport.
But after a long time of waiting it was our turn and luckily we didn't had any problems. That was the moment we could finally relax and start realizing that we're finally in Argentina! To be honest, I haven't realized it until now!
As we came out of the airport we met a womam from EduQuality. She is really nice and even though she didn't knew us she gave us a hug as a welcome.
We waited for some other exchange students and then left the the airport by bus.
Now, it's already the second day here. We're living in a hotel near to Córdoba city and having a preparation here. I'll tell you everything about that in another post
Take care,
Cara ♥

the arrival

Today is the day guys. Today is the day I was breathing Argentinian air for the first time in my life. It's a weird feeling to finally be here. I really can't describe my mood right now. I feel horrible and lucky at the same time. Maybe tomorrow everything will be clear to myself after I slept in a real bed and not in an airplane. In my head I'm not in Argentina. It's like I'm in a dream or in Europe on vacation... It's something you cannot explain. I will tell you everything about the flight and how I came here as soon as I can but right now I'm just too tired and not in the mood. 

I hope you have a great day and I will probably talk to you soon.

Take care,

Cara

sadness

There are only 8 days left here in Germany and slowly I begin to get really sad that I'll be leaving. I have a great year in front of me with an amazing host family and  an awesome organisation. But to be fair I start realizing how good my life here in Germany is. I have friends and family caring about me and now I leave them for such a long time! I am afraid that it won't be the same after I am back and that my friends and I changed too much! My family will always love me, no matter who I am. But will my friends do? I really enjoy my last week here and hope I'll make the best as I can out of it! 

money, money, money

Today I'm gonna talk about what I am doing to get money during my exchange. In case you are not German this post is going to be a little bit boring I think.

I am using one of the most common ways to get money, at least common for exchange students. I'll be using the "SparCard" by the German postal service. It's a really practical option for people going abroad often. You can get money with it on every visa+ cash machine. And you can get the money without paying extra cash for using a cash machine which is not from your own bank, at least 10 times a year... (Does that makes any sense haha?)

That means during my exchange I can get money twenty times without paying for it.

I think it's a really cool option and I'll be able to use this card even after I am back from my exchange, for example when I am going to be on holiday:) 

I hope I was able to explain everything in an understandable way.

Since I'll be leaving for Argentina in about two weeks I'll be probably starting packing at the end of this week. The next few days I have to finish an essay about my internship and after I've finished that I'm gonna start. I absolutely hate packing!!! I haven't even unpacked from England, yet:D  My suitcase is a mess! 

I am thinking about uploading a packing list before I leave.

I can't believe there are only 13 days left! That's absolutely crazy!

I'm gonna talk to you really soon!

Cara

♥♥♥

loads of information (visa, hostfamily, etc)

I haven't been here in a while, but now I am back and I have to tell you a few things.

A few weeks ago I visited a friend of mine. I got to know her at the preparation seminar in Helmstedt. It is crazy what the exchange is doing with your life. I haven't even been abroad yet but I already made so many new and amazing friends!!! 

After a lot of paper work my mum and I went to the Argentinian consulate to get my visa on the first of July. It took a long time to get there (I had to go to the consulate in Bonn) and our train drove at 5:28 am!!! I was so tired that I couldn't even think clearly! The whole trip my mum and I thought about the things we might left at home and that I won't get my visa that day and that I have to go back there again! It was like a self-produced horror show in our minds! 

As we got to the consulate we were really surprised by the house of the consulate! I thought that it will be really big and in the middle of the city but it was slightly the opposite!

The bus drive from the central station took about 15 to 20 minutes and when we got there we could only see family houses. And even the consulate looks like a house made for families to live in!

As we got there everything went well. The people were so nice! And everybody talked to us in a lovely way. I had to fill in a form and after that my mum and I had to wait a bit. It was lovely weather by the way! After a while we came into a room where everything got signed and then I already had my visa!!!

We both felt really relieved and we drove back home! On our way back we were able too see the house of my organisation Experiment e.V (the house looks lovely!) and in cologne we went a bit shopping.

The last few days I've been to London. I love it there! I really want to move to England or another country in the UK when I've finished school! The people are so friendly and I am almost dying when I hear their accents!

I would do a separated post about my long weekend there but I haven't got any photos so I thought I would tell you here.

Yesterday was the day every exchange student is freaking out about. Last year I was one of those exchange students too but this time I was really relaxed, I don't know why. I hope that isn't a bad thing...

I was laying in my bed, listening to some music or watching YouTube... I can't really remember. 

The telephone rang and I turned my laptop down because I had this feeling that my organisation is calling. My stepfather answered the telephone and I just heard him saying the name of the woman working for Experiment after he said hello to her. And that was the moment I was sure that I have my host family now. My stepfather gave me the telephone and she told me exactly what I thought she is going to tell me! I didn't get a lot of information from her, but a few minutes after the conversation ended an e-mail with everything I need to know arrived. I will be living in a small town with about 20.000 inhabitants. This town lays in the provinve of Córdoba and is 113 kilometers/70 miles east from the capital town of Córdoba, Córdoba City. The family has five members. A mother and a father with three daughters at the age of  9, 15 and 16! And if I understood everything right I will be in the same class as my 16 years old sister. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. All in all I am super happy with my host family and I can't wait to see them and give them all a big hug! 

The last thing I have to tell you about in todays post is about a big goodbye.

This morning I woke up really early, because my parents and my little sister had to catch their flight! They are going on holiday and they come back the day I'll be leaving for Argentina! That means that I won't see them again for almost a year now. I wanted to go to the airport with them today but my parents didn't allow me to. They consider that staying at home would be the best for us all! I was really sad about that but I wasn't able to change their minds...

Since I've just woken up and had been really tired I couldn't even realize what is happening right now. I haven't really realized it yet! 

Now it's just waiting and packing my suitcase until the take off to Argentina! I am really excited and I can't believe that I only have to wait two weeks from now. Two weeks!!!! That's crazy!

The first people from my preparation seminar are already flying today! I can't really believe that! 

(Hello to the South Africa - people. I hope you'll have a good time on your exchange with a lot of Afrikaans and "braai"!)

And thank you to everyone who made it until here!

I hope you had the motivation to read till the end (I know, I wouldn't) and you'll hear from me really soon again!

Cara

Me in front of the consulate

My stepfather set up an Argentinean flag in front of our house