Abbey Heilig was ecstatic but nervous as she prepared for her yearlong trip to Puebla, Mexico as part of the 樱桃视频Rotary Club long-term exchange program.
Heilig, who just completed Grade 10, was one of two selected for this year's program.
At 15 years of age, Heilig set off to meet a whole new set of friends speaking a language new to her.
Twenty-five days before she took off for Mexico, Heilig said she was feeling a mix of emotions - excitement, fear, frustration and pre-emptive nostalgia.
"I'll look at my [Mexico] school's website online, or look at pictures of my town, and want to get on a plane right that second," wrote Heilig on her blog July 13.
"But then I look at that calendar and realize I won't see my grandparents or cousins before I go. My best friends, boyfriend, I'll maybe see 10 more times before I'm out of here."
After a year of planning, she was in no place to back out, and she determined the pros outweighed the cons.
"I'm scared but I need to do this for myself because I know it's going to change my life and enrich it in so many ways," she said.
So Heilig boarded the plane bound for Mexico City on Aug. 8, leaving her family, friends and boyfriend 4,000 kilometres behind.
At the airport, her host family of Mexican Rotarians welcomed her with open arms and a sign that read "Welcome to Mexico Abbey."
She and her host family drove two and a half hours to get to the suburban area of Cholula outside Puebla.
She said her first full day in Mexico was full of surprises.
"After breakfast we went down to the market to pick up food for lunch," she said. "I didn't think this was a big deal. I was wrong.
"The market was the awesomest thing picture a crowded building with winding passages through it and hundreds of colourful stands with anything from fruits and veggies that I had never seen in my life to handcrafted blankets and toys and jewellery."
Her new discoveries extend to the language as well, and despite her host family labelling household items with their Spanish name to help her learn, communication challenges remain.
"Paula and Laura took me to my first Mexican party," said Heilig. "Everyone was super friendly but the language barrier was a little confusing. Half the time I thought I knew what was going on but no, I did not."
Nonetheless, Heilig's next few weeks were full of fun discoveries, new friends along with the occasional bouts of homesickness.
She went to Puebla city centre and tasted delicious new desserts. She and other Rotarians on exchange went to Acapulco for beach time, relieved to be hanging around English speakers.
"I miss the ease of communication," she said. "It's exhausting trying to communicate the silliest things like the word 'snow' or that I am hungry."
And on occassion the new diet would wreak havoc. One evening after trying elote (corn in a cup with mayonnaise, chili, lime and salt) Heilig became sick.
"I was a hot mess, missing everyone terribly and not feeling up to the challenge of this exchange," she said.
Heilig's experiences didn't quite send her packing, but she did come to some personal revelations.
"It's hard for anyone who's never done an exchange or had a cross-cultural experience to understand how it feels," she said.
"I would compare it to having a disability because I do have less ability or different abilities than everyone else here."
Heilig started school Aug. 23 in a uniform she describes as a "Christmas elf suit," and has been discovering all sorts of cultural differences.
She compiled a list and sent it out to her friends: Oreos come in a tube, the only chip flavours are spicy, other spicy, lime and plain, you don't pump your own gas, no one wears seatbelts, and hit and runs are as common as hockey games in Canada.
Despite the hard times, Heilig said she is learning more and more Spanish, has made some good friends and is considering dance classes. She's taking the challenges of living in a foreign country head on and getting as involved as possible.
"Ride into the sunset, look back with no remorse."
