Has it really already been almost three months since I arrived in Colombia? Time flies when you’re having the time of your life in one of the happiest, friendliest and inviting cities in the world! While now I feel right at home in Cali and like I’ve established a new life here, I didn’t start out as comfortable and confident. My first week here was orientation week for international students. All roughly 40 students from different countries around the world spent the week meeting with different departments from campus and doing errands like finalizing our visas at the immigration office. Most of the international students are from Germany and France. We all became fast friends, but I didn’t expect to feel insecure about myself compared to their Spanish and travel experience. A lot of them had already done exchange programs in other countries and were really confident with their Spanish speaking. They say you can have culture shock when you visit another country but my first culture shock didn’t come from Colombia, it came from the intimidation of being around so many successful people from different countries.Sometimes I regret not enjoying my first week as much as I could have, but then I remember it doesn’t always work like that. We can’t always anticipate how certain situations will affect us.
