Before
even applying for the study abroad program and getting accepted, I was so
excited for the home stay portion of the trip. I was really interested to see
what it is like to be in another person’s shoes. To live in their home and
follow their daily lives for a weekend. I wondered what kind of family would I
get placed in, how many kids do they have, do they even have kids, what they do
for living, can the mom cook, what do they have in stores for us, am I going to
fit in, etc.
When the
time was getting close to our home stay weekend, the excitement turned into
worry. I didn’t know what to expect or even if we were going to be alone (one
person to a family). I guess I was a little relieved to find out it was two
students per family. As we walked to everyone’s homestay and dropped them off,
a shift of location occurs. It went from decent housing and nice neighborhoods
to a township/decent kind of location. There is where I met my homestay mother
and family. My overall experience wasn’t what I expected and I guess I could
not adjust to the hard life my family lived. After a few events, I met my
second homestay mother. She lived in a flat but it was comfy and felt like
home. She was so welcoming and loved to converse with us. For every meal, she
laid everything out and we ate together. For our free day we went to another
wine/farm place. There we rode camels, did some shopping, and just enjoyed the
day.
At the end
of the day it was a great experience and I was sad to say goodbye. I appreciate
that these families took us in as their own, just so we could get a real inside
look, It’s one thing to read, assume, or learn and another to live, witness,
and experience.
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