turning on the mind
A week ago I arrived in the US. Definitely, this is a difficult travel, because I come to live and study abroad, and several concessions and work were needed to achieve this begin. So many feelings during the last weeks, exploring in a flight between Santiago to Atlanta, with a precise and unexpected song to start this adventure. The first day was really nice, like a synopsis from the next 5 years, I’ve arrived in Phoenix Airport at 9 am and the went directly in a cab to Arizona State University Campus to spend my first day.
I’m in now in a Fulbright Preacademic course, that is more like an international camp to graduate students than a course experience. During this first week, I’m living in on the campus of Mississippi State University (MSU) in Starkville, Mississippi a rural town surrounding the university in the middle of the bible belt. In this place, the sun rises high and the environment is wet, but the air conditioner was stronger of both. This was my first technological signal to grasp there is no more Chile.

Meanwhile, Santiago had a rare snowy Saturday, I’m under American summer sun -and is really annoy say “American” to refer to a nationality instead a continental identity — Like when Carmela came to the city, I felt turning my mind come into another culture, language and place like in a choral musical with translated voices. Maybe, many mates of this “camp” are under this same sensation. We don’t talk so much about feelings yet.
Is really weird the feeling to start to live abroad, almost indescribable. I only in the first week, but I felt my mind turning on, in a new signal, like a fish in the air, maybe. A lot of interference of my feeling among, and putting all my previous Chet together to avoid start to cry each time I talking with Matias, because be so emotional are bad when you know that you need be strong. I don’t seem regret about this decision, perhaps I think this could be worst dodge this moment…
In another hand, I’m starting course again and I’m very excited about this. I love to have time to write and read, although my homework load is specified calculated to make me do only that activities. A specialized Concelour visited us to explain the events of cultural shock, and the first one is the “honeymoon”. Maybe like in a personal relationship, this interaction with knowledge is part of the beginning. Be on time, working out and sleep well are activities I trying to achieve each day in this first week, to have a routine to resist this new vibration in the air, to be secure with the workflow and language, to syntonize the best version of myself, at least during this first three weeks.

