By: Salma Houman (YES 2017 - 2018, Tunisia, hosted by CIEE in Tower Lakes, IL)

It’s been a month since my exchange journey started and some people started asking me the famous question “Which country is better?” You don’t know how hard that question is. I mean, literally everything is different. Everything changed from my lifestyle, the language I use, the friends I hangout with, the educational system, how food tastes, how the houses look, simply everything. It's not better, but it’s not worse. It is, however, incredibly different. 

This month has been beautiful, confusing, unexpected, exciting and overwhelming. I went kayaking, swimming in a lake, hiking, latin dancing, water tubing, and boating. 

I ate German soups, zucchini, hummus, sushi, tacos, burritos, weird pizzas, delicious spicy pasta, chicken sandwiches, and s’mores. 

I cooked brik, yoyo, rice, pasta and some other Tunisian meals for people. 

I went to the movies, to restaurants, to school, to strangers’ houses, to a cabin in Wisconsin, to the market that looked like a mall, to my first football game, and to my first waterpolo game. 

I met Native Americans, Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans, and extremely white almost transparent Americans. I met people from all over the world: from the US; Lebanon; Palestine; Kuwait; Saudi Arabia; Paskitan; Bangladesh; Italy; Ukraine; Brazil; England; Germany; Indonesia; and Oman.

I worked on my first creations in Ceramics, performed my first scene in Theater, got my first A’s in Math, and wrote my first essays in English. 

I joined the French Club, MUN club, Math Team, Amnesty International, and Interact club. I volunteered at a park in front of my house and at the library.

Some people think it’s annoying when Americans don’t know anything about your country and ask you if you know internet, or if you have running water and electricity at home, or if you ride camels to go to school, or why you’re not black when you are from Africa. But I find it super nice because you get to teach them about you, your country, your culture, your religion. You really feel like an ambassador and it provides an opportunity to tell them about the YES program and why it is important to host students. 

It’s only been 30 days but I discovered things about myself that I didn’t know existed. I did things I never thought I would try and I changed in so many ways that it became tiring. Everyday I wake up and I discover something new: a new passion or hobby; a new perspective; a new way of thinking; or even a new way of doing things. 

I’m not going to lie, it’s tiring. It’s psychologically exhausting. And sometimes it’s frustrating when I try but things don’t work or don’t make sense, and words are stuck in my head and people understand the exact opposite of what I meant to say. But it takes time and trust. Trust in people you have never met before that they want what’s best for you, and trust in yourself that you can do it, you can make friends, you can get good grades, you can run that mile and everything is going to be alright.

And eventually things get better, you can finally talk to strangers without feeling embarrassed. You finally know where the plates are in the kitchen. You finally can go to your classes on time without getting lost. You finally start feeling that exchange is great and you start doing and seeing things you have always dreamed of. You start to become a local in this whole new culture. You gain confidence, you make friends, and you feel comfortable at home. The pets finally stop hating you, your dreams become bilingual, and homework… oh no actually homework is still annoying. 

All of this to say that exchange is still the best decision I have ever made despite all the challenges I had to face. It teaches you so much more about yourself and the world than any class you can take. You learn how to make friends, be open to learning, respect others AND yourself, and eventually you will find huge similarities. You’ll realize that everyone is the same at the end - human.