Monday, June 09, 2008

"We are AFSers, mighty AFSers!"

If you've read my "101 Things about Me" post, you've noticed that one of the first things I mention is that I was an AFS exchange student. Growing up I always knew I wanted to be an AFSer because each of my parents had their own experience as exchange students. (In fact, they originally met through AFS and later married!) Their stories and memories sounded too good for me to miss out on the same kind of adventure.

Thanks to my parents, I was part of a big group of Costa Rican students who went to different countries for the year program ('89-'90). For example, my friend Rebeca originally was sent to California and my exchange student dream came true in the town of Wickenburg in Arizona, USA. There I met another big group of students who came from different parts of the world. It truly was the.best.year.of.my.life! After our experience was over and each one of us had gone back to our country of origin, we tried to keep in touch through air mail. I even got to see a couple of my AFS friends again when they went to Costa Rica: Mikko S. all the way from Finland and Andreas (Andi) from Germany!

The reason I came to study to Germany was based on the fact that I wanted to try and reproduce my AFS experience. My German speaking friends who I had met in Arizona had given me the motivation to learn German and studying in Europe sounded like the type of adventure I wanted to relive. I had managed to keep in touch with Andi throughout the years and that's how, in March 2001, he ended up greeting me at the airport when I first came to Germany, carrying my (VERY HEAVY) luggage and driving me to my student building (the famous Wichernstraße) in Erlangen.

I kept in touch with Andi and his mother during my studies in Germany. Even my parents met them in 2002 when they had come to visit me. Unfortunately, I lost touch with Andi by the time I had finished my studies and had to leave Germany. I got married, lived in India and a year after I had returned to Erlangen I managed to relocate Andi again through his Mom. After one exchange of e-mails I still did a lousy job at contacting him again.

In the meantime, I was surprised to learn that my Costa Rican friend Rebeca happened to be here in Germany! Last December
we met! It was WONDERFUL!


(Mariluz & Rebeca - Dec. 2007)

Rebeca had also been in touch with another AFSer from my Arizona group: Alex (Germany), who was also in touch with Tian (Argentina), who had come to Germany! Last Monday afternoon, I took Fabi on a 220 km trip because the next day there was going to be a short -but very meaninful- meeting that was quickly organized soon after learning we could all be in the same area. Special thanks to Rebeca for hosting such a lovely grill at her house!
(Alex, Mariluz, Tian & Rebeca - June 3rd, '08)

What I had no idea was that Tian had come to Germany for Andi's wedding, which was later that weekend!!! So I came back to Erlangen on Wednesday morning and contacted Andi's Mom. She convinced me to surprise Andi by showing up at the same time where he was suppossed to pick up Tian. I did the craziest thing: I left Fabi with a friend of mine for a couple of days and this time I travelled 440 kms north to meet Andi (and Tian).

I will never forget Andi's expression as he saw me in the platform where he was waiting to pick up Tian. He thought I had arrived in the same train as Tian and he didn't know what I was doing there! I told him I was just "passing through the neighbourhood" and had come to say "Hi!". He was even more surprised to know that his mother and Tian already knew I was going to be there :)

(Tian, Mariluz & Andi - June 5th, '08)

I surprised Andi on Thursday afternoon. That evening I helped his mother make a Schwäbisch speciality: Spätzle. (She's from southern Germany). In the meantime, old friends from Andi arrived for the dinner. I also had the privilege to meet Andi's new wife. I spent the night at Andi's Mom's house and the next day I came back to Erlangen. I had the chance to spend more time with Tian's family, share a few hours with Andi, his Mom, his friends, his beautiful new wife. We were able to relive memories, catch up on our news, take pictures together. I'm not even going to try to explain the excitement and the joy of this reunion.

(Mari meets Andi & Reini - 2001 & 2008)

As I was riding the train back home, I couldn't help smiling (trying hard not to laugh too loud, actually) as I kept looking at the pictures I had just taken. Who knew that almost 2 decades after our most exciting year as exchange students we would be able to meet - this time in a different part of the world?! I feel beyond rejuvenated, ecstatic with joy of being part of this big AFS family and the connections that I still enjoy with my friends.

My AFS experience has helped me adapt in the different environments I have lived, but the most valued treasure that I will always carry with me is the friendships I have made - even if we only exchange an e-mail once a year! I will treasure forever the relationship with my host family, but to explain that would require a whole separate post on its own...

This past week brought me a lot of memories, but most of all, it reminded me that I'm not just a mom, a wife, a professional, a daughter, a sister, a friend or a neighbour....I'm an AFSer!...which means I am a traveller, an adventurer...a citizen of this small world.

As the international news informs us of natural disasters (earthquakes in China, Iceland, Greece; cyclones in Myanmar; heavy rains in Central America); times of change (Obama as the democratic presidential candidate in USA; Venezuela's president
Chavez urges FARC to end their war) and the way the human spirit lifts up through sports (French Open, 2008; Euro 2008), I feel I'm just like a leaf blown by the wind here and there, waiting to see which way life will take me and once again enjoy another big connection with past friendships.

I feel like I'm on Cloud 9....just like this one in the picture below, that I shot through my train window, as I was coming back home after my impromptu, unforgettable, AFS reunion.


Special greetings to Rebeca (Costa Rica), Alex (Germany), Andreas (Germany), Tian (Argentina), Milka (Chile), Marlène (Switzerland), Mikko (Finland), the whole Arizona group of '89-'90...and to all of those who have ever participated and worked with AFS and other exchange programs, as exchange students, volunteers, friends of students, and host families.
¡Saludos especiales a todos los Congos '89-'90!

If you're an AFSer, I suggest you register in the home page, so that others can find you. AFS is also present in the Net: in YouTube and Facebook.

Last year, AFS celebrated its 60th Anniversary. If you have an extra 3 minutes, I invite you to enjoy this video:





La semana pasada fue increíble, llena de sorpresas y viajes largos en tren de última hora: ¡muy emocionante! Todo esto se debe a que me pude reencontrar -de forma inesperada- con 4 (cuatro!) excompañeros de intercambio de mi experiencia con AFS ('89-'90) en Arizona, EEUU.

El hecho de que hayan pasado casi dos décadas y que el reencuentro se haya dado en un país diferente de donde nos conocimos, no deja de llenarme de sorpresa y felicidad. Me encantó poder ver a mis amigos, pero más aún compartir con sus propias familias. Cuando los abrazo, siento que estoy abrazando al mundo entero y me lleno de esperanza al pensar que nos volveremos a ver...¡quién sabe en cuántos años más!

Yo sé que estas casualidades se dan y que "el mundo es muy pequeño", pero cuando estos accidentes de suerte me ocurren a mí, los celebro como lo máximo.

Me acuerdo que un par de años después de haber estado de intercambio en Arizona (EEUU), Giancarlo, un estudiante de Costa Rica, me contó que estaba en Montana jugando boliche. Ahí conoció a un alemán, quien cuando supo que Giancarlo era de Costa Rica, le preguntó si conocía a Mariluz Bogarín. Giancarlo le dijo que "SI!" (los dos somos de la misma cuidad en Costa Rica: Heredia!)...el alemán resultó ser mi amigo Andi! :)



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8 What say? / Que me dicen? - Comments:

At Tue Jun 10, 05:18:00 AM GMT+2, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you are an AFSer also - it was great getting to know you in Wickenburg! Hopefully we'll be able to get together when we come out in the spring.

 
At Tue Jun 10, 08:31:00 AM GMT+2, Blogger MasalaMom said...

That's true, Debbie!...It's exactly what I mean: my experience as an exchange student gave a huge "extended family" of friendships...and I'm so thankful for that! :)

 
At Tue Jun 10, 07:11:00 PM GMT+2, Blogger Julia Ardón said...

Así es.
Estas experiencias son hermosísimas.
Esperamos a Hannes con mucho cariño.

 
At Tue Jun 10, 10:24:00 PM GMT+2, Blogger Gummy Mommy said...

OMG Mari.. your post gave me goose bumps!! How blessed you are to have had such an amazing experience.. I love EVERYTHING you wrote about being a citizen of hte world.. I love the idea of our kids growing on an unified world, where germans, costa ricans, indians, dominicans, colombians, americans, french, chinese, vietnamese, all can merge on a same place and live happily as good neighbors..
Look at you! my tica friend married to indian, living in Germany friend to this dominican, married to colombian, living in the US!!!
I loved your awesome journey through the past.. How cool is that!!!

 
At Wed Jun 11, 06:37:00 AM GMT+2, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Once a phoneme, always a phoneme. Once an AFSer...always an AFSer! O y J

 
At Wed Jun 11, 06:40:00 AM GMT+2, Blogger MasalaMom said...

Thanks, Liza! As you can see.. being an exchange student is an experience I will always cherish, just like I also do with my experience while working in Dom. Rep.

I love our "international families" and thanks to today's means of communication, the best part is being able to keep in touch!

 
At Wed Jun 11, 07:57:00 AM GMT+2, Blogger Priya said...

What an amazing journey through past and present, through the years of friendship! It is indeed a blessing to have such an experience and friendships of such nice people. Very beautiful post!
Priya

 
At Sun Jun 29, 01:09:00 PM GMT+2, Blogger Nidhi said...

wow, its so nice to know you managed to locate and even have such a lovely reunion with your friends!

 

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