With my program reaching its end. I definitely have no doubt in my mind that my feelings have changed since I have last left the U.S. I was overcome with many different emotions: the idea of being alone in a foreign place without any of my family close by, meeting new people for the first time, and being immersed in a whole new place where English is not the first language.

Now that I have been here for five weeks, I feel bad that I did not feel more excited about coming to Mexico because it is a great place to live with some great qualities to it. I honestly was nervous because I had no idea what to really expect. People are unpredictable, as such I try to avoid any conceptions before actually meeting someone or multiple people. At the very least, I imagined that my host family would be kind and help me feel accustomed. For the most part, I was right. I was blessed with a great host family who treated me well. I was hoping they would be a family I could talk and interact with when the time is right and this turned out to be the case. I did not see myself speaking with the locals too much since I am cautious around strangers, but I wanted to at least interact with some people, and I am glad I did in the end.

As for my feeling about returning, I am very excited to see my mother again and eventually my close friends as well. I feel as though, no matter where I am, I will always feel a sense of emptiness when I am not at home in Oregon. It is for that reason that I believe I could never live far from home, it would be too hard in my opinion. I do have mixed feelings though. I feel like just when I have really started to feel at home here, I already need to leave. I feel like I have developed a sense of place here, and it is ashame that I have to leave now when I am not so busy with homework and studying. It is funny, but I am filled with emotions just like in the beginning. The difference this time is that I am not nervous or scared of being Mexico, but actually a bit sad to leave. I believe all abroad programs are like this. One develops the sense of a second home and they must feel bad for having to leave it. It truly is funny how the world works at times.