2nd Time Round

This weekend we had out second in country AFS reunion/orientation/whatever you wish to call it. We all met up in Vitoria like last time but since we stayed the whole weekend we went to a hostel. I had never stayed at one before so I didn't really know what to expect. It was actually really nice. They cooked all of your meals for you and had a very nice public space that only we really used. You had to share your room with seven other people which wasn't even a problem because we wanted to talk anyway. I would say the only bad thing was having to share a bathroom with all of those seven people... We got there Saturday around 11 and then had to wait for everyone who was coming in later. After your first AFS orientation you basically know what to expect from the rest of them. We spent the whole day doing the usual energizers and activities we have come to know very well, taking breaks for rest and food and what not. Around 11 at night we went out with the two volunteers for a walk around Vitoria. It was freezing cold but nice to get out of the hostel and see what was happening. After we got back to the hostel we all watched some T.V. together and then went to bed because we were exhausted from most of us having to get up before seven in the morning.

On Sunday we had to wake up early so we could go for a tour in a cathedral near the hostel. It was really cool but also kind of stressful because we had to wear hard hats and go up very thin star cases to very high heights. We then headed back to the hostel for more activities before we had to head our separate ways.

The whole thing went by surprisingly quickly. I had a really good time with all of the other AFSers. We are only all together for the short AFS reunions but it is still real fun. Once we were all sitting in a room together and I was thinking about how many different countries we come from like Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Norway, and America. It is so crazy how people from such different cultures can get along so naturally. It just goes to show you that no matter what country it is you can always find nice and really weird people there.