SCARIEST MOMENTS ON EXCHANGE.

Whenever we think about going on exchange we imagine ourselves succeeding in everything we do, from making friends to getting good grades and getting awards for our extra activities... something like that, anyway. What we do not take into account is that things might go wrong, and we do not think about it simply because we do not know what could possibly go wrong. We want things to go right but sometimes we do not have the power to make everything go the way we want it to go. Even though my exchange was the best year of my life so far I still experienced some heavy stuff, like the loss of my American dog and my American mom's heart attack.

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My host brother's eye-surgery.

This happened the very first month I was in the USA. Everything was well and I was practicing tennis with my American brother. One day we realized that he had something in his eye so my American parents took him to the doctor to see what was wrong. There was a small possibility that it was cancer. Try to picture my face when I was trying to understand what was going on. I did not understand all the medical terms and I was having a hard time understanding whether I had to worry or not. Well, I finally realized that something was actually wrong when my American brother left Greeley with my American mom and went to Denver to get Surgery. I cannot remember whether the call from the doctor came before or after the surgery, anyway I remember my American brother and I being at the tennis court for a tournament and my American mom received the call that confirmed it was NOT cancer. I was very relieved and ran over to my brother to tell him. My American mom was very happy and fearless.

My "host" dog died of a tumor.

I love dogs, they are my favorite animals, they are so cute. I grew up with my dog, which I received when I was only six years old, so just the thought of losing him destroys me, but this is basically what I had to go through on exchange, because my American dog passed away, or even more sad, we had to put him down. He has been blind for years, I believe since he was one. His hair was covering his eyes forever but he knew the house and it was amazing how good he was in moving around, sometimes he would bump into the sofa or a chair that was not supposed to be in this way, but other than that he was fantastic.

(Sweet boy Marshall. ♡)

Even though he was blind he always had the energy of jumping around and always showed us his happiness when we would come home from school or work, but right after Christmas his happiness kind of faded away. He ate less and less, he was not energic at all and he would walk around with his head turned down. I mean it was just so sad to see him this way so my American parents took him to the vet and found out he had a tumor and they could have kept him alive just a few months more with treatment, so they eventually decided to let him go. It was not worth it to keep him alive when he was feeling so awful. The day we put him down a lady came into our home and did everything on the sofa, my American brother started screaming and crying and that is basically how we spent the rest of the day. Crying. He was not just a dog, he was part of the family. Animals are capable of love and it was as sad as leaving a person to let him go, especially for my American brother who grew up with him.

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My American Mom had a heart attack.

I hope no one has to go through this. This was probably the scariest moment of my exchange. My American mom had an abscess in her throat if I remember correctly, and she needed it to be removed so she went to the hospital and when she checked in we all went with her. She had to be in the hospital overnight just so that doctors could keep an eye on her. SO thankful she was there because at some point that night, her oxygen level drastically dropped and she had a heart attack. They immediately transferred her to intensive care and my brother and I had no clue. We woke up and went to school. At lunch my American dad texts me saying that his assistant is coming to school to pick me up. I have been excused for the rest of the day so I could leave campus. "What is going on? " I thought. Kim! Kim is not feeling well.

No one knows exactly what happened to her the only certain fact is that she was not okay. I have never seen my American dad like that ever before. Everyone I knew was there, but we could not see her altogether. My brother and I go in her room together and all we see is she, with a huge mask on her face. The room was all for herself, which is what scared us. I did not know what to say, her mask was making noises and we could not understand what she was trying to say. "It is okay" I was thinking. "Get some rest, we do not need to talk now, just know we are outside. " Over time she got better and we could see that because they changed her mask with a smaller one and she was able to talk.

It was funny because she cannot eat gluten and one time she called us and asked if we could bring her Taco Bell. She was starving and the food that the hospital gave her was not fantastic. So we go get in line, drive-thru, come back to the hospital and my American mom starts yelling to my American dad. "You forgot to tell them I do not want tomatoes in my tacos! " Panic. "I can take them out for you love. " said my American dad "No, I am not hungry anymore" she replied. We screwed up. "Let's go get her more tacos" so we go back to Taco Bell, walk inside the fast food this time because it was actually faster than getting in line with the car and then drove back to her. The tomatoes are not there but the tacos have flour in it.. my American dad forgot to ask for corn tacos. I was basically sure my mom would fire back but all she did was laughing and appreciated our effort. Anyhow, a few days after she came home and slept with oxygen for a few days. She fully recovered and two months later we went to Hawaii for our summer vacay.

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I think sometimes we need to go through dark times to appreciate the light and I can sure tell that these things made me appreciate more everything I have. I am grateful for everything everyone has done for me and could not be happy that everything is now okay.

- Cristian

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