domingo, 27 de octubre de 2013

Dear Kelly´s

This I write just for you guys: Tony, Sue, Hannah, Boo and Shan Shan.

Big guy: to be honest, the first time I saw you, I thought you were going to be cold and just big. But as time went by, I realised how honest, sensitive and sympathetic you actually are. You are the kind of person that shows his charisma 24/7. You are the family protector. Anyone can notice that. And I couldn´t have asked for a better stepfather. You made me laugh every single time you talked. And I was able to see how sweet and gentle you are inside. You have to take care of this excellent family you raised. You must know how lucky you are to have three little princesses and a gorgeous queen right next to you every single day.

Mrs. Kelly: The other day at Marist, your words were breathtaking. I beg your pardon if I was not able to answer anything of what you said. I just froze. English could not go out of my mouth and I wish I could rewind back there and just say everything I am saying here to you. I are a blessing Sue. You caught my attention the first minute I saw you. The entire world should have you as an example to follow. How to be caring, lovely and cool at the same time? You are the perfect example of Mary, our good Mother, on Earth. The things you gave me during my time there in Chicago can´t be given by anyone else but you. You had to deal with me every single day. With my messy room and my bad manners. How can someone be such an excellent mother and a great friend at the same time? Is that even possible? Now, we know that it is. Because you achieved the impossible. And every single person that surrounds you must know that you are literally a blessing for everyone. You fill the air with happiness and joy. Your daughters must seek in you the example they need. I am sure they do it all the time and they are able to succed. I congratulate you because you were able to raise three little angels. I am so grateful for everything you did. I will never forget you, and I will never forget anything you did for me.

Shannon: You have to do me a special favor. Don´t ever let anyone tell you what to do. NEVER, EVER, under any circumstance give up. If you stumble, get back on your feet, get your head up and keep going. As I said before, you have a lot of potential inside. You just have to keep on working hard and training every day as you do and I am sure you´ll get further than what you expect. Playing Mario with you and pretend that none of us was the character we really were was hilarious. Despite the fact that I destroyed you playing basketball outside, we had an excellent time and I love your weird snapchats. You have a unique and particular personality that you must not change. I am pretty sure you can take a smile almost from anyone.
Don´t you ever say you can´t do something. Just keep on trying because I have faith in you. I know that if you persevere you will eventually conquer. You have what it takes to become whatever you want to be.

Boo: What can I say about you that you don´t know already? You are always in the best mood that can be found in a person. You are this sensitive person that made my cry within a letter. Your excitement for me going there was not normal. My excitement for hanging out with you was not normal either. We had lunch together and went to three classes together as well. Being my age we were able to experience the same things and you gave me a reason to smile, even though I didn´t feel like laughing. You were always there when I needed you. And you have to know that I will always be there for you no matter what. I am sure you´ll eventually get better with spanish and you will be able to speak fluently with me and you will finally understand everything I say in my language. I am sure you will succed in whatever you do. Because you have an outstanding personality and a sense of humour which lacks nowadays.

Hannah: Let us always remember that real power, IS service. I don´t know if you remember where that comes from. Pope Francis said that and I explained it in my speech. If you have a goal in life, achieve it. Don´t let go until you finally get there. Eventually you will become the best lawyer you can be. Push what you think are your limits because I am pretty sure that you still don´t know how far you could go if you do.
With this two weeks I realised a couple of things. You made me realise that true friendship comes from everywhere. I would have never imagined that another person, from the other side of the world would actually become my partner, my best friend... my family. Don´t cy because it´s gone! Smile because it happened! And I promise that my smile will never leave my face because what you gave me goes beyond reason, beyond morality. In just two weeks, you gave me more than what people that I know since we were little were able to give me. You turned my life completely upside down. You changed me in so many ways that not even I can believe it. I know you will become the best lawyer in the USA because you are the type of person that does what she loves and just won´t never let it go.

Here´s a poem that makes me remember you. I hope you like it:
 
 IF you can keep your head when all about you 
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!


Kelly´s, you will be always in my heart. I will always keep you there. The four of you. You gave me something that no one can: A family. You made me feel as home. You really did.

We may always be told that we´re not good enough, not fast enough, not strong enough. That we don´t have what it takes. You will be remembered by me and anyone else who gets to know you. God bless you and the bonds you have with each other. What you have is unique. And you can´t have anyone harm it. 
You made me feel special and loved during the best two weeks in my entire life. I will always, ALWAYS, love you. All of you. 

From: Your loving friend from Argentina.

The weirdest fact about Americans: They are making me love them even more, every single day that passes by.

jueves, 24 de octubre de 2013

Day eleven

Today was not as cold as yesterday. At school, the poms team performed to us and then taught us some dancing stuff and it was pretty good. I liked that.
I went to drawing and painting class with Erin, Hannah's sister as well.
After school, the Spanish club made a scavenge game for us. We had to work out a riddle and go to a place at Marist to find the next clue until we found ten places. Me and my friend Lucas Pezzi won this contest and prizes were given to us. We won a shirt, a candle and lots of candy. After that, we went to Orland Mall and just hung out there with the guys and some friends. It was a blast.
After that, we had dinner at Kelly's place and we played a game called "spoons". It was so fun! It is awesome that they're introducing me to their family traditions and the things they always do. I will never forget it.
Then, we went to Tobias Huergo's place and just stayed there until now.
Weird fact about Americans: Junk food is EVERYWHERE. It is not possible to have something healthy to eat here. Either you eat junk food or just don't eat anything.

Day ten

Today was a typical day. We woke up at 6:40 and the car was literally frozen. The windows were covered with ice and snow and Hannah had to use her little machine to take the ice from them to drive. We went to school and then we got all together at the conference room for pizza and to watch a movie. After that, we went to Anna Senteno's place and had a blast from 4pm to 10pm. It was a tiring day and nothing really interesting happened...
Weird fact about Americans: They just don't walk. They always drive where they want to go. Why? In Argentina we just walk everywhere...

miércoles, 23 de octubre de 2013

Day nine

Day nine was some kind of an interactive day. We went downtown again but not to be freezing as the other day. We went to the Sience and Industry Museum, to the Planetarium and to the Aquarium here in Chicago.
The first one was definitely the best one. It shows the diferent technologies developing through time and you can interact ith them in order to understand why everything took place the way it did. It is huge and we had just like two hours to see it all and I think we just got to visit a quarter of it.
The Panetarium was the least fancy of the three. It is not that big and the 3D movie we saw there was kind of boring. It just lacks a lot of stuff that was present in the other two.
The Aquarium on the other hand could have been fighting the first place against the Science and Industry if it hadn't been almost empty. There were a lot of places that were just closed due to the season we are in. It was still a blast and we got to spend the entire time just laughing at the things that are as stupid as we are.
Today I noticed that I call the Kelly's house "home". That was kind of strange but it makes me feel grateful for what they are doing for me.
Weird fact about Americans: They don't have any breaks at school, between classes. How do they even survive?

lunes, 21 de octubre de 2013

Day eight

Today was the coldest day in our whole trip. We went downtown again and we had a blast.
Firstly, we went to Navy Pier and took a bunch of photos there. Then, we had free time and me and my friends went to the Ferris Wheel. From there, we had a terrific sight of Chicago. After that, we went to Michigan Avenue to continue shopping because the other day we only had like thirty minutes. After that, we got on a boat and sailed through the Chicago river and then to lake Michigan. It is so strange to think that the people that live here get to see such a sight every single day and to us is the most beautiful thing in the world.
Today me and Lucas Pezzi were thinking... Do people in here get bored of the gigantic buildings? Or the shops that we don't have in Argentina, like Abercrombie or GAP? Is that why they all dress comfortable and not stylish?
Today was the best sightseeing day of the whole trip. We got to see Chicago with a different perspective and it was excellent.
Weird fact about Americans: Here, the radios just play the same music on and on and on and on... So repetitive...

domingo, 20 de octubre de 2013

Day seven

Today I got to sleep a LOT once again. I love weekends here because I can get tons of sleep. When I woke up, Hannah's mom Sue, got back from New Orleans. Lucas Pezzi, a friend of mine and Marty Kelly, his host came over and we played Wii up to 4pm because we had to go to a girl's house to have dinner. We got there, ate pizza and played some football. I was the quarter back from my team and we won the game.
After that, we went to a Haunted Hay Ride. That is a ride in which people come and try to spook you out. That was so creepy... We had a great time.
Now, we are all sleeping over at Hannah's so there's a bunch of people in my house.
Weird fact about Americans: They have everything on pizza. Meat, sausage and different sauces.

Day six

Before beginning writing what we did today, I want to greet every Argentinian who is reading this blog and following my experience in Chicago. I found out that you are reading my every day life here and I want to say thank you because this is all possible thanks to you. I wouldn't be able to come here without you. I love you all.
Having said that, I want to begin by saying that today was a downtown day. We finally got to sleep a little bit. All of us had 12 hours of sleep and it was excellent. We got to go downtown with our hosts and it was the first time we did. When we got there, we went to Skydeck.



We got to the top of the tallest building in America. Up there, there are this kind of glass boxes where you can go in and kind of walk in the air. It was crazy.
After that, we were able to walk through Michigan Avenue and shop. I bought my kind of girlfriend a gift as well as for my brother.
After that, we went to Chicago Fire Game, which is the soccer team of Chicago. That wasn't THAT good but we got a BBQ outside the stadium that was great.
After that we just hung out at Kara Reisch's place.
Weird fact about Americans: They have dinner and lunch with MILK. WHO DOES THAT?