Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore!

July 22, 2021 17:53

Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore!” (Some would say during my exchange with a lovely western accent )... Hello everyone! My name is Maricruz (Mari 😀) and I‘ve been working in YFU Argentina for over a decade and a half.

However, my journey with YFU started some (long) time ago. It was the year 97’ and I knew from the very beginning something big was going to happen. What I never thought was that thanks to a corporate scholarship offered by YFU I would have the chance to live the most amazing experience of my life..the one that would change it forever!

So, suddenly I was in the middle of the USA  in the “Sunflower State” 🌻 and the “Land of Oz” (Kansas) with my new family (Mom Tresa and my sister Janise), attending a very crowded school (Sumner Academy of Arts and Science) with amazing teachers who I learned a lot from. 

“Let’s go for some square dancing!!” would one of my friends say on Friday evenings. And so I would put on my boots👢 and cowgirl hat to enjoy some western country music!

“Watch out for the tornados!!”🌪 It sounded like a joke at first but trust me it was not that fun when you would hear a tornado siren and it would get way too windy!

“Halloween is coming up, let’s make a Jack -o´- lantern!” 🎃 and I recall that was a lot of fun indeed!

And so many other anecdotes that would make that year a very special one and unique. However, later on, I realized that what I truly gained was a new perspective and way to see the world. New social and intercultural skills and above all a new concept of the word “family”.

After my year in Kansas, we would become a host family for several students from different parts of the world. Nowadays, YFU means not only a job to me. It means family and even a way of living! Thank you for so much 💜 and for many many more years🥂