Dear Host Family:

You can’t imagine how thrilled I am to be writing this essay right now. For several years now, I’ve been trying to picture and visualize how would my life be with a completely different family in a foreign country, and it’s finally becoming true. My name is Andrea Avendaño Vargas (we use two last names in Costa Rica). I’m 14 years old right now, but when I’ll get there I’ll be 15 already. My birthday is on February the 19th, so I am a proud Aquarius and I was born under the element of Air. I’m not sure if you would understand what I mean by this, but I would try to explain in a few words.
Astrology is a fundamental part of my life and it affects deeply the way I perceive the thing that surround me. I use it as a tool for acceptance of others and comprehension of the actions and decisions taken by the people around me. Due to the fact that I am an Aquarius I tend to be very idealistic and analytic, but also rebellious and bull-headed. I believe my sign to be one of the most influential of the zodiac, due to the inner force that the Air signs carry. I am strong to my ideals and convictions, one of them being the most important, Vegetarianism.
I am fond of animals. Mammals, insects, fish, birds, vertebrates, non-vertebrates, you name it. My affliction towards living things doesn’t allow me to hurt or kill them in any way as possible. I try not to feed the meat industry as much as I can, considering there are many animal based products that are almost impossible to avoid. Besides de cruel murders committed by this industry, there are other environmental issues that they have that I disapprove. In terms of pollution the meat industries contribute 18%, with gases like carbon dioxide and mostly methane (3 times worst than CO2). I believe these reasons made a part of my conscience wake up when I was in first grade, that is when I decided to become vegetarian and since then I’m proud to say I’ve been loyal to them.
Besides the fact that I am fond of the esoteric, I tend to grasp strongly to philosophy and art. One of my biggest sources of happiness is color. I can spend the whole day making digital art, drawing or taking pictures. My artistic goal is to always present reality from my perspective, and I am very excited to be able to change of scenery and create a whole new perspective of life there. I believe this side of me was developed mostly in my school, which very humanistic and liberal, and by my family who have always supported by artistic development.
My family is formed by: my mother, my father, my brother and me. My relationship with my family has always run smoothly. Probably because none of us demand a lot, our relationship is based on equality, understanding, love and tranquility. Happily we’ve never had any mayor problems between us, just off course the usual misunderstandings and fights over the TV remote. (AFS asks “What is your role in the family?”) I’ve never thought about it before, and it’s indeed a bizarre question. I guess my role in my family is to bring joy, comfort and stability daily. Due to my Aquarian personality, I don’t usually look for advice from my parents or friends. I like to figure out things by myself and I appreciate being in control of my personal life. I base my decision making in the consequences they can have, but I never let fear stand in the way of my happiness. I have a Pisces as a brother, so we are basically opposites, which I believe gives a kick to my family. It makes everything more interesting to have two completely different opinions and actions always. Luis Diego, my brother, is more reserved and serene. He tends to over-analyze everything, so he ends up restraining himself from life. My role in our relationship is to try to unbound him from his fear, and relax him as much as possible.
I have many dreams and goals for my future. The only problem is that I can’t seem to able to straighten up my priorities. I love doing so many things, that choosing between them is a crime. I really don’t want to base my studies in how much money I’ll produce or how much fame I’ll gain, so what I’m trying to do know is to figure out how can I integrate everything I am passionate about in one career. I t is almost impossible, at such a young age, to be certain of what do I want to spend a huge period of my life doing, but for know I was finally able to put it all in a sentence. What I want to study is the fusion between psychology and astrology in relationship with the human anatomy. Some scientists call it “Biological Psychology”, but I want to go beyond that concept and mix astrology into it.
I believe I’m at the period of my life in which I should exploit myself as much as I can, and I don’t see a better way of accomplishing this than by integrating myself into a completely different environment. I feel I need the adrenaline rush, the dread, the home-sickness, the loneliness, the joy, the change, the new concepts, the teachings, the cultures, , basically the exciting opportunity of growing as a person and hopefully being able to cultivate my independence. Im aiming to see the world and the people inside it in a much bigger scale, and to use this as a tool for the rest of my life.
I always wish to be productive in every minute of my life, because like I said earlier I love to do a lot of things and I have an insatiable thirst of knowledge. Ironically, I am for the most part the one in charge of letting this happen. I’ve always considered myself a mediocre person, and I believe this is what frustrates me the most about myself and my life in general. I hardly give all of my effort; even in the things I enjoy doing. I lament the many hours a day I’ve spent at my computer chatting or looking at pictures instead of using my time wisely learning something. Part of the reason I want to start a new life is to get ride of that laziness I keep effortlessly dragging around. I’m obliged by myself to exploit and take every chance I get, and to reduce to a minimum my “free” time.
I find another big obstacle in my life to be my parent’s overprotection. Their fear of something bad happening to me is constantly getting in the way of my desire of learning. Costa Rica, safety-wise, can be considered a dangerous country for a 15 year old, but as my mom, ironically, always says “I gave my children the tools, now its time for them to use them”. I would love to explore my own country and to learn my own limits through experience, but im never able to do any of these due to the many restrictions I am bound to. I’m always attempting to overcome this challenge by affronting my parents and argumenting my points of view. Nevertheless, it is always helpless.
My expectations for this year are outrageous. I’m not sure if this is very positive, but it has kept me dreaming for years now. Knowing that I’m close to living it literally gives me goose-bumps and it makes my head go into bedlam. I’ll try to stay focus and in my present reality, but with such a year ahead it seems impossible.