My first surprise: The weather

I will start this blog making a brief presentation about myself. My name is Guillermo Puig and I'm 23 years old. I was born in Rosario, Argentina and I lived all my life there. Last year I finished my degree in accounting, which had been my main goal since I left school. And that seemed to be the most important thing of the year for me. However, at the end of November I was noticed about another incredible news. I had got a scholarship to study 6 weeks in Austin. Immediately, I experienced different feelings, happiness, excitement, joy. As well, I would be living away from home, in another country, for the first time in my life, and that represented a big challenge for me, too.

A different country, a city which I didn't know, a foreign language, other habits and costumes. These were the first images that came to my mind when I received the email that said I had been selected to the scholarship. And these would also be obstacles which I should go through. How would be living in a city like Austin was probably the question which I tried to answer during the following days and weeks. During that time, I researched about Texas and Austin, I learnt many things about them and started to raise some expectations about the trip.

Now, a week have passed since I arrived at Austin, and some of those expectations have been confronted with the reality. Similarly, I could see things that I had never imagine. These are some of  the experiences which I want to tell in this blog and I hope you enjoy it.

 

In my first post I want to write about something as simple as the weather. Before coming to Austin I saw on Internet how the weather was in the city in order to be aware about the temperature of the season and the clothes I should pack in my luggage. I could observe that, in winter, both cities, Rosario and Austin, have practically the same temperatures so I just had to take some of the clothes from my wardrobe. Nothing seemed to be new or unusual about this matter.

However, something that might look so elementary and uncomplicated like the weather, brought me the first surprise of the trip. The day we arrived the weather was sunny and warm, so it wasn't necessary more than a jumper. The next day it was freezing at morning and I had to go out with my jacket, scarf, gloves and hat. It was hotter since noon and at night you could wear just a shirt. The next day, it was cold and cloudy all day long. Thereby, day after day, the weather was shifting of temperatures from one day to the other and even during the same day. So impressive is this fact, that people in Austin often say "“if you don’t like the weather, come back in 5 minutes".

This personal experience made me learn my first lesson of the trip. No matter how much one can plan a trip, how many things one had taken care about, there will always be something unexpected in a trip. And that's what make so wonderful traveling to other cities and countries. One can investigate on internet, read books about the different places, watch pictures, but nothing will replace the experience of visiting a new place.