New friends and new experiences

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New friends and new experiences

by Justyn Illingworth

New friends and new experiences

By Justyn Illingworth I have just returned from my trip to Florida with my friends and it was an amazing experience. As we traveled back in the plane I was thinking of all the things that we have done and all the experiences lived with them.

As soon as I arrived to Florida I was very nervous, since I didn’t know what was going to happen and who I was going to meet on my trip. Well, it has been an amazing experience as I met some new people and we visited incredible places.

I wanted to share with you a few things that I loved about living in Florida and the new experiences that I have lived.

1. I have made some great friends here. I stayed a few months in Miami and then I went to Orlando to work for a while. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming to someone that came from Ecuador. I wasn’t expecting meeting so many people and that they ended up being so nice to me. Now we are really good friends and I am expecting them to come and visit me in Quito.

2. I learned a lot about the culture and discovered amazing beaches. My favorite place was Clearwater. It was located one hour away from Orlando.

There were always a lot of people there and they were always nice and friendly. The sand in this beach was really white and the water was so clear that you could go in and still you could see your feet! It was amazing!

3. The food was really good. I loved everything that we ate. I have sweet tooth and when I was staying in Orlando, I visited Carlo’s Bakery at the Florida Mall. The pastries where spectacular, I wanted to eat there every single day. The main problem was that they were pretty expensive and, since I was working to save money for my car, I couldn’t eat there as often as I wanted.

4. I could improve my English and meet a lot of people that came from all over the world to visit the parks. Most of them were families with their children, but I could meet some young people that wanted to have fun and invited me to go out after my shift.

5. I loved to teach them about Ecuador and the differences between American and Ecuadorian culture. They were really interested on how we do things and how we celebrate the holidays. Once, I prepared them ceviche, which is a typical dish from my country. They loved it and wanted to learn how to prepare it so their family could try it!

These are just a few thoughts - I could write a very long list. I have realized how lucky I am to have met so many people and to have share with them so many things from our culture.

New friends and new experiences

by Justyn Illingworth