My Anchor Abroad

During my time in Latvia, I lived with a host mom named Ilona. Her husband was away at work, so it was just the two of us and her two cats, Poofa and Louis. Little did I know, she would become someone who I will forever care about. Going into this study abroad trip, I was  nervous for the whole host family aspect, unsure of what to make of it. On that first night in her home, I realized I would be well taken care of.

Of course that first week, we were still getting to know each other so communication was often awkward and hard at times. But then, starting that second week, I felt the urge to tell her about my day and ask her questions about the Russian language or Latvian culture. However, I did have that feeling that I didn’t connect with her as much as my other cohort members did with their host families. I later realized that it was just Ilona and I’s personalities. We didn’t need to communicate all the time because we understood each other. 

There were little things about our interactions that will always stick with me. I had gone to a festival one day for many hours and had gotten sunburnt on my face. When I arrived home, Ilona joked about it for a second of course but from that day on, she made sure I applied sunscreen on my face every day. She always made sure I had an umbrella and some fruit in my backpack with me (especially after I came home from the park soaking wet because I forgot an umbrella). Within that first week, she was able to narrow down the foods I loved to eat and always had them on hand so I would never go to bed hungry. She was always up for helping me navigate public transportation as I have grown up in an area where there is none. It was those little things that made her my mom away from home.