Assignment 3 - William Begley - My Life Outside the US

My mom is from Honduras and my dad works as an archeologist that travels around the world to work with various organizations or on various projects. My dad is a professor at Transylvania University and every 7 years he takes a sabbatical to work on a project in a foreign country. In 2012, my whole family went with my dad on a 9 month sabbatical trip to Honduras. During this time I went to school and became immersed in the Honduran culture and spanish language.

I was 8 then 9 years old during the trip (my birthday was about halfway through), and it was one of the things that shaped me most in my life. Living in a country where I did not speak any of the language and learning how to communicate and live in a foreign environment made me the person I am today.

During this time I lived in a house about a half mile from the main city center of Tela which is a coastal town in Northern Honduras. It was a fairly good sized city with a large resort beside our house which was right on the beach. I woke up and walked to school which was only about 5 minutes from my house after we cut through a horse field. We also lived right beside a bakery where I went often to get different treats. I spent a lot of my time playing at the beach and eventually it became less fun than staying home as our house was effectively on the beach and we would go everyday. 

After living in Honduras, I came back to the US and hearing people speak English at the airport was something I remember vividly as being very weird to me. Also, coming back to a culture much different made me appreciate the different little things people do differently around the world.