My second year in America on the Work and Travel program was more interesting, at least for me. After the initial shock - where am I, what can I do, where and with whom - everyone starts wondering how to earn more money, travel more and add some variety to their daily routine.
I chose to go back to the same place as my previous year's summer job, because I liked it - the nature, the people - and I had the chance to choose which position to work in.
Together with some girls I had been with on the Work and Travel program, we returned for a second summer and had made up our minds to buy a car so we could travel and be more independent. It's not easy to buy one in Bulgaria if you know nothing about cars, let alone in the USA. An American coworker took pity on us and helped us assess whether it was fit to drive, because like almost every girl, all we could see was the rust and the scratched paint. We had lots of adventures with our Honda. For me especially it was a big deal - I had just gotten my license, and off I went. The first and last time I drove alone, I got a flat tire on the highway. It turned out I had a spare, but no tools to change it. I flagged down some people to help me, one even offered to go to town to buy a wrench, and in the end I drove off on the spare tire, which I couldn't drive fast on, and a new one had to be bought. Getting to the garage, and then the time spent there, was quite a show, as you can imagine. In the end, I could proudly say that I got a flat tire, managed to find someone to change it, and made it home safe and sound in time for work :D
All these emotions made me grow up, more or less. They taught me that if I don't ask for something, nobody is going to give it to me.
Now with an idea of what I wanted to see, a group of friends and I organized trips to San Francisco and New York. Like anything involving more than one person, something went wrong from the very first day: we reorganized the whole plan for our stay and booked hotels at the last minute. Since we were stressed, it was hard to make sensible decisions, and in a foreign country it was even harder. But at the end of every day and every trip, we were happy and satisfied with what we had seen.
There are still many places I want to see and visit again. But in the end, the WAT program gave me a lot - new friends from all over the world, confidence in my knowledge and skills, and memories for a lifetime. The kind of stories you would tell your grandchildren with your head held high. Who's thinking about kids, let alone grandkids, right now - but you can always brag to mom, dad, acquaintances and friends. Don't hesitate - go and sign up for a student summer job, that's my personal advice. Later on, even if you want to, you won't be able to!
Alis