Arriving in Tallahassee has been a different experience from the one we imagined it would be. There are a lot of questions that arise, but the most important of all is: Where am I going to stay? Most of us already have leased apartments or gotten a dorm room, but many of them don’t open until the a few days before classes, and you have to be here two weeks early for international student orientation. If you do not have a reservation in a hotel, or have talked to another friend to stay at their house for a few days until your lease term begins, your cultural-shock headache starts.

     After the moving-in hazel is over, the move-around one comes. This is when you realize the advantages of cheap Panamanian transportation or the luxury of having a car. Don’t get me wrong, buses are free for FSU card holders and the system is definitely more organized than the Panamanian one; however they only run until 10 o’clock on weekdays and 6 o’clock on weekends, so for entertainment purposes, you’re pretty much on your own. For Engineering students, including myself (Alicia), lets just say that our campus is not around the corner. To make it on time to a class I have at 2:45 pm, I have got to be at the bus stop at 1:45 pm, because the Engineering shuttle passes only once an hour. After a while you either get used to it or you get a car, but it is still hard at the beginning. To go out at night, if you don’t have a car, you should get prepared to spend a lot of money in taxis, because there is not much walking distance clubs.

     Next issue down the list: shopping. Either you have a dorm or an apartment will have practically nothing. We looooove shopping, but when it comes to carrying the bags back home, you start whishing you were Jeannie-in-a-bottle so you could only twist your nose and appear everything you wanted where you wanted it. Grocery shopping once you’re settled in is another hassle. You just wish you could take the supermarket cart all the way back home (don’t try this, it’s against the law!). However, these trips if done with friends or roommates can even become amusing.

     Homesickness hits us all, to some more than others. Yet there’s a vast Panamanian society here, so in a way you feel like there’s always a group of people backing you up, who know what you’re going through. Ironically though, believe it or not, you have a tendency to speak more Spanish that way, because it’s that “secret” language that only you and your fellow Panamanians understand.

     The campus itself is enormous. Forget about taking classes set 5 minutes apart if you’re taking classes in main campus, on different buildings. Garnet, Gold, Tomahawk, Renegade and even the Heritage, the school shuttles, become your best friends, unless you’re up for a running marathon challenge between classes. However, there’s almost everything on campus, from fancy restaurants to night clubs. It’s really something else, although nothing could really compare to the lovely view of our Panama Campus and our small lounge where you could find almost anybody you might want to see.

     Finally when you have overcome the cultural impact of the first month, you have to get used to living on your own. At the beginning you feel great; you feel you are the king/queen of the world, but after a while issues begin. You start knowing your roommates better, and you realize that you are not as compatible as you thought they would be. But that is all part of the game: if you choose to play it, you take it all, but if you don’t, you forget about every good aspect of it.

     Overall it has been an interesting experience. We’re all out there, with new paths to discover. We know eventually it will all be easier, just like our friends, already seniors, make it sound. Right now we’re just in that gap where everything seems chaotic, crazy, and frustratingly fun (meaning so frustrating it’s actually funny). I guess we just have to wait, get up earlier to get the bus on time, build up some muscle carrying grocery bags, and set forth to living college life to the fullest!


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