The little things

     It's the little things that make a difference to me, the little things that aren't usually important and that aren't special, but to me, they mean a lot.
     For example, the other day in class, my teacher was asking me questions and I was getting really confused and when she stopped talking to me, one of my classmates, who I really haven't even talked to yet, just looked over at me and smiled. I don't know why but that just made me smile, and put me in a better mood.
     Or like a couple of the girls in my class asking if I wanted to come sit by the pool with them during one of our classes. Or the day we had that weird non-class, bonding day, and during our free time, they waited for me outside and asked me to walk with them and hangout with them. 
     Or how a girl who isn't even in any of my classes always smiles at me or winks at me in the hallway and she always finds the time to ask me how I'm doing and to talk to me when she can.
     Or like in Latin, every Wednesday, we work with a group on a project. Our teacher let us pick groups, and on the first day, these three girls immediately came up to me and asked me if I wanted to be in their group. Of course I said yes, I mean I didn't exactly have a better option. They explain things to me, help me along the way, and they treat me like a friend and classmate, not like some weird foreign chick that's unapproachable because she's not fluent in the language. They asked me why I'm always with this one guy (Kasper, he's in my class), and I told them honestly, because not many people talk to me, and he does. (Side track- there's a hell of a lot of people that talk about me...still not sure whether it's good or bad... but not a whole lot that talk to me, and I'm still not sure why). Anywho, the girls were like, "Well, and us!! We're your friends too." And now we hang out during "recreo" or "free time." 
     Or how my teacher made me read in Lengua (literature), which I wasn't entirely comfortable with, and afterward, the guy sitting in front of me turned around and said I did a good job reading, and that I read it well. 
     I know these things are really stupid and unimportant, but they make a difference to me. These are things that make me feel good, that make me feel a little better. Because I'm not going to lie, it's still hard. I still feel like an outsider. I know it takes time, and obviously I'm not going to make best friends right at the beginning, especially since I don't even speak the same language, and I'm pretty quiet in school. But still, it's so different from the US, because I'm so used to being the loud, crazy person with a bunch of friends who is a lot of times the center of attention. Here, it's just so different right now, and I feel a little out of my element still. But I know things will get better, and I can feel myself getting better at Spanish and more comfortable here every day. And these tiny gestures make me feel that much more comfortable. 
     So, moral of the story: smile, say hi, wave, wink, give a compliment. Do something small for someone, because that tiny thing that you find insignificant can make a difference. That little smile can make someone who is having a horrible day turn their frown upside down, to borrow from elementary school vernacular... It can impact someone's life in a way you never imagined. So take a little time out of your day, even just a fraction of a second, to smile or wave or to do whatever you can do to make someone feel a little more comfortable, a little more happy, and a little more loved.