Before the Ruta...

   Now.You are probably wondering...what happened next?What did I do after I got the big news?How did I prepare for the expedition?
  After I got out of the Embassy I saw the contestant, who had formerly told me that I was not going to win the Ruta and that she would, crying outside in the rain.I guess it is true, he (well me in this case) who laughs last laughs the hardest.Then, while I was walking on my way to my highschool I called my mom and told her the big news.She was also in a state of shock.After that, I got to my highschool where I told my classmates that I had won.Some were happy for me, some congratulated me in an ironic way and some didn't say anything.Then, during the break I saw my Spanish History teacher.His teacher friends who were at the Embassy supporting their students had called him and told him that I had won.What can I say....news spreads faster than I thought.
  Later that night, I got on the facebook page of our Ruta and Maha, the "rutera" from Morocco added me as a friend and we instantly started to bond.Also later that night, my Hungarian friend told me the bad news: we weren't going to see eachother that summer, he hadn't won the Ruta :(.Better luck for him next year.
   As the days passed by, my parents' life got more and more stressful thanks to me continually talking to them about the Ruta and at school, everything went normal...well kind of...
  Each day we found out about more ruteros winning and we started adding them on facebook until one day I came up with the idea to make a group so that we can all be together and get to know eachother before the big day.I didn't manage to make the group, but my friend Jenia made it happen.It turns out to have been a success, because before the Ruta we were 160 people and now we are like 241.:)
  So...days passed, weeks passed, even months amd as the big day was getting closes and closer, I got even more and more anxios and my mind was lost, somewhere in my "ruta world".
  Then, one day I get a call from the Embassy.I had to go get my equipment.Finally, I could feel like a rutera.Well, everything was perfect until I had to go to school because I had an exam that day and I couldn't miss it.I still remember the weird looks on people's faces when they were looking at me, walking with my backpack on my back, which even bigger than me :).Well, that wasn't it.After I finished the classes, it started raining.Now...what came into my mind? why not put on my raincoat?Now...if I had lived close to school, that wouldn't have been a horrible idea, but I also had to take the metro.I looked like Humpty-Dumpty.Big backpack underneath, small backpack in my front, and a big yellow raincoat over it.The looks on people's faces: priceless.
 After that..came more days of thinking about the Ruta, a radio interview, and some more thinking about the Ruta.I started counting the days since they were 117, but soon they got less and less and I got a bit scared.The only time that I felt a bit safe was when I read the list with the winners from all over the world and I saw Julie's name and Viki's( I met them last year in a camp in Spain and Julie was one of my best friends:) ).
 As the big day got closer, I kept pinching myself.Was it really true?Had my dream become reality? And then came the moments when I kept doubting myself and kept worrying about how the Ruta might be.What if I will not resist the hikes?What if I will not understand the people around me?What if I will not get along with my tentmates?What if...?
  Then, there was like 1 week until the Ruta and there was this thing on the site called "protagonistas" and my friend said why don"t you try out? I just went for it and so one day we decided to film the clip.I had the script on a piece of paper and my friend was holding it while filming me.You will have the impression that my eyes were rolling, but the truth is that she was moving the paper and making it hard for me to read and I tried to look at the camera but also read.Quite hard :(.
 Now, one day before the Ruta, I was more and more nervous.This was it.My dream.24 hours away from being fullfilled.Did I get any sleep? NO...

Well, my next post will be about the first day in the Ruta....


THE QUETZAL STARTS TO FLY.....

 
 
 

How it all started...

   It was autumn 2009, I was in the 9th grade and we were in out Spanish Geography class.My teacher kept talking about these 2 competitions and one of them was Ruta Quetzal.He only told us that a girl from our school had won this competition and went on a trip to Chile, after winning a national competition.By then, Ruta Quetzal was a dream, but at the same time someting unreachable, because since there was only one spot it made it almost impossible for me to win.
  The months passed by and we heard nothing about this competition, until one day my Spanish teacher reminded us about the Ruta Quetzal.For some reason, no one in my class wanted to try out.She told me to just go to the competition even though I might not win, because it's a nice experience and I might even learn something from it.She still didn't convince me.
  Less then a week from the competition, the school principal called us all to the auditorium for a presentation of the Ruta Quetzal.The trip that I had in mind was nothing like the presentation.Tents?Conferences?Lots of trekking?Well...not  my ideal type of trip.That day though, I just thought that I might just try out for the competition, because I needed to try something new, something different, a challenge so I started filling out the forms.
  The day of the competition: I felt quite confindent because I had learned a lot about Mexico and about the Mayans (because the name of the expedition was the white routes of the Mayans).I got to the Institute where the contest was held. There, there were like 17 people, the only problem was getting past the first part because I knew I could pass the interview.After the ex-rutera presented the expedition and some of the equipment we were all put to sit down and close our mobile phones and make sure that nothing  was on the table.Then we were given white sheets of paper and a pen.We waited for  a while and then a man started writing on the whiteboard.The words weren't the ones that I had expected."EL DESCUBRIMIENTO DE AMERICA".My mom had been right.Just the night before the competition she had told me that I should look over the discovery of America but I told her that it was too common and that I didn't think that they would make us write an essay about it.I WAS WRONG.I did however manage to write something about it but it wasn't that good.
  A week later, the results came.I kept being optimistic about the contest and still thought that my name would somehow appear on the list.I was wrong.It was just not meant to be.
  I never give up easily so I kept following the RUTA QUETZAL on their site and tried to improve my Spanish skills meanwhile learning about Peru(the place where the following expedition was going to take place).So, in December I went to the Embassy of Spain and handed in my application form.I was the first one to sign up.
  As the weeks passed by, I found out that my friend from Hungary was also participating and that he had qualified for the interview.This was my chance to see him again and have fun together one more summer.
  The day of the competition came.I remember that I was a bit nervous it was my last chance.After the "ruteras" from the past year had presented the Ruta for us and talked to us about how the expedition was like, it was time for us to start the contest.Seated, with a blue pen and a blank paper waiting to be filled next to me I nervously waited for the subject to be put on the whiteboard.Different questions ran through my mind at that moment.What if it's something that I've never heard about? What if I don't have time to finish my ideas?What if...? Then, as the clock was ticking the whiteboard was being filled with the words: " WRITE AN ESSAY EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMMILARITIES BETWEEN ROMANIA AND SPAIN".The time limit was of 2 hours.I had no idea where to start, what to say and my imagination was leaving me just as I was trying to achieve the most important thing in my life.This was no good.Half an hour had passed and my page was blank.As I looked around everyone was concentrated, writing and writing ans smiling ironically at me that I was confuse.Then it hit me.It was now or never.It didn't matter if I had anything to write about or not so I just decided to put the pen on the paper and let my imagination flow.I wrote and I wrote.Now the girls who were laughing a few minutes ago were now panicking and pretending to think and then write just to descourage me.
  A week had passed and no news about the Ruta.Then one day I recieved a phone call.They had liked my essay and now they wanted me to go to the interview.
  It was January 21st, I put on my hoody, my boots and my large pants and I headead for the Embassy.I know that it wasn't the most suitable choice for an interview because as I entered everyone was in shirts and some were even wearing skirts or dresses,but come on, we're talking about an interview for an expedition.I waited and waited and as I heard my name, a girl who until then had been my friend said "you will not get the spot, it is mine".As I entered the room three women were waiting for me.I answered all the questions and then the question that changed everything came up "why should we pick you?" and I started talking about my passion for RQ and how much I wanted to win.After all of the interviews finished, we had to wait 45 minutes for the results.Those were the largest 45 minutes of my life.I was thinking "now this was my last chance.what if I blew it?what am I going to do now?".The jury then came with a piece of paper in their hands.As they were talking i tried to read the name from underneath, but I couldn't see anything.I was scared.Then the words that changed my life forever were "Our decision was very hard to make,but in the end we've decided to give the scolarship to the one who wanted it the most: Alina Radoi".After hearing my name I remained in a state of shock.I had done it.I had accomplished my dream.I saw people crying and people congratulating me.As I got out of the building I called my mom and gave her the good news.She was also in a state of shock because she had been the one telling me that I would never be able to do it, but here I am mom, living my dreams.