It's June 30th, 2018. I remember the day as if it were yesterday.

My loved ones and I were at the airport waiting for the flight to be announced so I could start my new journey, this time not in Argentina but in Canada.

But wait…am I ready? I didn't think I was.

There were so many questions in my head that needed to be answered. Am I going to understand what people are saying when they speak to me? Am I going to be able to compete at the next level? Will I be benched for the next four years? Is the coach going to like me? Am I going to adapt to the culture? How am I going to do it without my family? (Up until this time, my mom had never missed a single game in my life - not even when I played in other provinces or abroad.)

So what now? My flight was called and it was time to go through customs, leave everybody and everything I knew behind to go somewhere new where no one will know me. After 20 minutes of hugging and crying, I was ready to go. Actually, it was the last call so I had to go otherwise I would have missed my flight.

My biggest mistake that day was looking back and seeing everybody standing there, knowing that in 24 hours we would be more than 9,000 km apart and having no idea when we'd be together again. That hit me hard! I was so close to walking back and telling my mom to take me back home because I was staying. But she would have killed me if I had done that. So here I come, Canada!

For those who don't know, nowadays, there are no direct flights fromBuenos Aires to Montreal or Toronto, so the flight is pretty long. 

I hopped on the first plane with my 100 suitcases and bags.

Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile

It was a pretty quick flight, only 2 hours. It was annoying to have to move all of my stuff on and off the plane for just 2 hours. There's nothing that Starbucks won’t fix to calm me down, though. 

Time for the long guy!

Santiago, Chile to Toronto, Canada

11 hours and 15 minutes later, after sleeping, watching movies, writing long messages to my family, looking at every single picture on my camera roll and wondering why I decided to put myself in a position where I had to be on a plane for 11 straight hours, we are in CANADA! Oh Canada... so much English for me right now. I was already starting to freak out, but I hid it pretty well. 

After a two hour stopover in Toronto, I had one last flight to get close to the famous Lennoxville.

Toronto, Canada to Montreal, Canada 

A quick nap and I arrived in Montreal. I overheard so much of a new language that I don’t really know what language it is - Ça va? Oui. Le français. There was also English but I did not really understand that either.

After so many hours of going through customs, having my visa checked and sitting on a plane, I finally got to venture outside! 

All of my gear and I were then ready to continue the hour and a half drive to Lennoxville. (By this time, it was already midnight). I got to Lennoxville and went straight to bed until the afternoon of the following day - July 1st, Canada Day! 

July 2nd marked the first day of my English Explore Program. (With not knowing any English and the fact I needed to pass this program in a month to be accepted into Bishop's was making me super anxious.) Later that day, I met with my coach who introduced me to some of the men's basketball players, as well as Jayne, one of my teammates.

“Hello. I am Jayne.” “Hello, I am Ama. Do you want to be friends?” Thanks to Jayne, the basketball guys, my Explore Program friends, many talks at Dewies and Mackinnon, after a month I could officially say, I AM OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED TO BISHOP’S! 

Once training camp ended, my English was good enough to be around everybody. The pre-season had begun and it went far better than expected.

Everything was looking good until my visa was refused for the first time. What now? I had to stop practicing with my team. What was I doing here now? I applied again. Individual workouts got so boring. I wanted to leave so badly. A month later, my visa was denied for the second time. 

Things were not working. The season was about to start and I didn’t have a visa. It was November and we decided along with members of the school to find a lawyer who could actually get me an approved visa - some said the case was too complicated and they did not want to take it. But, we found one!

After preparing 150 documents, we submitted the visa application for the third time. However, things didn't get any easier. My visitor visa’s six month period was about to expire. I needed to leave Canada. Some said I could cross the border to the US but that only would have worked for someone that had a US visa, which I did not. I needed to go home. Things were not working out as expected and I was missing my family way too much. I decided to leave. 

Meanwhile, in Argentina it was summer. It was a crazy change to go from a -30 degree Canadian winter to +30 degrees in an Argentinian summer. Returning home turned out to be the best decision I'd ever made. For the first time in a while, I was so happy. 

It was right after Christmas when I received a call. 

"Ama, we got it. Your visa is approved. Now you can come back. We have a Christmas tournament. You will miss the first game and play the second. " 

I was like, “ Wait, what?” I didn't want to come back. I wanted to spend New Year's with my family in Argentina, not alone in Canada. 

In less than 24 hours, I was on a plane back to Canada and, after sleeping less than five hours, I was warming up to play against Carleton. Every shot was too short - things weren't great. I was exhausted but, at the end of the day, I had my visa.

The winter semester had finally arrived - classes started and basketball was back!

After the season, I realized I could actually play here at this level in Canada. I was named to the RSEQ All-Rookie Team (even though I didn't know what that meant). Regardless, it was great and my mom would love the picture. ?? A week later, I got the news that I was a member of the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team. I did not truly understand the magnitude of the award until the following year. Being an All-Rookie at the national level after just playing half of the season is so hard. 

At Bishop's, I finished the year as the Rookie of the Year for the women's basketball team and the Female Rookie of the Year for all of Bishop's. More pictures for my mom! ??

The year came to an end, and I was ready to go back home for the summer. What a crazy year. I needed some much needed rest while I could get it - at least my return to Canada will be smoother next time.

See you next year, Gaiters!

#GaiterNation | Be Unstoppable!