The Nichols Family-Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

An Interview with Noche: A Golden Age

Levi, how do you feel like you have grown over the last two years?

I feel like I have grown in that now I feel more brave and independent. When I first arrived in Morelia, I was only 13 years old and had almost no confidence in anything I did because everything was so foreign and I was paranoid that everyone would notice that I did everything differently and would think I was unintelligent or incompetent.

Now, after almost two years of living here and learning the language, I feel so much less hesitant to approaching things because I don’t have to depend on others to help me and if I hesitate, things won’t get done.

What would you tell others who may be entering into a similar situation of moving to a new culture?

You can’t expect things to be the same. You can’t worry about what other people may think about you. If you do, it’s going to take a lot longer for you to adapt to the culture. During the first year, I tried to stay in my own bubble and didn’t let people reach out to me. I focused on what I didn’t have and what I had lost instead of what I could gain and the people who were trying to get to know me.

Now I have friends, skills, and abilities I didn’t have before and can now enjoy living in Morelia. I am more than just surviving.

There is Life After School - Levi (Noche) Nichols

I can’t believe we have already been here just short of a year!

The school year just flew by in a blur. Even though I almost failed history, the entirety of the Nichols children has officially made it through what will probably be the toughest school year of our lives. But enough about that…I am supposed to talk about the summer and what we’ve been doing.

After officially completing school, we took about a two-week break roaming throughout our house, eating whatever we wanted; now that we knew decent Spanish, eating healthy was below us, and we were essentially basking in our success for a bit.

After that, though, we decided that we should look into future summer activities. We found a place called El Venustiano, a big sports complex with basketball courts, an Olympic-sized track, an indoor competitive swimming pool, and lots of lessons for lots of different activities there. While my sisters swim, my dad and I play tennis on the court right next to them.

We have also been doing Spanish lessons every morning with my mom for about two hours. We wake up at 7:30 every day in summer which isn't all that great, but I feel the Spanish section of my brain getting bigger to hold all of the information. I am learning that throughout all the struggles of this year, I will be able to eventually get through it.

Ten months ago, when there was a problem, I would have probably given up, but now, I am able to figure out a way to overcome it. In short, it has been an exceptionally eventful summer and I can't wait to see how the rest of this year will turn out.

Thoughts from a TCK (Third Culture Kid) - December 5, 2021

I don’t really know what to write about, so I am just going to lead you through a normal weekday of my life - let’s say Monday.

First, I wake up at around five thirty. Morelia has a one-hour time change; therefore, school goes from seven to two instead of eight to three. We leave for school at six forty, so I usually skip breakfast.

Once I get to school, I say hi to my classmates. Right now, we have about ten people in our class. My school speaks Spanish, and it is hard to focus, but most of the time I manage.

First, we have math, then history, then Spanish. My math teacher, who is also my science teacher, can speak great English, which makes it a lot easier. It’s kind of funny how the meanings for the classes Spanish and English are the opposite here: Spanish class is like my former English class, such as grammar and literature, and English is a second-language class for them.

After those three classes, we have our first break, which lasts around thirty minutes. We can buy breakfast/lunch, sit, and talk. Some days we play soccer in the gym. Then we have the next two classes: English and French. English is by far the easiest class I have, and the teacher is really fun.

After that, I have to learn French in Spanish, but my French teacher used to teach English as well, and he helps me. After that we will have second break, which is just like first break accept fifteen minutes instead of thirty. Then, I have two final classes, Cívica y Ética and science. Cívica y Ética is Civics and Economics, which is basically explaining the economic systems of Mexico and the part the government plays. Science is just like regular science, except in Spanish. On Thursdays, we have lab following science where we do an experiment.

At 2:00, Daddy picks us up, and we go home to eat family lunch. We can have alone time or do whatever we want for about an hour, and then Selah and I go to Asessoria Académica, or homework help. We can get all our homework done and then learn Spanish for about an hour and a half.

In Mexico, everyone always pronounces Levi differently, and I don’t like it, so I go by my middle name, Night, translated to Spanish, Noche. It was weird for a while, but now I will turn my head whenever I hear it. After Asessoria, we go home, eat supper around 9PM, and go to bed. This is my basic Monday.