Picture this: you’re stepping off the plane after just touching down in a strange new land. Almost immediately, you’re greeted with a massive mural of the American flag, its bright stars and colorful stripes making you stop and stare, in awe of the large wall painting.
“I was very tired, but also filled with excitement. It was the first thing I saw,” exchange student Victoria Vestergren Gil. She is one of these exchange students who landed here this August, as part of an organized trip by International Experience, a company which connects international students with host families in the U.S. The company brings together students from all over the country, and not everyone is from the same part of Spain (Vestergren Gil is from Barcelona, for example.)
“I’ve never been to the United States before, but I do love traveling. My last two trips were to Panama and Canada,” Madrilenian exchange student Candela Martinez de Silva said. While de Silva misses her family, she, along with many other students, have adjusted well to their new home.
“I thought it was going to be much harder, but with having a lot of things to do every day I can’t stop and think about it for too long,” de Silva said. And they’ve had plenty to do while spending time here in America, from apple picking to spending time at The Big E with their host families. It hasn’t been completely flawless, however. “I miss the meals, and sitting down as a family for lunch and dinner at the table. It’s the one thing I really miss,” Vestergren Gil said. Regardless, the exchange students have been having a wonderful time, and feel treated well by everyone here at ELHS.
“I’d heard that [Americans] are mean and not as open to meeting people, but everyone I’ve met has been very open and nice to me here,” Vestergren Gil said.
