The Beginning

My name is Ryan Sanchez. I am in high school and I will tell you the stories of my adventure as a foreign exchange student. So it begins...

At last I arrived in the land that I would call "home" for 10 months on Thursday, September 18th 2009. It seems very full of life and very different from what I am used to. The name of the country I will reside in for the school year is Spain.

I am part of a group that is participating in a foreign exchange program. So far, I have met many people from Germany, Canada and the US. Everyone has shared stories of where they come from and what has brought them to Spain. I myself am from the States (Michigan) and my goal is to learn Spanish. Imagine confusing thirst with sadness, which is what I did when I was in Mexico last year. I said to my mom and aunt, “estoy triste.” What I actually meant to say was “tengo sed.” Or saying I’m going to sleep in the sky (cielo) when I meant to say floor (suelo). My parents thought it was funny but I knew I was in trouble. I’d like to be able to speak Spanish well enough to communicate without embarrassing myself. So that’s what I’m doing here.

For orientation all the students in the program met at a hostel in Barcelona and from there we would go our separate ways. Staying in a hostel is quite an experience...just imagine staying in a hotel room except with seven other guys, one shower to share, bunk beds and air conditioning that came from the open window when breezes came in. Hostels are popular with college students. We students stayed in this hostel while touring some of Barcelona. One thing that I thought was a magnificent sight was La Sagrada Familia, a Spanish cathedral by Gaudi. Even though I saw the cathedral from the outside I know I must return to explore the inside. We also saw a lot of other architecture by Gaudi. It was a great two days hanging out with kids from around the world and seeing Barcelona at the same time.

On Sunday, September 20th, all the students departed to their host families. Some stayed in Barcelona while others took an overnight train or flew to their destination. My host family picked me up. They live in Sabadell, a city northwest of Barcelona, about 40 minutes away. They were very glad to meet me and are very nice people. My host brother, Oscar, is the same age as me. His brother, Abel, is 22 and is in college. Oscar and I are in the same classes, so that is good. My host mother and father are very nice and helpful. They are both elementary schoolteachers. Well, that is all for today. In my next post, I’ll talk about my classes at school. Until then, hasta luego.