This week at my school, there are Ecuadorian exchange students coming to visit! Every year, students from their school come to stay with us for a week because of a connection our Spanish teacher, Señora Espinoza, has with their school in Ecuador. Everyone now looks forward to it as a really fun tradition. The students first stop in Chicago to experience the city, roughly 2 hours away from my town. They then relocate to live with their host families, who are volunteers from our school.

Last year, when the Ecuadorians visited, I had a lot of fun. I was in AP Spanish at the time, which meant that the whole week was spent with them. They spoke English well, much better than we spoke Spanish! It was exciting while still being a little intimidating, but the exchange students were super patient, even when we stumbled over words. Despite that, it was a fun experience to have them teach us slang and things about the language that we usually didn’t learn in class. This year, although I’m not in class anymore, I’m still experiencing the exchange through the Spanish Honors Society and other culture-based clubs, and am looking forward to seeing them around the school and spending the next week with them. 

All of the exchange students are curious about American life, so we’ve been sharing lots of things about our culture here as well! They’ve asked questions about everything from high school sports – they got to experience the student section during a Friday night football game – to why people here are so obsessed with Halloween. They’re looking forward to celebrating Halloween next week, as they’ve never seen how Americans celebrate with trick-or-treating and spooky get-togethers! A few of them have also tried pumpkin spice lattes for the first time, and we’ll just say that their reactions were…mixed. It’s been interesting to see how they view our lives from a fresh point of view.

I’m super grateful that our school continues this tradition each year. It’s a reminder that education is more than just attending classes – it’s also making new friends, sharing stories, and being open to learning about different lifestyles. I’m confident that these connections will last long after the week is done, whether it’s through hosting next year or talking about the experience in clubs. The students that I met last year are still in touch with many people from our school, including me, through various forms of social media. Maybe some of us will even go to Ecuador when they host us in the spring! For now, though, I’m looking forward to an exciting week of learning even more about Ecuadorian culture.