Double Exchange: From Missouri to Barcelona

If you know me or have followed this blog for any amount of time, you already know that I’m really passionate about international exchange programs. The AFS program has changed my life in so many ways – it’s responsible for the chain of events that turned me into an international traveler, and it also brought me an Italian sister last year. This year, I’m the one living abroad, and Gaia’s family has become my family on this side of the world. Next week, I’ll leave Madrid to spend Christmas in Sardinia.

My family is hosting another AFS exchange student this year – Gemma, from Barcelona. The day that I left to move to Spain is the day that Gemma arrived to live with my family, so I haven’t met her in person. From the beginning, Gemma’s dad, Pep, has told my parents that I’m welcome to visit them in Barcelona any time. With the puente last week – Spanish for “bridge” but used as slang to mean long holiday weekend – I finally took him up on the offer.

So last weekend, we had a double exchange! Gemma is living in my house with my family, and for a few days, I was living in her house with her family. I think that’s the coolest thing ever.

From the moment I arrived in Barcelona, I felt so welcomed. Pep picked me up at the airport – although it took us about 30 minutes to find each other, made more difficult by the fact that we’d never met before. After all the traveling I’ve done recently, it was so nice to not have to figure out what metro, bus, etc. I’d need to take to get where I need to go. We went back to the house and I found my room for the next few days – Gemma’s room.

Though I visited Barcelona by myself for a few days two years ago, it’s a totally different feeling being part of a family and living like the locals do. We’re eating delicious Spanish and Catalonian food on the Spanish meal schedule… which is something I’m still not accustomed to, despite being here for 3 months now! On my first night, we had a big feast – at least that’s what it felt like to me. Pep’s fiancée Sonia came over, with her “exchange student” – Lien (22) from Belgium, who’s doing a program in Barcelona this year – and two of Pep’s friends came as well. In Catalonian households, the main language spoken is Catalan, but I don’t know it, so Pep declared the two official languages of the weekend to be English and Spanish.

The next day, Gemma’s brother Marçal (18) and I went into the city together. Since I’d done most of the touristy things last time I was here, he took me to some of his favorite places and was able to provide me with good commentary on history and politics. Even though we’d just met, I felt like I already had a friend, and it was funny to think about our respective sisters living together as sisters in the U.S. I feel like that somehow makes him my brother 😂

Amazingly, there was another AFS connection that weekend! One of the exchange students from when I was a senior in high school, 8 years ago – Saara, from Finland – messaged me to tell me she’d be in Barcelona during the puente too! She was letting me know “just in case” since she knows I live in Madrid, but she had no idea I’d also be in Barcelona at the same time! The last time I saw her was about 2 and a half years ago when she came back to visit Kansas City, so I was super excited that everything came together in this way.

The two of us met up for brunch on Saturday morning, which quickly turned into Saturday afternoon. Saara is in medical school in Riga, Latvia, now and has not only studied in the U.S. but Hong Kong as well. It was SO GOOD to see her, to catch up and talk with someone I’ve known for so long, who also understands the desire to travel and live abroad. When we were in high school, I don’t think either of us would have expected that 8 years later we’d be in a café in Barcelona together. (And this wasn’t the first time I’d met up with AFS alumni around the world.)

I was super sad to say goodbye when it was finally time to leave Barcelona – just like I was when I left Sardinia after spending a week there in September. Though I don’t really get homesick, it’s such a great feeling to feel like I have family on this side of the world. I have an Italian mom and dad, and now I have a Catalonian dad, too! They’ve treated me just like a daughter, and even though I was never an AFS student, I still can’t believe all the ways I’ve benefited from this program. I can’t wait to see all the ways it continues to change my life.

If you want to make awesome connections like this, you can host an exchange student too 😉 Let me know what questions you have! And keep an eye out for an upcoming post about Christmas in Sardinia.

-Cathy

Originally Published on December 14, 2018.