Marina Rodriguez L.

2009-10 Inbound from Spain

Hometown: Madrid, Spain

Sponsor: Majadahonda Rotary Club, District 2201, Spain

Host: St. Johns Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Bartram Trail High School, St. Johns, Florida

Bio

Marina's Bio

Hello, I am Marina. I am an exchange student who is studying in Florida, I am from Spain, Madrid. Here everything is different, but I love it. I think that this year is going to be the best experience of my life.

I am very active, that is why I am trying to be in a sport team here. In Spain I am in an artistic skating team. Also I am very sensitive, and I am so lucky because I love my host family, and I am vey comfortable with them. In Spain I have one sister who is 26. There I live with my parents because she is living with her boyfriend, I have a cat too. I really love animals. My hobbies are spending time with friends, watching movies, going shopping, and doing sport.

I want to be a doctor, or an architect, but I am not really sure yet. My favorite subjects are art and math, and my favorite place to be is the beach.

October 9 Journal

I arrived in Florida on August 13th, so I have been here for almost two months. In this period of time I have done many things, I have been in incredible places, and I have lived totally new experiences.

I am really lucky because I love my host family. My host mom, Shelly, gives me the hugs that I need, and both of them, my host dad, Dan, and my host mom, are always taking care of me, and helping me with absolutely everything. They make me feel like at home. I also have two host sisters, Lindsey and Casey, and we have a very close relationship, I love spending time with them, and we share everything. Lindsey is becoming my best friend!!! I am really happy at home.

At the beginning was harder, I think that my first day of the school was the worst day of my life. I was new in a huge high-school, Bartram Trail, with many people, and I felt alone and lost.

But now is getting better. I know people; I am starting to make very good friends, and to enjoy a lot with them.

Also I am going to American football games, and they are so fun, and it is the first time I see that sport!!

I have been in Saint Augustine beach with some of the other exchange students, and it was so amazing! I had my homecoming week, and we dressed up everyday, like boys, like nerds, hah. I went to my Homecoming dance, it was awesome, I felt like in a movie, that day was one of the best days here! I felt like a princess with my new red dress and my perfect hair.

Also I have been in Jekyll Island with my host family, we rode our bikes the whole day, it was so cool! And I am going many times to the beach; which is one of my favorite places to go.

I am really enjoying this experience, and MY ENGLISH IS GETTING BETTER!!!! The other night I dreamed in English! I am so glad!

I will write again soon! I promise! Marina 

December 17 Journal

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeello!

Another two months have passed since last time I wrote the journal, and of course I have been through many things and really memorable moments. I have been here for four months!!

First of all, I am going to write about my daily life. I am still with the same host family, and each day is even better than the day before. Words cannot explain how I feel in this house. I am so happy. I love them; they love me. They trust me and that is one of the most important things to have when you are living far from home. These four people, well actually five (Jesse, but she is now in Brazil, so I haven't had the opportunity of meeting her yet), are the most welcoming people ever. I have become very close friends with Lindsey, who is 15. We share our secrets, feelings, stories, really good moments, and most importantly our love. We sleep together, really often. Almost every weekend we lie in one of our beds and we just start talking and talking for hours. Then, there is Casey, who is 13. I don’t know how to explain her; she is one of the best people I've ever met. We have a lot of fun moments. We watch many movies, we like going on bike rides, walking or skating, and we also talk a lot. She is a really mature girl, and I love her so much. And what can I say about my host parents? I cannot find the words to thank them for everything. I love them and I love being their new daughter. J

Well, you can see that at home everything is perfect. Now I am going to talk about the hardest part, HIGH-SCHOOL. I can't complain at all, things are getting better. I have made some close friends, and I have met more people. Silvia, apart from Lindsey, is my closest friend here. She has helped me since the beginning, and we have done many things together. We have gone to the movies, football games, we spent Halloween together, and we have spent the night in each other’s house a couple times. Apart from her, I have made more good friends like, Chip, Jared, Paige, Kelsie, Chris, Nicole, Jordan, Brandon, Tanner… and there are many people who come to me and are really nice, so that makes me feel happy. The classes are getting better. I have received my report card and everything was pretty good. I had all A's except from one B (as you see, I hate English 3 haha).

I am not going to lie and say that everything is perfect because that is not true. There are some days when I feel so alone. I am homesick and I miss my family, but even more my friends and my school. There everything was so easy… Back home I have both boy and girl friends, and here it is so hard to become a girl's friend. I am nice to them, I try not to flirt with the guys, but nothing changes… but you know what; I don't care anymore. Maybe I have many boy friends and just 3 or 4 girl friends, but I am happy with that. These people make me feel so special and they are making my year incredible. I love them!!

Many special moments have passed:

I went on a trip with my district people to Saint Augustine. We had a lot of fun all together, and we slept in a Rotarian’s house. So I have to thank them again for being so welcoming to me. I had an incredible weekend. We went to the beach, we had a party, we saw the alligator farm, and we went in a boat around the river. I really liked it!

Halloween was really fun. We had a party in my house on Friday, and I dressed up as a princessJ. On Saturday I went to ask for candy with my friends. I slept over in Silvia’s house. It was true American experience. On Veteran's Day I didn't have school, so I spent the day with all my district people. We went to the zoo, and also the mall, and it was a really good day! I have to say thank you to the Rotex people who made it possible. Also one day I went shooting with my host father and my two host sisters. It was the first time I shot a gun. I felt kind of weird because I was so scared, but I think I did a nice job!

One of the best days here was Thanksgiving. It was really cool having the whole family over, and so much food. I ate too much that day. We ate turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, eggs, and a big cake!!!! I really enjoyed Thanksgiving. The following day Lindsey and I woke up really early to go shopping. It was BLACK FRIDAY!! I bought really cheap things, and after that we hung out with some friends. It was an awesome day!

And the best thing so far, DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited before going, but once I got there I was even more! I enjoyed it a lot with everybody. I saw all the exchange students who live far from me. I was so happy to see, Anni, Gui, Rea, Danni, Malte, Vinny, Gabriel, Elena, Gracia, Clara, Carol, Simona, Lilia, Adam, Vinny,..! Well, actually all of them! We went to the four amazing parks. We hung out in the pool. One of the nights, my group of girls had a very intense conversation. I really needed to speak with people who are living the same experience that I am. I don't have words to explain how unforgettable those four days were! I can't wait until I see everybody again in the Keys. And of course I have to say thanks to Rotary, and to my Rotary Club that made this possible! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Well that is all. I will write soon. I am looking forward to live an American Christmas. So I will tell you everything about it!

Thank you very much for everything. Take care,

Marina! J

June 14 Journal

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelloo! I haven't written since December. I know I should have, but the past 6 months have been totally crazy, busy and amazing and I haven't found one moment. But here I am.

I have done so many new things and gone on lots of trips. I am going to highlight the most important moments.

-AMERICAN CHRISTMAS. It was an amazing experience; really fun. I shared incredible moments with my host family and I totally felt at home. I loved all my presents, and the food (of course).

-SEA CAMP. We did so many activities at the keys. I got to see all the Florida exchange students again, and that was the most important part for me. I had four incredible days with them!!

-HAWAII. I had the chance to spend one week in the most dreamed of place for me. It was paradise. I met so many new people from other states, and I hung out with a bunch of Florida exchange students as well. We did sooooooooooooo many things. We surfed, we shopped, we walked on the best beaches ever, we visited Pearl Harbor, etc.. I totally had THE TIME OF MY LIFE!

-SPRING BREAK/ FAMILY AND FRIENDS FROM SPAIN COMING OVER/ BAHAMAS CRUISE. My parents, older sister, and two best friends from Spain came to visit me! I couldn't believe I was hugging them after seven months. We had a really good time together. I showed them around, and introduced them to my family and friends here. We went on a cruise to the Bahamas, and my two host sisters were invited to come with us. The eight of us had an amazing time down there; it was my first cruise and I LOVED IT!!

-TRIP TO FORT MYERS. My best friend Zeeshan and I went to spend a weekend in April to Fort Myers, to visit another exchange student, Gui, from Brazil. We stayed at his house, and we hung out with all his friends. We all had a lot of fun!!

-PROM. It was a dream for me. I got ready with my host sister. I had a beautiful dress. I got my hair and makeup done. I danced, and danced, and danced. It was one of the most memorable American experiences I have had this year. It was just PERFECT.

-MEMORIAL WEEKEND. I went with my host family to a beach condo. My whole family was there, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. We had a lot of fun, and I got reeeeally tan! (Well, I am not going to lie, my face looked like a tomato).

Those are the main things I have done in the last 6 months. But If I had to write about all the experiences I have been through, it would never end. I have done a lot of things with my host family. They have taken me to different places, and I have lived a lot of American experiences with them. I haven't changed host families at all. In this ten months, I have been with the most amazing, wonderful, incredible, warm, and welcoming people you could ever meet.

I made a lot of friends too. My two host sisters. I can't consider them friends, they are my FAMILY. I made friends at school. I got really close to a few people that will be in my heart forever and I know as a fact, that I’ll be in theirs. And what can I say about the Rotary people? Including Rotex, future outbounds, and inbounds… we are a family! We have lived so many happy, sad, exciting, funny, and craaazy moments together! And remember, we are not weird, we are EXCHANGE STUDENTS. We all understand each other's feelings, fears, and happiness. We know how to listen to stories and learn about each other's experiences. We have grown together this year. And we will continue growing for the rest of our lives.

I can't see myself leaving all these people I just mentioned. My Host family, school friends, and Rotary friends. I can't see myself taking a plane back home. HOME? What is home? Home is those people who are with you no matter where you are, who are by your side no matter what you are doing. After this year here, I know I am really lucky. Because I have A LOT OF HOMES. One is waiting for me across the ocean in Spain. Another one is here in Florida, and the rest of them are all over the world, with each one of the RYE FLORIDA EXCHANGE STUDENTS 09/10.

I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE. I want to live close to all the people I met this year, plus my family and friends in Spain. I wish it was possible; Everybody together. It would be the perfect world for me. But, nowadays it is really easy. Skype. Phone. Planes. Trains. I have no idea how it is going to be when I get back to Spain. But the only thing I know, is that I'll be saving my money to travel and visit everyone. I want to travel the world.

I can't say goodbye without saying THANK YOU ROTARY. Al Kalter, Bill Learn, Jody Davis, Vicki-lynne Gloger and host club. Thank you is not enough.

FLORIDA I AM GOING TO MISS YOU. I AM GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH.

09/10 definitely... THE BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE. ALWAYS IN MY HEART. ALWAYS WITH ME NO MATTER WHERE I AM. Marina!