Sofia Ramirez is the RYE student that our club co-sponsored with the Wimberley Club - Here is her latest report.
Hello everyone back home! I hope everyone is having a great start of their year. I sure am! A few days ago it was my 6-month anniversary here in France and I can't be more proud of myself for how far I've come and how many wonderful things I've done on the way. At the begging of the month, I went to what's called "Rotex Day" here in Bordeaux. Rotex Day is a day when all the students of the district get together in one city with all the Rotexes of the district and spend a day together. This day we played a game similar to a treasure hunt where we had to do a certain number of tasks around Bordeaux in a certain amount of time and take photos of everything we did. This day gave all the other exchange students a chance to get to know the city of Bordeaux better and also time to spend with the people who we don't often talk to. For example, I was with an Argentinian, Brazilian, Taiwanese, and Indonesian in my group. I usually talk with the Latinos or English speaks so it was nice to branch out. That afternoon I went with Agostina to Arcachon with my her host family, who was my first host family. The following week I had school, same as always. I did a few fun things with friends during the week. I bowled, ice skated twice, and roller skated twice. One thing I love about the French school system is their many breaks. This month we had a two-week break so I got to do many things and travel to many places! The first weekend I went with my counselor and his wife to the Bayonne Region and visited Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Espelette, Biarritz all in France, and Saint-Sebastien in Spain. I saw many beautiful views of the seaside and lovely typical buildings within that region. I tried the typical foods of the region which I always love doing! Once we got back my counselor and his wife had to work so I had the week all to myself to go out with friends or stay home and rest. I went out during the week and enjoyed the warm weather, that France was experiencing during the break, at the park and by the Garonne river. During the second week of the break, I did more traveling than resting. On Wednesday I went to Arcachon with my friend Emma from Canada. At Arcachon, we spent most of the day tanning in the sun and after, visited some parts of Arcachon by foot. The next day I went with Agostina to La Rochelle to visit the city and also meet some other students that live there. Since before I came to France I had wanted to visit the city because of the peer and castles and the beautiful city itself and I was very much pleased with my visit. I visited the aquarium of La Rochelle, which is one of the biggest and most visited in the region, the peer of La Rochelle and a theme park that was in town for a few weeks. Thank you for reading!
Until next time,
Sofia