When Lydia Kieffer of Caribou; Esperanza Aparicio of Albatera, Spain; Finn Bondeson of New Sweden; and Henrik Karlsson of Helsingborg, Sweden, return to school this fall, they may not know where to begin when their classmates ask the inevitable question, “How was your summer?”
Each pair of youths — Kieffer and Aparicio, Bondeson and Helsingborg — spent roughly 3½ months together this summer, five weeks on their native soil and five weeks abroad, through the Caribou Rotary Youth Exchange Program. The program ended on Aug. 11 for Karlsson and Helsinborg and on Aug. 18 for Kieffer and Aparicio.
Kieffer arrived in Spain in July, when Aparacio’s home town of Albatera hosts a monthlong festival.
On any given evening, Kieffer and Aparicio would hang out at a cafe, watch an in-park movie or dance at a couple of different places (but not discos) until 3 a.m. But they still woke up bright and early to spend time with Aparicio’s close family.
“Her town has roughly the same population as Caribou, but it’s smaller,” Kieffer said. “Her family all live really close to each other and we saw them a lot.”
The food, the music, the atmosphere and the excitement of Albatera in July truly were a cultural experience for Kieffer that no book could ever teach her, but her favorite part of her five weeks in Spain took place in Madrid, where Kieffer, Aparicio and her family were staying when Spain won the World Cup soccer championship.
“It was crazy,” Kieffer said as she attempted to describe Madrid vibrant with World Cup fever. “Everywhere you went, the game was on TV and everyone — everyone — was wearing yellow and red,” she said.
Aparacio also enjoyed her time in Caribou.
“I like it here. Everything is different,” Aparicio said while still here last week.
American culture wasn’t the only difference for Aparicio, who wasn’t used to seeing big trees and grass. Yards in Albatera are made of artificial turf, she said. The style of buildings in Aroostook County also were a change for Aparicio, who received her education in a building that’s more than 500 years old.
“All the buildings over there are made of stone,” Kieffer said, which explains why even the most soundly built Aroostook structures looked a bit flimsy to Aparicio. While Aparicio doesn’t have a favorite American dish, she did say that the desserts here are pretty good.
Among the many other differences the girls cited: In Spain, women wear longer shorts and in America, people drive places more; and the farms of Albatera grow nuts, tomatoes and olives rather than potatoes.
Neither of the girls is fluent in the other’s language, but the two found ways to communicate. Over the weeks, each teen’s comprehension of the foreign language also improved greatly, they said.
“When I first got over there I was translating all the Spanish into English in order to understand it, but toward the end I was understanding the Spanish on its own,” Kieffer said.
The two ladies had an unforgettable summer and plan on keeping in touch.