I had the pleasure of sitting down with Constance Saturio, who is our foreign exchange student from Spain. “Cons” is from Santander on the northern coast of Spain which she compares to Bishop by saying is “bigger, with more people.” The most remarkable difference between Bishop and Santander, she explained, is the weather. In contrast to our abundant sunlight and heat, her hometown is “cold, wet, and rainy.”

Cons is studying in America through the Rotary Youth Exchange program. She had thought about being an exchange student before but began to think seriously about doing an exchange this year and applied. “One day I said, ‘Mom, I want to go abroad’ and she told me ‘OK.’”

America was her first country of choice, she explains, “One of the reasons was, I want to improve my English.” Her second and third choices were Canada (“why not”) and Australia, both targeted for opportunities to practice her English fluency.

Cons has an outgoing, social personality. In Spain, she said, “I’m usually with my friends, every free time that I have, I’m with my friends.” She included that they “just hang out, go to a park and look, and talk.” I asked if she missed her friends, for she won’t be able to see them for a year, and she replied, “Yes, a little bit.” Cons revealed that this trip was the first time she had ever spent a long time away from her home before. I asked whether she suffers from homesickness and she replied, “No, not so much, like, I’m so happy being here because this is an opportunity to meet new people and do new things because this is so different from Spain, you have got different culture.” Cons’ hardest transition in coming to America was adapting to the sleep time which is 9 hours behind Spain’s time. “It’s so hard” she said, describing flying into the U.S. “ I was 24 hours without sleeping.” She described how early we start the day in America, for people in Spain wake up at later times. Spain also has a siesta, which is a break time intended for rest in the mid-afternoon. They also have typically longer nights and go to bed later than we do here.

While talking to Cons, I was surprised just how different her High School in Spain was compared to BUHS. I asked her what differences stood out to her about our High School and she said, “Everything is different. We don’t have lockers, we have to stay in class, and the teachers move around the classes.” She further explained that the teachers have backpacks and they go from class to class bringing their work to the students. In Spain she also explained, “you can’t choose your subjects.” Another difference about BUHS, she mentioned was, “You can leave the school whenever you want if you feel sick. In Spain, we can’t.” In Spain, only serious illness, nothing trivial like headaches, can excuse a student’s absence from school. I went on to ask why she liked BUHS and she responded, “You are so nice, like, you are always helping me. If need I something, you would help me.” Cons is interested in skiing and is hoping to join the school’s ski club when winter approaches.

I asked about her plans for after high school and she said, “I would like to go to college and study fashion design.” Also, whether she would prefer to attend college in America or in Spain and she replied “I don’t know, I really don’t know but I think in Spain.” Looking past college, she plans to travel and become a fashion designer which, she explained is in her family and from her “roots.”

Cons is interested in hiking around the Bishop area and enjoys visiting new places. She is also excited to visit and explore cities in California that she has heard do much about: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Cons’ hopes for her year in America are to “have fun, meet friends, and learn English.”

Rotary Youth Exchange Program, Bishop Union High School, Bishop Exchange Student, Constance Saturio