Junior Kate Arnone is skipping school, and there’s no penalty. Arnone is spending the months of February through August in Luque, Paraguay as an exchange student. 

Paraguay is a landlocked country surrounded by Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina.  It is one of the smallest countries of South America, with a total land area of 157,048 square miles. 

Paraguay?   Why did she choose there? 

           
“Paraguay is a Spanish-speaking country, and Kate wanted to improve her Spanish.  Also, it was one of the few countries with a six-month program.  Only a few countries had the program she was looking for.  She’s already been to some of the other countries her agency offered, like Puerto Rico,” said Beth Arnone, Kate’s mother.

Kate is traveling through AFS, a non-profit international exchange organization for students and adults that operates in more than 50 countries and organizes and supports intercultural learning experiences. The organization was founded by volunteer ambulance drivers following WWII.  Their goal now is to send students to different countries to learn about their cultures, promote peace, and prevent future wars.  Arnone has traveled through this agency before.  Last summer, she spent a summer abroad in Panama.

“I’m very supportive of Kate wanting to study in Paraguay.  I’m very happy and excited for her.  My husband and I wanted her to get immersed in the culture and to see that people in other countries are normal people like us,” said Mrs. Arnone.

When foreign exchange students travel to another country, they stay with a host family.  A vital part of the foreign exchange experience, the family plays a large role in exposing the student to the culture of the new country and immersing the student in a variety of activities during their visit.

“My family is great. They are all super nice.  My dad is a lawyer and very funny. My mom is also a lawyer and is very helpful and motherly. My sister, Carmen, is 15, and we share a room. She doesn’t really talk to me that much, but we are getting closer as the days go on. My brother, Juance, is 19, and he’s nice. We live in a nice house. It’s all walled in and has a courtyard. We have a maid named Luisa. She comes in the morning during the week and does laundry, cleans the house, makes my bed, and cooks lunch. She is really nice. My cousin lives across the street.  He’s seven and is constantly at our house,” said Kate.

The program discourages frequent contact with family in the home country.  It’s been a challenge for many of Kate’s friends and family.

“I’m glad she’s studying abroad because it’s a great opportunity for her, but the hardest part is not being able to text her right away when I need her, and I can’t tell her everything about my life,” said Kate’s close friend,  junior Amanda Guardia.

Arnone studied Spanish through the fourth level before she left.  She is using her fluency with the language in Paraguay, where she speaks totally in Spanish.  No one in her house or school speaks English.

“Studying abroad is such an opportunity for students.  It opens different doors for people.  We aren’t citizens of our own countries.  We’re citizens of the world.  If we don’t understand different cultures, we’re not going to understand the world,” said Señora Doughty, the world languages department chair and Spanish teacher.

“Kate will come back totally bilingual and with the experience of a different culture,” said Señora Doughty.

“With language study, a semester—and better yet, an academic year—positions students to develop proficiency, if not fluency, in a foreign language.  Applicants with a second language, and experiences living in foreign cultures, are very attractive candidates to leading colleges and universities,” said Christina McAnuff, the manager of high school and gap years abroad at CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange).

“Every afternoon from 3 to 5, I have Spanish classes. They are taught by this lady at her house. She is really nice, but she talks so much so they are really boring. I have them with a girl from Germany. Her name is Nele and she is doing volunteer work in Asuncion. She is really nice and we bond over hating the classes,” said Arnone.

Arnone has been enjoying her time in Paraguay thus far.  It took some adjusting, but she seems to be settling in.

“Paraguay is finally starting to feel like home now.  I don’t wake up anymore and wonder where I am,” she said.

“Program fees for high school and gap year programs vary widely depending on the country of study and length of the program (semester, trimester, or academic year),” said Ms. McAnuff.   

A six-month study program to Paraguay through AFS costs approximately $10, 500.  A year long program (eleven months) costs around $12,000.

Arnone’s trip is documented through her blog, “Mi Vida en Paraguay” (http://katearnone.blogspot.com/) Students who are interested in studying abroad are encouraged to visit the AFS and CIEE websites (www.afs.org and www.ciee.org).

Author’s Note:

I became aware by writing this article about how different America is from other less developed countries.  It was a struggle getting into contact with Kate.  She could only use a computer on Sundays, and that was only because she would travel to the cybercafé.  I think we, as Americans, take our technology for granted.  I assumed Kate would be able to use a computer daily, just as many Americans do.  Her time spent in Paraguay is a definitely a challenging one, but well worth it.