Hi,

I´m Darío, I´m 15 years old and I live in Madrid. I´m very excited and I love the idea of spending 1 year in the US. The American lifestyle is quite different from the Spanish and I´d like to live the experience and feel like an American. I wanted to know more about the American culture and meet new people. I have the feeling that I will be able to learn English and get used to the environment quickly because I´m quite an outgoing and open-minded boy.

I´m the little brother. My sister is 20 years old. We sometimes argue but we often help each other. My sister loves to ride horses and she has practiced rhythmic gymnastics since she was 12 years old, now she’s studying to be a police officer. We share lots of hobbies like watching Atlético de Madrid matches, do any kind of sports… I have friends with my sister in common. My mother is 51 years old and works in a clothing store. My relationship with her is good, although we sometimes argue. And finally, my father is 54 years old and he is a computer scientist at a bank.

I have traveled for about 4 years, one week away to tournaments with my soccer team without my parents and there has not been any problem. I think I am a fairly independent boy. I attend a Catholic school but I´m not too religious. My dad and my friend’s dad have to drive us to school every morning because it´s a little far from my house. At school I get good marks. I´m very hard-working but to be honest, sometimes I feel a bit lazy. I´m a very organized person but if I tell you truth I´m a little distracted too. ha ha ha

I love sports. When I´m overwhelmed doing sport help me to relax. I love football (soccer). I have been practiced it since I was 5. I also love mountain skiing, I practiced since I was 5 years old. I go every year with my family and Friends for a week. Two years ago I started snowboarding which I liked. Every Summer I go to the beach where I have a lot of friends and we practice snorkel, canoeing… I really like the beach. Finally I also really like paddle. I started practicing when I was 7 years old, two years later I stopped practicing in classes, although I continued playing with my dad and my Friends.

I have many friends. I enjoy a lot with them. They make me laugh for hours. We encourage, advise and support ourselves. We usually hang out on the weekend to have dinner, go to parties, go to the shopping centre, go to the amusement park. In the Summer we spend many days together and we go to the swimming pool. It´s awesome. In Winter we often go to my friends´ house for chilling, playing, talking, I love playing video games with my friends…

I get my family´s help when I need it (parents, cousins, uncles, grandparents). On the weekends we usually eat together. I will miss them so much but I hope I feel the same way with my American family. Since I was a child I have always been with them. Family meetings are crazy because my whole family talk loudly and we are a little crazy. ha ha I think that I am going to talk with them one day per week.

I love animals. If I could I would have hundreds of animals. I´m an “Animal lover”. My favourite animals are elephants, eagles and tigers but you can’t have them so I like dogs too. ha ha ha. I can´t have a dog because I live in a flat. I would like to have a dog.

When I go to the US, I would like to do many different things such as try new sports, take part in school activities, have lots of friends… I´m a very cheerful and positive person so I guess that this will help me with my stay.

Thank you very much for your hospitality and generosity. I´m looking forward to being part of your family. I´m sure that this experience will be unique and unforgettable.