Hello Dear Host Family!

I’m Lara and I’m about to start this new experience. I might end up being part of your family for 10 months, so I’ll tell you a little about myself so you can get to know me better. I’m a 16-year-old Spanish teenager, coming to spend a year as an exchange student in the United States, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’m part of a family of 5 people: my father, my mother, my two older brothers, and me. We also have a dog named Núvol, which means cloud in Catalan. We’re a very close-knit and fun-loving family; we always talk and joke around. We enjoy spending time together, and meals are our time to unwind and be together talking about anything. Every year we take trips during vacations because we love to travel, and on weekends, we enjoy eating outdoors with more family members, going to the mountains with our dog for peaceful walks, and enjoying the scenery. In the summer, we love to be at the beach and visit all the beaches within our reach.

I’m a very outgoing girl who loves to talk and spend time with her friends, although sometimes I also enjoy being alone or being quiet doing things I like. I’m very sincere and transparent; when I express myself, I do so clearly, and I’m good at making friends, although I’m a bit selective with friendships. But I’m clear that I have to be as open as possible when I arrive in the United States and have to make new friends, and I think I’ll do it without any problems. I’m always polite and empathetic with people; above all, I’m an intense girl who always shows her emotions to the fullest. Something that stands out about me is my sense of humor and my naturalness when relating to my friends, although I have to admit that I’m a bit shy at first, but when I feel comfortable, I quickly become myself. I’m also quite showy; I like to look good and take care of myself.

I love to dance, and I’ve been doing it all my life. Currently, I’m in a competitive urban dance group with 12 other girls my age. But something I started doing this year is going to the gym. It’s my way of disconnecting and focusing on myself. I go two or three times a week, depending on whether I have other things to do. I also like to do other things when I have free time. Some of my favorite hobbies would be shopping, relaxing watching a TV series at home, or lying on the couch with a blanket. Going out to eat is something I really enjoy because I love food and enjoying different flavors. Going to the beach to sunbathe for a while until I get tanned and get new freckles, or many other things. In my city in the summer; they play music in the streets, and everyone goes out to dance. We also celebrate Carnival; they are parties where we dress up as we want and go out to dance in the streets where floats decorated with cheerful music circulate and people follow them dancing. We celebrate Christmas mainly with family, but here we don’t celebrate Christmas Eve with gifts; instead, we celebrate Three Kings’ Day, where you wake up the next day, January 6, in the morning, with gifts under the Christmas tree. It’s one of the celebrations that excites children the most in Spain. On December 24th, we have a Christmas dinner with family, and on December 26th, we also have a family meal, where we eat a typical dish called “canelones,” and after lunch, we celebrate the famous “tio,” which is a log that you have to hit with wooden sticks while singing a song so that it “poops” gifts and gives them to the children. One of the parties I like the most is Holy Week, where we have a whole week of vacation with free time, and one day of that week, you meet with family, and someone has to give you the famous “mona de Pascua,” which is usually a chocolate figure or some cake filled with decorations so that you can eat it later with your loved ones. My favorite dishes are chicken curry with rice, the famous Spanish omelette that I could show you one day, sushi that I love, and lentils too, which are a typical Spanish dish. I’m not very picky with food, although I don’t like seafood at all.

What I hope to get out of this experience is, above all, to learn much more of the language and be able to speak it fluently, to be more mature and independent from being away from home for so long, to meet new people and integrate into the family, culture, and traditions, to live new experiences never before experienced, to adapt to a new way of life, and to have a great time. Most of all, what I want is to come back home feeling proud and better about myself for having done it. I hope you liked who I am and that you were able to understand what I wanted to represent about myself in this letter.

I’m really looking forward to living this experience and meeting you.

Goodbye, family!