Students From Spain Say Goodbye To Their Grayslake Families

Three weeks, as it turns out, is not nearly enough.

When 15 students from Malaga, Spain arrived three weeks ago at O'Hare, they were met by families from Grayslake through the Share America program. Everyone was friendly and excited, but a little nervous and awkward.

We met our 15-year-old student, Juan Bosco Bascon Ortega, at the airport and starting trying to communicate. He spoke English very well and we quickly bonded. We learned about Spain and he learned about Grayslake and Chicago.

We took Bosco to Ed Debevic's and a White Sox game where he saw a grand slam win. He became fast friends with the other Spain kids, as the group became known, and grew especially close with our kids, Lauren and Kyle.

Three weeks went by way too fast. I was surprised at how quickly we bonded with a stranger from another country who spoke another language.

What I didn't expect is that Bosco became a part of our family.

Now, as the Spain students are ready to fly home today, everyone is sad. There were strong hugs and tears and lots of laughs at the Farewell Gathering last night.

The Share America exchange program was an incredible way to learn firsthand about another culture through the eyes of someone who lives there. And it was also fun to see our culture through Bosco's eyes.

The Spain kids lived with local families and spent about half their time at either Grayslake North or Grayslake Central shadowing their new American "siblings" around. The other days, they got together with the other Spain kids to be tourists. They took trips to Chicago and saw Navy Pier, the Museum of Science and Industry and rode bikes along Lake Michigan. They went shopping (a lot) and attended several bonfires, birthday parties and cookouts.

Bosco said one of the things he appreciates the most about America is the amount of school spirit that exists. He said in Spain, school is strictly for studying. There are no school teams or clubs.

Here, the Spain kids got to experience all the spirit of Homecoming. Some of the Spain kids and their "siblings" went to Homecoming at both Central and North. During the North Homecoming game, for example, they saw the golf cart parade featuring golf carts decorated by kids for all of the school clubs. They were impressed by the marching band. They lost their voices yelling along with the chants of the cheerleaders. They painted their faces black and gold in Knights colors. A group of kids even chanted "Bosco! Bosco!" in the stands. Yes, he fit right in, both at the school and in our family.

Ask any Grayslake family who hosted a Spain kid, and they will tell you the same thing - the families had a great time. They all had their own adventures and activities and traditions. Many went into Chicago, or apple picking or to the corn maze with their newest family member.

My family promised to have our kids visit Spain (even though we haven't got the budget worked out quite yet). We also made Bosco and his sister Raquel promise to return to Grayslake. I hope these promises hold true.

So, goodbye to Bosco, to all of great Spain kids and to Pablo, the best chaperone there ever was! I am so glad to have met all of you. And I have only one complaint for the Share America program - I wish it was longer.