By Maya Kostov

As you know, Arizona summers get extremely hot, to almost 120 degrees where you literally can bake cookies on the sidewalk. What better way to escape the heat than going to a foreign country for the summer?! This past summer, two Tempe Prep students were accepted into the Tempe Sister Cities program and were able to spend their summer in a foreign country with a host family, making new friends, touring the country, and even getting a new sibling!

Seniors Jacqueline Risch and Stella Lovelady applied to the program with excitement to possibly be able to be immersed in a totally different culture. Both seniors were very intrigued by the possibility of an international friendship and wasted no time in applying. Although the interview process was intense, both students made it through to the summer of their lives!

Jacqueline was chosen for Cuenca, Ecuador and stayed there for about 5 weeks. Right off the bat, Jacqueline was immersed in a culture that was very different from her own. She explains that “One of the traditions they do to introduce one another is they kiss each other on the cheek when they hug!” Cuenca is really high in elevation, so you can assume Jacqueline was pretty ecstatic about the perfect temperature! Unlike Arizona, Cuenca has many mountains, all covered in beautiful green grass. That adds to the aesthetic and picture-perfect scenery of Ecuador.

Not only that but living in Cuenca was very beneficial to Jacqueline because it was relatively close to everything. It was only 5 hours to the beach in Salinas, Ecuador and 9 hours to Quito, the capital of Ecuador and the second-highest capital city in elevation in the world. In Quito, Jacqueline had the privilege to visit the center of the world and step right on the line of the equator! She also loved her host family, especially her host brother Andy, who some of you might have met when she brought him to school one day.

Because Jacqueline’s host brother had school every day, her days varied a lot. Sometimes she would sit at home and then eat lunch with her host parents when they came home, or they would go out into the markets and go shopping. They would also go sightseeing, like the catacombs of many Ecuadorian cathedrals. One main difference in culture regarding Ecuador and the United States is that they treat lunch like dinner. Essentially lunch is the biggest meal, and then dinner is a light meal. Also, Jacqueline had the luck of going to Ecuador during the Corpus Christi Festival. It was this big celebration in downtown Cuenca where there were just sweets everywhere and a big fireworks show.

Jacqueline’s biggest cultural shock was that people in Ecuador eat guinea pig! Locally known as cuy (kew-y), guinea pig is served in many restaurants. Jacqueline says, “Believe me you think, ‘Oh it must taste like chicken’. Nope. It does not taste like chicken.” You pick a piece, and all the organs are still inside it. So you have to eat it with the skin and everything. They also leave the heads on the plate as well! Guinea pigs are actually bred and kept in pens to be sold. All in all, Jacqueline describes this opportunity as amazing and she can’t wait to go back!

On the other hand, Stella had the privilege of spending 4 weeks in Zhenjiang, China. Stella picked China specifically because “it was the most different culture, and because I’ve lived in Europe before and I didn’t want to go somewhere where they spoke English. China was the place for me.” Stella was born in Italy and lived there until she was 3, then moved and lived in England until she was 6, and then moved back to Italy until she was 9. She then moved to America.

She started her program by flying into Beijing, where they spent three days doing touristy stuff like seeing the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, the Emperor’s summer palace, and the Llama temple. Zhenjiang also has beautiful weather and is famous for its vinegar, jade, white marble, woodcarving, and other crafts. The American delegates actually then got to take a high-speed rail to Zhenjiang to meet up with their host families. Her host sister named Wei Jiayi was actually still in school for the first couple of weeks of her program, so her normal days would consist of her meeting up with three other American kids all with Tempe Sister Cities and exploring the city with a host parent.

They got to visit lakes, museums, and even nearby cities. She even got to do karaoke in China! Stella and the other delegates got to visit a waste factory where they burn waste, previously a coal generator. She also got to visit a factory where they make a bunch of costumes for popular movies. Stella says she spent most of her time eating in China. The portions would always be so big and they would go out to eat for lunch and dinner so that definitely took some getting used to.

Stella also got to explore different cities on the weekends with her host family. She got to visit the Classical Gardens in Suzhou, China, and many malls. One thing that surprised Stella was how modern everything was there. The malls were gigantic and most had between 6 to 9 levels! Most people in China live in apartments, but even what they called houses just looked like larger apartments.

A couple of days before leaving, Stella also got to go to Shanghai and visit the Shanghai tower, which is the second tallest building in the world. They got to go all the way up it and see the tops of the skyscrapers! They ended the trip with an amazing view of the Shanghai skyline.

Now, this program is not just a one-way street. The second half of the program is the Americans’ turn to show their host siblings what life is like in America! All the delegates got to meet up from all over the world and bond. That way you get to meet more people, even outside of the country you visited. Jacqueline says, “ I have a really good friend in Germany that I still talk to and I still miss, and I also miss my Ecuadorian brother Andy a lot. He was just such a happy light.” All of the delegates got to go to places together like the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, and Newport Beach. They even got to rock climb!

Stella’s favorite part of this trip has to be the relationships she has made. Stella says, “Getting to know everyone was my favorite part. I loved getting to know my sister and my host family because it’s like now I have a second family too!”

Juniors: If you’re interested, go to the Tempe Sister Cities website for information and the application.

The journey is the destination.