Jimena Marcos-Martin is one of our Spanish foreign exchange students here at OHS; her hometown is Jerez de la Frontera; Southern Spain. Living with the Bell family, she now has 3 host sisters and one more sister back in Spain.
Marcos is involved in many extracurricular activities at OHS, including tennis and participating in Young Life. Also trying out for cheer this winter and hoping to continue the athletics with track in the spring.
She misses Spain’s culture; flamenco dance and music, loud and nice people, the beautiful weather, her family and friends, and most of all the food, specifically Croquetas. Marcos says the first thing she will do once she’s back home is eat. She also exclaims the way this experience has changed her look at the word “home,” saying, “I wasn’t that aware of how much I’m with my family normally and once I came here, I realized how much time I used to spend with my family.”
Marcos explained her ups and downs from the exchange year so far, “having to say everything in English and make new friends” would be some of the most challenging parts, she says. “Schools are a lot more flexible…a lot less homework” would be a positive, along with her favorite experience so far, which is seeing snow for the first time!
Marcos said, “I carved pumpkins and went trick or treating for the first time here, so that was really fun.” She was happy to experience the American Halloween and can’t wait for the Thanksgiving food she’s heard so much about! So far, she’s really enjoyed food from Raising Cane’s, but was so surprised at the time of day we ate our meals in the States.
Some hopes she has for this year are to “improve my English and to develop on my own and be independent.” She hopes to go to New York sometime, too, maybe not within this year, though.
Jimena Marcos Martin became a foreign exchange student because her sister and cousins influenced her to. She’s grateful for the friends she’s made so far, especially Christina Bell and Laia Garcia (another exchange student from Spain). Let’s make this year a great one for Jimena as she was so excited to experience American culture and Owatonna is so lucky to have her!
