In early September 2018, Scituate High School welcomed new students from their “sister school” in Getxo, Spain. Getxo is a town in the Basque Country in Spain. It is a town on the coast of the Basque Country in northern Spain, similar to Scituate. Every two years, Scituate High starts the school year off by hosting 25 Spanish students. Juniors and seniors in Scituate host these students for two weeks and then in April, the Scituate students head to Spain. In Spain, they will reunite, and their respective exchange students host them from earlier on in the year.

   This year, twenty-five students took part in the exchange program. Ever since elementary school, many have dreamed of being part of it. It was certainly a stressful experience but the stress of hosting a student was out-weighed by the exciting and positive experiences that they had.

Junior Jason Robinson, who is taking part in the exchange, was pleased with how the two-week adventure went. Jason admitted that the two weeks of hosting was challenging at times, but they were worth it in the end. “I had a lot of good experiences with good people,” Robinson said. “I interacted with people that I’ve never interacted with before,” he added. Although meeting and interacting with the students from the Basque Country was extremely important, Jason also believed that getting to know the students that they would be going to Spain with was also very important. As previously mentioned, the great experiences do come with some stress. The balancing of daily routines while keeping the guest entertained was a big struggle. “You’re always doing stuff,” Robinson explained. “I pretty much didn’t get any sleep, we were always going out, hanging out, but it was an amazing time.”

In an interview with Junior Finn Geoghegan, he was ecstatic. “It was extravagant,” he exclaimed. “I was surprised by how much fun I had.” One of the most important parts of the program is getting closer to the students you are traveling to Spain with. Throughout the 2 weeks, the students didn’t only get closer with their Spanish companions, but they also got much closer with the other students from Scituate. This will make the traveling to Spain next April a lot easier.

There was not a dull moment throughout the entire two-week exchange.  Every night the students did their best to keep the Spanish kids engaged. They would all get together every night, sometimes had a bonfire at somebody’s house or went to the beach. There wasn’t a night that they didn’t get together. The students from Getxco also experienced all the dining options Scituate offers, from TK’s to Satuit Tavern to Marias.

When the students left on the 14th of September, it was a very sad day, everyone knew they were going to miss the new friends and the adventures. Some tears were shed that afternoon, but when the Spanish students got onto to the bus and headed to Logan Airport, it only made the students from Scituate High more excited to relocate their adventures to the Basque Country in April of  2019.