- Where are you from?

I am from the United States, I was born in Chicago and then I moved to Miami.

 

- What do you prefer, Chicago or Miami?

Miami was fun for college, it was a good time. But I like Chicago more just because most of my family lives there and I know the city very well, people are really nice... And it's not as expensive as Miami.

 

- What five things do you like the most about your country?

Uhm... Food, food number one cause I miss macaroni and cheese a lot, and bagels. I miss my friends and my family, I miss my dog Coco. And I miss like, I miss going swimming on the beach because here the water's so cold.

 

- What would you change about your country?

I would change gun laws, gun laws are really bad. I would also try to take away some negative thoughts that people have against other people, which they shouldn't have.

 

- How do you feel about your Catalan family?

Oh, I love them! They're awesome, we laugh a lot, talk a lot, we do things together. The grandparents are always there, and then we have so many dogs, so it's a big family.

 

- How did you feel at the beginning of this new experience?

I was worried about living with a new family. I wasn't so scared of living in a new country with a different language because even though you guys speak Catalan I can understand a little bit of Spanish. But, I was just worried about how I would fit with a family cause they're not my real family and I'd never met them before, but it ended up working out really well. You try to find a way to communicate well with a different family, to find things that you have in common, and you just try to spend time together, get to know them... Because I had no friends for like a month, I hung out a lot with the family. So, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

 

- How did you come to Catalonia?

How? Uhm... I graduated in August of last year, and a couple months before graduation I thought that I wanted to get a job right away and start working, but then I realized that I didn't want to do that because I had never been to Europe before, I wanted to travel a little bit. But I knew if I traveled I needed to have a job at the same time, so I applied for different programs that you would teach English and, this program in particular, they gave me the job.  So, it was me to come and teach English, and they would place me somewhere in Catalonia and I would be with a host family.

 

- What five things do you like the most about Catalonia?

Food, I love "fuet" and "tortilla de patata", and "fideuà"... So food is one. I like the beaches, like "Costa Brava", and I like Mataró's beach even though you guys say it's ugly, I like it. I like the cities like, there's so much history in every city because if you ever go to The States it doesn't look the same, because the USA is super young, but the culture here is so old. I love listening to Catalan, it just sounds so different, but I can hear some Spanish words. And I also like the people, because people here are nice.

 

- What do you do in your free time?

Well, it depends honestly. I've been exercising because I ate too much food during Winter, so I've been doing a lot of running, biking... Kai and I play basketball sometimes, we also go to Mataró or Barcelona for a day. And I have a lot of time because I don't have to study.

 

- Would you recommend this experience to other people?

Yes, I would. 'Cause traveling is great, but if you can be somewhere and actually get to know the culture, it's better. Like I said, I was really worried about living with the family, but it's worth it because there are some things I'd never have learned if I'd stayed at home. So I think it's great, I know that you guys can also do it, and I truly recommend it.