Letters from Abroad

Dear Patch,

My name is Nagisa Smalheiser and for the next ten months, I will be living in Spain as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. I will be using Patch to post monthly updates about what I’m doing. This month, I’d like to introduce who I am, where I will be living, and what the program is about.

As I mentioned earlier, my name is Nagisa. I’m a sixteen year old girl, and this year is my junior year of high school. While abroad, I will be staying with a host family in a small town called Legutio. The population is about 1,700, and it’s just outside the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Basque Country. I’ve attached a map to show where that is. I’ll be attending a private school in the city, and I will be studying in Spanish, even though most people of the region speak Basque and Spanish.

Now about the program. Rotary Youth Exchange is a program for high school students ages 15 to 19 who have shown responsibility and leadership at school and in their communities. They must be willing to try new things as they learn about the culture of their host country and act as an ambassador for their home country.

I’ve attached a picture of my official Rotary Youth Exchange blazer. Every long-term Rotary Exchange Student has one, and we add pins as our year progresses. We can get our pins from other students, cool places we’ve visited or maybe Rotarians we’ve met. I have a few pins already from exchange students who were in California this past school year, as well as pins from a few different rotary clubs and rotary trips I’ve been on. Every month I will post an updated picture of my blazer so you can see my progress.

I look forward to sharing about the Spanish culture, the language, and my experiences!

Until next time,

Nagisa