Exchanges across sea

The Baltimore Sun

Alanna Jordan, 15, and Laetitia Mayran, 16, have played Monopoly twice since June - once at Alanna's house in Glenwood and once at Laetitia's house in Cergy-Pontoise, France.

The two met through Columbia Association's Sister Cities program, which matches Howard County high school students with students of similar ages in either Tres Cantos, Spain, or Cergy-Pontoise. The American students, who have taken at least two years of French or Spanish, spent the first couple of weeks this month living with their match's host family abroad. The American students are hosting their matches for the rest of the month.

"I know I'm not ever going to forget this," said Alanna.

She and about 25 other Howard County students returned from abroad and welcomed their foreign matches to America with a pool party Wednesday night at the Columbia Swim Center.

Besides playing Monopoly in French, Jordan visited the Louvre in Paris and the American cemetery at Normandy.

"We went to Paris almost every day," Alanna said. "The French kids know Paris like the backs of their hands."

The students rode public transportation easily to Madrid, Spain, or Paris from Tres Cantos or Cergy-Pontoise, respectively, to visit historical sights and local hangouts. Highlights of the Spanish trip include the Prado in Madrid and an excursion to Toledo, Spain.

"The whole experience of going outside of this bubble of Columbia has really opened my daughter up," said Donita Robinson, whose daughter, Krystal Kane, 17, a Wilde Lake High senior, traveled to Tres Cantos.

The Sister Cities program costs $575 for non-Columbia Association members or $425 for association members and the price of airfare, which typically is $900 to $1,200. "Most summers some students are on scholarship [from the Columbia Foundation]," said Sister Cities manager Meredith Jaffe.

"The agreement is that they speak Spanish or French when they are in Spain or France and English here," Jaffe said. "They often end up speaking to each other in whatever language is convenient at the moment."

Five weeks of general exposure to the language and a period of complete immersion greatly improve fluency, said many participants.

Said Robinson: "When [Krystal] called me from Spain, she was translating what the [host mother] was saying, and that was so impressive."

Throughout Wednesday's party, the teenagers spoke in whichever languages they knew while splashing in the pools or waiting in line for the slide. The crowd also celebrated Paul Lallier's 17th birthday. "Merci!" yelled the Cergy-Pontoise native before blowing out his candles.

Besides social events, the program includes day trips to Washington, New York City and Ocean City. "We have activities for them almost every day," said Jaffe.

The quality of the association's Sister Cities busy itinerary merited Sister Cities International's Youth and Education Award last year for the best youth program in the nation in a community of Columbia's size.

Because Sister Cities participants spend the summer together, they form strong bonds.

"You become best friends with someone and part of a family. That's the best part," said Alanna's sister Kesshi, 17, who did the Sister Cities program last year in Tres Cantos. She still e-mails her Spanish parents and sister.

"It's really a wonderful way for a child to experience another country with the safety net of a family," said Johanna Renshaw, Alanna and Kesshi's mother. That security assures many parents, especially since Sister Cities is often a child's first experience traveling independently.

The program's home stay also exposes students to an authentic taste of life in that country.

"I'm a very picky eater," said Paul's match, Matthew Joubert, 17, a recent graduate of Long Reach High. "They wanted me to try different cheeses, so I tried new things like that."

The French and Spanish students commented on the large cars and lack of public transportation. "We are not used to riding a car every day," said Cristina Guzman, 14. "That is strange to us. All the houses are much bigger than in Spain."

Likewise, Christina's match, Kat Schuster, a sophomore at Wilde Lake High, found some parts of Spanish culture strange. "The first week it was really hard to adjust," said Kat.

"They like to each lunch around 3 and dinner at 10 or 11 at night," she said. "A lot of times the American people would get together and go to a snack bar because they would all be hungry and the Spanish people wouldn't."

Despite the differences, participants realized that they share similar goals and joys as teenagers. Many of the most memorable moments occurred outside the program's structured tours when students realized how alike they are.

"[Alanna] said one of the most fun things she did was just play Monopoly with [Laetitia] and her sisters," said Renshaw. "That was the first thing they did here - play Monopoly in English."

Applications for next year will be available in October. Information: www.columbiaassociation.com under For Teens and Tots.

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