“I went to Paraguay after my sophomore year during exams. I was there for a little over two weeks, [so for] around 18 days. So, my sister is a Spanish teacher in Indiana. She was leading her first student trip abroad, so I joined her with all the Bethany Christian High School students because there was an open spot. It was super fun because I got to know all the Bethany students very well, and we’re still friends today. We went to Argentina too, and went to Iguazu Falls; it was absolutely stunning.

We stayed with host families for a week and a half. I loved my host family, and my host parents were hilarious. They loved to mock us for our Spanish, but it’s okay. They didn’t speak any English, so it was a little interesting. There was one other student, and whenever we said something in Spanish, we would understand each other’s Spanish, but our host family would not understand our Spanish.

[In Paraguay], their lifestyle and life schedule were just so different. We got to the airport at 2 AM,and expected them all to be there in their pajamas; but they had heard that it was one of the student’s birthdays on the trip. So, when we walked out of customs, they were just sitting there singing “Happy Birthday.” They took us out to dinner at 3 AM, and the restaurant was full of people. They just never sleep and eat dinner from 11 PM – 1 AM. It was amazing, and I loved it.”

(Junior)