Greenheart Travel

Tag: homestay

  • Living Like a Local in Rural, Small Town Italy

    Living Like a Local in Rural, Small Town Italy

    A note from Greenheart Travel: After over a year of travel restrictions to Europe, many E.U. countries are now re-opening to U.S. citizens, including Italy. Our Teach English in a Homestay program gives you the chance of a lifetime to life like a local in Italy. Read below for what our homestay teacher did in her rural placement in Emilia Romagna. 

    Two summers ago, I stayed in a small, rural town in the Emilia Romagna province of Northern Italy, called Luzzara. When I first received my placement location, I did what any normal millennial would do, and I googled it… I discovered that the town was known for being one of the largest producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, the crown jewel of Italian cheeses, and for being photographed by a famous photographer in the 1950s.

    Other than that, the internet did not have much to say. So when I took my first ever train ride to the Luzzara station, I felt like a true pioneer! Here are some tips for navigating small-town life in Italy.

    Gestures Cure Any Language Barrier

    Away from the city centers, many locals do not practice speaking English in their daily lives and older generations probably did not learn English in school. With that said, never underestimate the power of a good gesture!

    For example, I visited the same coffee shop every morning and the owners did not speak a word of English. I ordered “un cafe” (an espresso) and then carried out a full gesture conversation full of pointing, acting out scenes, and laughing. At the end of my 5 weeks there, we had an emotional goodbye. 

    Take the Regional Trains to a City and Travel From There

    If your town is a bit isolated, don’t worry! Public transportation is the main mode of travel around the country, so regional trains will always connect you to a larger city.

    Regional trains are slower, cheaper trains (running from $2-$5) and fast trains are trains that run from larger city to city. When traveling by myself, I would take a $3 regional train to the nearest city, Reggio Emilia, then hop on a fast train to connect me to Florence, Venice, Rome, etc. for around $25-40. 

    A man enjoying the view of sunflowers on a regional train from Verona

    Establish a Routine

    I cannot stress this enough! If you want to live like a local, do as the locals do! On days I was not traveling, I would wake up in the morning, make a small breakfast (toast with Nutella), head to the city center by bike, then watercolor. It was a great way to feel like I was truly living in a new place and to meet locals.

    Because I was in a small town, many people knew I was the girl visiting from America. People would wave to me on their bikes and go out of their way to say hello. If I were to have stayed inside the house, I would not have had nearly as rich of an experience. 

    Ride Your Bike to the Piazza

    If your host family has an extra bike, use it! In my town, everyone walked or biked. Although the city center was open for cars, very few drove through. Many Italian towns have city centers that open up to a piazza. It is a place for the locals to gather during the day, drink coffee, enjoy farmer’s markets, and be together. 

    One of the only cars in the city center.

    Learn About the Regional Culture

    Being so off-the-beaten path, many of the townspeople have lived in the same village for several generations and are heavily steeped in rich local traditions. For example, when my husband visited my host family at the end of my time, my host mom made a soup native to Luzzara, a pasta from the region, and a dessert from Mantova, a historic city a few miles away.

    I also got to participate in making ravioli, pizza crust, and gnocchi in the ways typical for the area. I visited the local church’s summer youth camp, visited a painter’s house, and tried on replica dresses created in the like of ancient Italian royalty at the house of a designer.

    My town was also really into the Los Angeles Lakers because Kobe Bryant grew up close by while his dad played for the Italian basketball league. I got to smack talk the Lakers with the locals just like I would if I were at home! Go with the flow and you will learn a lot along the way!

    Luzzara’s ravioli are in the shape of a triangle instead of the various other shapes different regions prepare them.

    Forget the Supermarket

    Many small towns have several individual stores instead of a supermarket. I felt like a true European visiting the bakery, the butcher shop, and the produce shop while doing my weekly grocery shopping! If you truly miss those comfort foods of home (for me it was peanut butter), you can take a regional train to the nearest supermarket which will sell the international foods that you miss.

    Find Emily on Instagram: @em_mcnamara

  • Why You Should Have Your Own Travel Motto

    Why You Should Have Your Own Travel Motto

    Greetings! I’m Emmie, a Greenheart First-Time Traveler 2019 Scholarship Winner. I chose to spend one month of my summer in France at a Homestay teaching English. I’ve learned so many valuable lessons about France, people and customs across the world, and new things about myself and my role in it all. I’m eager to share how I made the most out of my first experience living abroad!

    A funny interaction happened one weekday night during my second week in Tarbes, France. I had just cleaned my plate of another delectable local favorite: duck. My host parents asked if I wanted anymore, and I replied “Non merci, je suis pleine.” A beat. They looked at each other, then at me. Imagine my reaction when they told me, “You just said you’re pregnant…with an animal.”

    Language is just a tool. If that tool isn’t serving you in your host country, pick a different one! Between knowing a little bit of vocabulary of the other person’s language, charades, and Google Translate, my host family and I communicated fine. My first two weeks in Tarbes, I would get frustrated because I wanted to understand everything immediately. Once I came to terms with the fact that I would not be fluent in ONE MONTH, and I need to soak up as much as I can, it was high flying. Try the best you can. Who cares? Maybe a great story will come out of it for the folks at home.

    My host parents and I took an elevator to the top of the Haute-Pyrenees. A huge highlight of my trip!

    Greenheart Travel encourages its participants to make SMART goals before traveling. Similarly, I encourage a traveler to have a motto for her experience. Anytime I felt apprehensive or homesick, I repeated to myself my motto for the trip: carpe diem. Every second abroad is a gift, and there’s not a moment to waste. Whether it’s “hakuna matata”, “#blessed”, or “I can’t believe I’m really here”, having a travel motto will keep your mind focused on the present moment, getting the most out of your voyage.

    Drift toward action like a moth to a flame. As long as it’s safe, say yes every chance you get. You could sleep in tomorrow morning, or you could check out the arts and crafts festival happening in town. You could go with the popular judgment that foie gras is disgusting, or you could try it and decide for yourself. Keep your eyes and ears open to new experiences – half of the things I did occurred by happenstance, just walking around and seeing what was going on, or reading a flyer in a local cafe. And don’t forget to use your best resource – your host family!

    Exploring a chateau in Lourdes

    Reflecting on my own trip abroad, I became a better version of myself in France. I gained a useful perspective on the world and on myself, continually conscious of how others were perceiving the country and people I represent. After living in another country for a while, you’ll feel like there’s nothing you can’t overcome. Your adventure with Greenheart will a once in a lifetime experience; live every day to it’s fullest!

    Emmie Dohse, from Washington D.C., is a Greenheart Travel First Time Traveler Scholarship recipient. Learn more about Greenheart Travel’s scholarship opportunities to help you travel for a change!

  • 4 Things I’ve Learned Speaking Another Language During My Homestay in France

    4 Things I’ve Learned Speaking Another Language During My Homestay in France

    Before setting off for my homestay in France, I was rushing with excitement. After intensely studying French for the past year, I was thrilled at the chance to practice my French nonstop and live in a new environment I had never been to before. I would be living in the North of France just outside of a town called Douai with a family of three. I knew there was still so much I did not know about the French language, but that didn’t stop my excitement for what was to come.

    As I arrived in France and began to experience life there, I soon discovered just how much I did not know. During my process of assimilation into a new culture and structure for communication, I soon came to see that “how much I did not know” allowed me to learn tremendously about myself and what it’s like existing inside of another language.

    Not Everything Must Be Communicated Through Words

    I learned this first and foremost from the family’s son who I was conversing in English with. This kid was a master at utilizing facial expressions, acting something out, or using hand gestures to convey an idea or emotion when he did not have all the words to do so. I soon came to realize how effective this could be when I did not have all the words to communicate an idea. This was a tremendously important lesson I realized in my own linguistic growth.

    Often as humans, once we develop a larger vocabulary we tend to root all our experiences into words. I soon learned that not every experience or emotion must be transcribed into words. One can exist and share experiences with another human in meaningful ways without always saying exactly how one feels. In addition, we can find new ways to communicate that are not always reliant just on words. We can act something out, use gestures, or simply share an experience with one another.

    Patience and Endurance

    Learning to develop continual patience with myself and those around me became a big part of this experience. Throughout the first month, I would continually have to ask people to repeat themselves or tell them that I did not understand what they were saying. Other times, people would correct my pronunciation and grammar. Although I know they were only trying to help, it left me feeling frustrated and self-conscious about the way that I spoke. Especially when this language was all I had to communicate, it felt like a diminishing of my own self in this new country and town.

    Within this struggle, though I realized time and time again the importance of just being patient and trying again. It challenged me to rise above my own self-consciousness within the language and keep trying to improve my grammar, improve my pronunciation and keep talking with people even if I was nervous or still speaking with errors. This process gave me mental patience and endurance that demanded me to be continually adaptable to everything that was existing around me.

    Loneliness and Disorientation

    Before this trip, I had traveled out of the country many times before. Because of this, I did not expect to encounter loneliness in the way that I did during my Homestay. I soon realized that traveling with my English-speaking friends and living with a new family that speaks a different language are two very different things. I began to experience how truly unique it is to exist within a language you are not fully fluent in.

    I experienced a strong feeling of not being able to express myself in the same manner in French that I could previously do in English. Because of this, I was ultimately not able to exist as the same person whilst speaking French. My answers to everything felt simplified and dry in comparison to the mind I felt existed within me. This led to a sense of disorientation and feelings of loneliness because I was unable to fully exist to others as the person I previously was. Often my phone calls to friends and family in the US felt like an act of self-preservation, attempting to remind myself of the person I felt I “truly was.”

    Despite this challenge, I soon came to find that as my experiences in French began to become more layered, I discovered a different sense of self that began to counter some of the previous loneliness. By the end of my two months in France, I began to sense that my French could better encapsulate the person I felt I was. Or rather, my French encapsulates a different aspect of the individual I am now able to exist as.

    Although I can’t say the disorientation has completely subsided, it’s something I’ve learned to embrace as part of the experience of learning a new language and transitioning continuously between the two.

    Moments of Exhilaration

    At the end of my two months in France, I am nowhere close to being fluent in the language. Despite this, I have learned so much more than I thought I would about linguistic communication and learning to embrace aspects of another culture that may at first feel overwhelming. The moments of “linguistic exhilaration,” in which the language rolls off your tongue and a sense of freedom take hold, as you begin to exist within new linguistic boundaries that were previously unknown; these are the moments that make me incredibly thankful for these last two months.

    I know I still have a considerable amount to learn, but existing within a new language and building entire relationships in another language has been an experience that I will never forget. It is heavy with challenges I did not expect to encounter but then countered with a richness, a new method of existing that I never fully realized until now.

  • Differences Between French and American Culture from a First Time Traveler’s Perspective

    Differences Between French and American Culture from a First Time Traveler’s Perspective

    It’s a beautiful summer evening in the small city of Tarbes, France, where I’ve been living with my host family for the past two weeks. I’m a music teacher from Washington, D.C, and decided to use my summer to stay with a family for a month and teach them English. Despite the late hour, there’s still a good deal of sun left as enjoy our apperitif outside. Good friends come in through the gate, and we exchange kisses and greetings before gathering at the table. Though I’ve only lived here a short while, I’m more comfortable with the way of life and customs that are different from back home.

    Before arriving, we search for the best flight deals, brush up on some key phrases on Duolingo, and maybe pack a suitcase with enough room for some delicacies. But what is everyday life in France REALLY like? Here are a couple of things to expect during your stay in this beautiful country!

    What I was worried about the most before coming to France was how to greet people. The number of kisses usually depends on where you are in the country – my region did one on each cheek. It went something like this: say “Bonjour”, kiss one cheek, say your name, kiss the other, and ask “ça va?” or, “How’s it going?”. My host family would do this at the beginning of the day upon waking up, and again in the evening returning home. It’s impolite not to greet someone you don’t know, no matter what the social setting. Don’t forget to say goodbye when you leave, too.

    To me, the biggest difference between France and America is the speed of everyday life. Stores open late in the morning, close usually about 2 hours for lunch, and close in the early evening, between 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Plan your shopping for the day accordingly! Meals are eaten much later, too. At my homestay, the earliest we ate was around 8:30 pm, some meals going until 11:00! The relaxed atmosphere of meals in France made them some of my favorite parts of the day.

    Enjoying an apéritif with my host parents and some new friends!

    Meals in France are an experience to be savored; they go with the French pace of life! Lunch and dinner might start off with a beverage (flavored syrup mixed with water, juice, or an adult beverage). Look around in the middle of the day and you’ll see most people carrying a baguette for lunch (the only sandwiches worth getting are those on baguettes).

    If eating out or dining at home, you’ll usually start with an apéritif. At my homestay, this looked like selections of meat paired with chips or crackers on a charcuterie board, anywhere between 20-60 minutes before the main meal. Afterward, the French love their desserts with a coffee or tea. Besides the delicious food, something else I liked about meals with my host family was that every family member was present. I looked forward to that daily time together.

    On the whole, everyone I met or interacted with in many parts of France were friendly and helpful. While maybe having a more serious demeanor, the French are accepting of and eager to help travelers. Most schools teach English for a small part of the week, so many people I met could say a few things to me in English. Many clothing lines, songs, TV shows, and movies from the US are popular in France, so will always be something to talk about.

    The people of Tarbes gather at City Hall for it’s Bastille Day celebration

    I was surprised to find that, in comparison, Americans are very animated people who tend to exaggerate in conversation. Once at lunch, I explained to my host mom that while I wasn’t in a romantic relationship with it, it made sense in English that I “loved” my salad.

    I’m grateful to Greenheart Travel and my homestay family for this incredible experience. I know that when I will return to France, it will feel like coming home. Soak up all you can and enjoy yourself on this amazing journey. Bon voyage!

    Emmie Dohse, from Washington D.C., is a Greenheart Travel First Time Traveler Scholarship recipient. Learn more about Greenheart Travel’s scholarship opportunities to help you travel for a change!

  • Take 5: What It’s Like to Teach in a Homestay in Spain

    Take 5: What It’s Like to Teach in a Homestay in Spain

    What better way to learn what it’s like to Teach in a Homestay in Spain than from a first-hand experience! Jennifer is a Greenheart Traveler who took the time to share a bit about her life in Spain in this week’s Take 5.

    What inspired you to go to Spain?

    I had been to Barcelona and Ibiza before however wanted more of a cultural experience. I have always been so fascinated and in love with the language, people, art, architecture, food and so on. Since I only had a little taste and was hungry to learn more, I did a fair amount of research and found that Greenheart had the perfect program for someone my age. I am still not done exploring and regret only choosing to stay 1 month. The whole fear of the unknown, and not knowing exactly where I would be placed was half of the fun. I imagined being placed in a major city and was nervous that I was going to be living in such a rural area. Once I was there I was so grateful that I wasn’t in a larger city because I could easily plan that on my own. It was so much more valuable going somewhere I had never heard of, and that I probably would’ve never chosen on my own. It made my experience that much more special and close to my heart.

    What was your favorite way to spend your weekends?

    It’s crazy because everyone I had spoken with whether it was a Greenheart representative or Greenheart alumni, I was told to make sure that I keep busy because they had a lot of free time. I was advised to research what I wanted to do while out there. Miraculously, I was blessed with the best family ever. It was also during summertime, so there was no school in session. My host family and I spent every weekend together. Usually I love exploring and alone time however, it worked out for the better with the short amount of time we shared together. We did a lot of hiking and spent most of the time outdoors, swimming, shopping, running in the mountains, exploring new towns and cities, visited many churches, and obviously eating. I was open to trying everything and anything.

    What was the first meal your host family made you?

    The first homemade meal I had was a seafood dish with a tomato broth. I can’t remember the formal name, but it was overwhelmingly delicious. Everything we ate was complimented with fresh bread. Would literally dip bread in almost every sauce, broth, or soup. Alongside with most meals was an ice cold cerveza in a frozen ceramic mug. The first meal my host father made for us is called pipirrana.  Pipirrana is an Andalusian dish whose basic ingredients are onion, tomato, green pepper and cucumber. I have included a picture 🙂

    What is something you learned about yourself?

    I think the most valuable lesson I learned from this experience is that only positive things stem from stepping out of your comfort zone. I learned how brave, capable, and independent I am. I came home with a new level of confidence. It was very pivotal learning that there are some really genuine people out there. Not to mention, it was such a breath of fresh air to meet and live with a family that takes such pride in where they come from.

    What was the best piece of advice you received before going abroad?

    The best advice received was to have no regrets, place no expectations, and to be grateful that I am able to take this opportunity. Not everyone is able to endure milestones like this, so I am forever grateful to have received such a gift.

  • The Real Reason You Should Travel: Learning to Live an Unpredictable Life

    The Real Reason You Should Travel: Learning to Live an Unpredictable Life

    So, you’ve finished your application, booked your flight, had the pre-departure webinar, and you’re ready to go abroad and start your program with Greenheart Travel. Let me just give you one piece of advice before you head to your host country: BE OPEN-MINDED!

    That might seem obvious now, but trust me, you need to remember to be open-minded (especially when you first arrive) because a lot of things will surprise you and catch you off guard. Not everything will go exactly as you plan or imagine.

    During my application process for the Teach English in a Homestay program in Chile, I wrote that I would prefer a pet-free home because I was actually afraid of dogs and have been since I was a child. I didn’t feel like I could comfortably live and teach in an environment where I’d be on-edge every day.

    To my surprise, when I arrived in Chile at my host family’s house where I was going to live for 3 months, they had a dog! What?!? At first, I was confused, but then I remembered that the host family’s application did say that they had a dog, that lived outside. I must’ve overlooked it in all my pre-departure excitement. I checked the application later, and it did say that the dog lived outside, but it ended up coming inside just as much as it was outside.

    The dog that helped me conquer my fear

    For the first week of my placement, I wasn’t sure what to do because I was technically made aware that there’d be a dog “living outside” so I couldn’t complain or be angry. I didn’t want to ask my host family if the dog could stay outside. I’d only been there a week, so I was still getting to know them and wanted to make a good first impression. In my moment of doubt, I decided to open my mind and just live with it. I figured I could just see what would happen in the next week. It’s not like I was allergic to dogs, so I could technically live with it, and Greenheart Travel cannot guarantee all preferences.

    Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of dogs, my open-minded attitude was ready for this unexpected challenge. I wanted to complete my program, and my host family was VERY welcoming and friendly. They even prepared a whole room for me in their house! They wanted me there just as much as I wanted to be there! With an open mind, day by day I started getting closer to the dog. By the end of my three-month homestay, I basically became best friends with that dog (and my host-family, of course).

    While in Chile,  I encountered a few more situations where I had to be open-minded and adapt. I was under the impression that I’d be teaching one young adult in the home who already knew some basic English, so I’d mostly be helping them with their pronunciation and conversational English. For the first month, I was speaking and teaching English to that one person. Eventually, the parents and some nieces and nephews I met during my time in Chile also wanted to learn English, which was great! But, they were complete beginners. So now I was teaching three age groups at all at different levels. In other words, I had to adapt and change lesson plans and teaching methods (a lot of translating apps were used).

    It was all worth it because I got to see their English really improve, and I knew that I played a part in that, which made my trip even more worthwhile. Teaching English to various age groups was interesting, and taught me a lot about how people learn and different ways to plan lessons and teach. I even got to learn more Spanish because I was teaching beginner English vocabulary while speaking Spanish.

    Having a great time teaching English in Chile to different age groups

    While teaching English abroad in a host family setting, you might only end up teaching one person, and that’s great! But chances are other members will eventually want to start learning at least some words and sentences. Be prepared to adapt and teach English at different levels to different age groups. Being open-minded helped transform my homestay program from what could’ve been a dreadful experience, to an amazing, fear-conquering, Spanish learning, and English teaching experience that I will never forget. It gave me so many skills I know I will continue to use in everyday life, like adapting to unexpected situations.

    If you are traveling to a foreign country, just remember that there will inevitably be surprises and unknowns- you can’t avoid them all. Those surprises will teach you a lot about yourself and make your experience so much better.  Maybe they’ll help you conquer a fear, or teach you something new. I am so glad that I kept an open mind and stayed with that host family because they’ve truly become my Chilean family who I stay in touch with. I’m actually planning a trip to visit them very soon!

    Movie day with my Chilean family

    If you are applying for a program through Greenheart Travel, don’t quit, give up or get angry when something doesn’t quite go your way because some things are just unpredictable. That’s exactly why you should travel; to learn to live a life full of unpredictable moments.

    So, embrace the unexpected. it could be where you learn and grow the most!

    Ready to embrace the unexpected? Learn how you can Teach English in a Homestay in Chile below:

  • Why Travel Makes You the Best Version of Yourself

    Why Travel Makes You the Best Version of Yourself

    Traveling isn’t always easy. Worth it, yes. Easy, no. When I arrived, I was exhausted. The jet lag mixed with the tiniest differences that shouldn’t have tired me, but did, physically and mentally wore me out. A small part of me would whisper ‘what’s wrong with you’ when I spent an hour watching Modern Family instead of being out in the city drinking sangria. So why do it? I actually got asked this question in a variety of ways and sometimes it was hard to come up with a reason. I couldn’t always put in words why I had to do it, but deep down I knew I had to do it.

    The days were filled with new and exciting events- from the big picture, observing cultural love languages to the smallest things, like why are all of the light switches different here? But that doesn’t mean that the days didn’t have their stressors. A day in the city where every little social interaction could go horribly wrong or make you feel horribly stupid was, well, stressful. So, duh, right? Well yes, but the thing that I got from it is (and no I’m not going to say laugh at yourself although, true.) is that it is good to be scared. It’s good to be afraid. Because in these situations was when I got out of my comfort zone. I put a new (both cultural and personal) lens to my own behavior. Getting out of your comfort zone while in a new location and when you don’t really have much of a choice makes it a whole lot easier when you’re back home. I realized I had to just bite the bullet with so many little things because I was traveling solo. I had no choice to just opt out of doing some things. I couldn’t just not try my awful broken Spanish to ask a lady to get to the nearest metro stop. I couldn’t just not wash my clothes because the European machines were different than the ones back home (how exactly does one work a drier that opens from the top and has a trapdoor!?). It got to be exciting too, mostly because it’s so freeing to not be held back by fear. That freedom mixed well with the humor in how awful some of the situations turned out because it opened me up to the ~whimsical~ anything can happen mindset.

    My point here is that traveling can make you a better version of yourself. You wake up, not defeated by another monotonous too early alarm (youch, it’s Tuesday again?), and want to go out to try something new. A new store, restaurant, sport- the thing itself doesn’t really matter. It’s that you want to do something new. And while doing this, I was so afraid of falling into the uneducated, arrogant, and selfish American stereotype that I did everything in my power to avoid it. So, there I was, out, trying new things. I performed a balancing act of being young, stupid, and carefree all while analyzing every little action I did. In the States, I jaywalk all the time. In Spain, I felt the need to go to the crosswalk and usually waited for the passenger symbol for my time to cross so that I wasn’t that American. I tried to say yes to every opportunity that came my way. I changed the way I talked to people my age; this was especially evident when I tried explaining the culture of cigarette smoking to one of my host brothers. I packed cuter outfits. So, when out in the world, being a better you is just fun.

    Traveling is real life. To me, one of the biggest beauties of traveling is that you can be completely removed from a situation and then return with a renewed mindset. For me, I can have a hard time incorporating my time away into my time at home. In Spain, I usually had the day free to go see the city- museums, parks, coffee shops, and the like and then return back to the flat for English lessons. Back at school, my days are filled with studying, naps, working out, and going to the grocery. When a switch is completely flipped, I struggle to not view a certain time away as surreal. I keep telling myself that yes, that actually happened. I try to work on bringing what I learned about myself and other people and that inexplicable travel groove I was in into my time at home.

    It’s easy for people for people to slip into this alternate persona when traveling. I fully support the notion, but we need to try to not slip right out when the plane lands to get back home. I don’t know why this matters so much to me- the idea that people have mundane, real-life selves and then exotic, travel selves. I think it matters to me because what some people can do with this-this idea of traveling, is what I do with the future. It really is too easy of a trap to fall into. The “I’ll be more adventurous when I’m away and trying to pay bills” quickly translates to “I’ll be much happier when I’m not stressed with school and have a paying job with a loving family.” And that’s what I want to get away from. I think one of the reasons I love to travel and explore is because every minute is like hey this is your life.

    I know that everyone has a different experience abroad. I was incredibly lucky during my time as a language assistant in Spain. I had a more than wonderful host family with a strong support system back home. I just wanted to share some thoughts about my journey in hopes that you’re a little better off because of it.

  • What I Realized While Living with a Host Family

    What I Realized While Living with a Host Family

    Around the time I was thinking about traveling to Spain, I never thought that staying with a host family would have such a huge impact on my trip. Yes, solo travel may sound great, but having a family was something I needed. Before, I could never imagine myself living in someone else’s home, but the time shared with my family contained the most treasured moments that truly a photo couldn’t capture. Although, there’s no specific guidebook on how you should meet people, or in this case live in someone’s house, here are some of the things that I learned while living with a host family.

    Find confidence in yourself.

    This helps when you are entering their home and daily routine. You should believe that you are brilliant and courageous enough to be far from home and living with people whom you’ve only known for a few video chats or even messages. Moreover, you should know that living with other people in general is a very hard thing to do, but for you to come into a strangers house and adapt to their set of rules, that truly deserves a round of applause.

    Christmas dinner with my host family. Of course, I ate everything!

    Be open to everything, because that’s what you are here for.

    There are things that you’ve never thought about trying, and this is the time to change that. Regardless if it’s the host family’s hobbies, language, or food; you should step out of your comfort zone to try these once in a lifetime things. For example, I think the most trouble I had was not trying to speak the language fully. I tried all the food and activities, but the thing I couldn’t bring myself to do is try the Spanish language. This is one of my biggest regrets. So try everything!

    Family trip to Albanchez

    Regardless of how private you’d like to keep yourself, you should be open with your host family.

    Something one of the cousins told me was, “Well you’re here aren’t you? You’re family.”  Not that you have to tell everybody your business, but there are times you should confide in your host family, such as when you are feeling uncomfortable or down. This is where you may have to release some of the things you harbor. 

    And of course there are many different experiences that I can’t speak for, but here are some of the things that I had to deal with in order to have the most pleasant experience. It’s always great to have a family where you are.

    Nini Vo is a Greenheart Travel First Time Traveler Scholarship recipient from Texas. Learn more about Greenheart Travel’s scholarship opportunities to help you travel for a change!

     

  • 5 Things Americans Should Learn from Italians

    5 Things Americans Should Learn from Italians

    From my experience in Italy, I have concluded that the best way to travel abroad truly is to live with a family or a group of natives. You learn 10x more from observing, being forced to speak the language and going outside of the typical American tourist bubble.

     My experiences with my host family have taught me more about the pace of Italian life and what they hold most important.  I’ve comprised a list of some things we as Americans need to learn from Italians.

    1. How to Work 

    In Italy, almost all places close for two hours in the middle of the day for families to come home and have a big lunch altogether. This gives workers time to relax, take in some nutrients and recharge. Two hours gives enough time to take a little nap as well.  They laughed when I said Americans were typically given a thirty-minute lunch break, which most times is spent working.

    Over antipasta, wine and cheese, a local friend told me that she used to have a short break at work and would get extreme migraines and anxiety. When given time off, she said she worked better.

    However, I was told that major cities in the north like Milan (which has a Los Angeles pace to it) has so much traffic in the area that for people who live out of the city, it can take two hours to go to and from work.

    One night over drinks with some family friends, someone said something to me really stuck out. He said, “My work is important, but my life is more important.”  

    2. How to Eat

    This is an obvious one and I could do a whole post dedicated to Italian food. There is just way too much to say. The food in Italy is given such careful thought and is always fresh. There is also the way Italians eat; always together, always sitting down, and always multiple courses. 

    I have learned that the way we eat can symbolize how we live our lives and the way we treat food has a very clear reflection on the way we treat others.  When preparing meals,  careful thought goes into each dish with finding the best freshest ingredients, preparing a table and sitting down to enjoy friendships and have deep conversations. In the states, eating feels hurried. We grab take-out, heat up meals in microwaves, or eat standing up. Look at our relationships- always cut short, less meaningful and less involved in each other’s lives. This leads me to my next point.

    3. How to Love 

    Italy is the country of love. Or is that France? Either way, you can feel the love here. I’m not talking about romantic love, although I have seen a lot of that. I’m talking about genuine love for our friends and family and how we show it. Maybe it’s just because I live in Los Angeles where everyone is there is to accomplish their goals and get things done. I see friendships and family relationships here and I am so jealous. They are all so involved in each other’s lives. When Mateo, my youngest host brother, broke his nose last week, every day there were cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, teachers, parents of friends, who all gathered to see him. I told them that if I broke my nose my parents would probably come to see me, but that’s about it.

    My goal is to have deep relationships. It is our choice to invest in our friends and family and when we choose not to we are saying our lives are more important. When in fact, your life will be richer and more fulfilled when you lift your head up for one second. 

    4. How to Use Technology

    We won’t answer each other’s calls but we will post on Instagram. We will hit ignore and text back hours later saying, “Hey, did you call?” “Sorry, I’ve just been so busy.” What if I actually really needed you? I honestly have stopped calling some of my friends because I know that they won’t answer and that I should save my calls for when it is truly important. 

    They call each other all the time and never have I ever seen someone ignore someone’s calls, which is ironic because they aren’t attached to their phones.

    5. How to Carry Yourself

    Everywhere I go people always look so nice and put together. It’s not that appearances are that important, it’s just them having respect for themselves. Taking that little extra effort to put on a little makeup, some boots or a scarf, and carry themselves in a way that says, “Yes I am beautiful, I take time and effort to invest in myself, reflecting how I invest in everything in life.”

    They all also dress so differently. There aren’t really trends, everyone just rocks their own look. Obviously, European fashion is way more advanced than American fashion, but it is also the perception of fashion. In America, it’s like, “Hey I really want that purse that everyone has.” In Italy it’s like, “Wow, this is beautiful on me.”

    I’ve struggled with the concept of beauty for a long time.  One night, before we were going out to the festival of Santa Lucia, I was watching Elyana put on her makeup and told her that I really liked her lipstick and she replied that she would take me to the store! So on our way to Saint Lucia, we went to this makeup store called Forma or something, which is kind of like a cheaper Sephora. She had me pick out a lipstick; she bought three and said I could have her free one. The hospitality of the people.

    I put my lipstick on the next day and said to myself, “You are beautiful.” Beauty has been a hard thing for me to wrap my head around, and I never really considered myself to be a beautiful person. In LA, there are so many beautiful people everywhere and everyone is always looking for the next bigger and better person to cling on to. But with that being said, I compare myself to everyone and it has been very hard for me to see myself as beautiful.

    Putting on the lipstick, I felt redeemed, as if a part of me had come back to life. I thank Italians for showing me that we each have our own inner and outer beauty that when embraced, we can live confidently and assertively.

    Immerse yourself in Italian culture! Click the link below to live with a family in Italy:

  • Take 5: The Value of Saying “Yes” with Cody Wirth

    Take 5: The Value of Saying “Yes” with Cody Wirth

    Take 5 is a Greenheart Travel series where we ask alumni 5 quirky questions about their time abroad.

    Up to this point, Take 5 has highlighted some of our teen alumni who have completed one of our High School Abroad programs. This week, we are switching it up by putting the spotlight on Cody Wirth, who taught English in a Homestay in Spain this past summer.

    1. When is the first time you feel like you made a friend?

    The first time I felt like I made a friend was almost immediately after arriving. Ernesto was my student, but he turned out to be such a great friend. He is 15, and I am 20, so we are close enough in age to relate to each other about a lot of things. We did everything together during my one month stay in Spain, such as playing video games, going to the beach, visiting his family in Málaga, going to La Alhambra in Granada, and simply riding our bikes to work in his family’s gym. We still stay in contact via WhatsApp, talking about not only language but also what our lives entail in general. Ernesto is definitely a very good friend and my first friend that I made in Spain!

    2. Best way to get involved?

    The best way to get involved is to say yes. “Cody, do you want to do X?” “Cody, do you want to go to Y?” Most, if not all, of the time, these were questions by Emilio and Rosa, Ernesto’s parents, asking if I wanted to be involved with their family in what they were doing. Take these opportunities. Even if something seems boring, difficult, ludicrous, or whatever negative adjective you can think of, still try it.

    Remember, we come into foreign countries looking through our American lens. By getting involved and leaving worries and preconceived notions at the door, we can experience life more closely to what it truly is for native citizens of other countries. By saying yes, I did everything from watching the running of the bulls on television with my host family at 8am, to planting avocado and mango trees in my host family’s yard, to rock climbing and hiking on a path that was literally on the edge of a rock face.

    3. Biggest Spanish (language) miscommunication?

    There were definitely many miscommunications between myself and others, both speaking English and speaking Spanish. A few dealt with vocabulary, such as how I at first used the word “carro” to say “car” but was quickly corrected that Spaniards say “coche.”

    Others though were more…interesting. One in particular was when Ernesto asked me, “Cody, do you want to take a bath?” “Interesting,” I thought, “now why would Ernesto be so concerned about my personal hygienic schedule? How bad do I stink?” Soon, though, he was in his bathing suit jumping in the pool. After debriefing about what had happened, I learned that the verb “bañarse” means to casually swim in Castilian Spanish, but it translates literally to “bathing oneself,” which has a whole different meaning in American English.

    4. Favorite Spanish song?

    Specifically, I do not remember the names of many Spanish songs; however, being in Andalucía, the southern autonomous region in Spain, my family knew a lot about flamenco. We listened to a lot of flamenco at dinner on Spotify and Emilio, my host father, would show me YouTube videos of famous flamenco singers and performers.

    My favorite experiences, though, were when Emilio would bring out his guitar to play flamenco. He knew how to pluck the strings perfectly (which was very difficult, much more complicated than just strumming chords) as well as sing along. One time, his brother-in-law, David, played the guitar while Emilio clapped a typical flamenco beat and sang. They had me clap a steady beat along with it to make a full flamenco song. They put me right in the center of the culture, which was amazing.

    5. Advice for others going abroad?

    My advice for anyone going abroad is to do it. You might be thinking, “well, obviously that’s what I’m doing. I am already going.” But I do not just mean go and have your experience; I mean do your experience. Live it to the fullest by saying yes, having realistic goals, relying on others (both locals and friends and family back at home), knowing and expecting that something will be different about you after your experience (growing is good!), staying curious, and above all, having fun. YOU ARE FREAKING GOING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY. Holy. Cow. That is incredible, so live it up to its- and your- highest potential.

    Don’t worry about things that will be completely trivial in the future, like being embarrassed and looking different. Those are things that will happen, and you should prepare for them; however, they should not define your trip nor stop you from experiencing everything at its fullest potential.

    Also, don’t be shy about what you want to do. I was shy at first about a place I really wanted to see while I was in Spain, but finally, I just asked my family if it would be possible for me to go. Without me getting over this hesitation, I never would have visited Barcelona. Be confident and dream big. You got this.

    Want to Teach English in a Homestay in Spain like Cody? Click below to learn more about the program: