Eglantine, a 16-years-old globetrotter from France, took a two week trip with World is a Village to discover the homestay experience by staying with a Cuban Family in Miami. During her trip she got the chance to discover a side of American life not often accessible to young foreigners travelling in the States.

To know more read on 😉…

JT: Hello Eglantine, Marie, thank you so much for agreeing to sit with us to answer our questions.

MT: Thank you for coming, I hope we can answer all of them, 😂

It’s always reassuring to know that the team is always here to help and support. 

ET: I am very excited to share my experience. It was such a wonderful trip!

JT: Don’t worry there aren’t a lot of questions 😂. But let’s get started ! So Eglantine, where did you travel with World is a Village and how was your host family?

ET: I traveled to a Cuban Family living in Miami, the grandmother is Cuban. They moved to Miami about 50 years ago, I think. I really got to discover Cuban culture, the food, everything really… I really got to experience their way of life. It was really interesting, I really got to experience Cuban culture, and I never thought I would discover this much by traveling to Miami. Which goes to show that you end up learning so many different things you usually don’t expect on these kind of exchanges.

JT: Marie, how much support did you feel from World is a Village during Eglantine’s trip

MT: During Eglantine’s trip I felt a huge amount of support from the team since I knew that at any moment, if there were any issues, I could call and ask for help from the team. In the end everything went very smoothly, so I didn’t need the assist. But it’s always reassuring to know that the team is always here to help and support.

It was an incredible experience, I really loved it. It was really interesting and I would do it again without hesitation!

JT: Did you notice a change in behaviour upon Eglantine’s return?

MT: Eglantine was very lucky to be really immersed in the culture. When I say “really immersed” I mean a total immersion because she even got the chance to participate in a summer university course, in Miami. She took a class on National Security, the defence, with FBI simulations… What made me very happy is that she came back having followed these classes with a lot of enthusiasm on topics that aren’t necessarily very familiar to us.

JT: Eglantine is there anything you would like to add?

ET: Thank you so much World is a Village and Rosa’s family for welcoming me into their home in Miami. It was an incredible experience, I really loved it. It was really interesting and I would do it again without hesitation! ✌️

Check the video below:

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