AFS student Alexia “Ally” Simon
“It’s really different here,” Alexia “Ally” Simon said, comparing Grand Marais to her home city of Asunción, Paraguay. A junior at Cook County High School, Ally is at the end of a semester’s long stay in Cook County.
Over the months, Ally has had many great experiences, guided along the way by her host family: Laura, Jay, MaeAnna, LeeEllen, and Jason LaFavor. Ally said that her host family is very kind and generous. “I love them!” Ally exclaimed.
One of her favorite things about Cook County is Lake Superior. She loves the view, especially from Pincushion Overlook. She also loves her host mom’s pancakes and bacon; something she will miss when she goes back to Paraguay. One thing she won’t miss, however, is not being able to drive while in Minnesota.
In preparation to come to the United States, Ally practiced English two hours a day, seven days a week, for two years. “People understand me about 90 percent of the time,” Ally said. “The other 10 percent can be a bit tricky!”
While Ally attended Cook County High School, she took Spanish Three. It was helpful for the students learning Spanish to be able to speak with a teenager fluent in the language. Speaking English so much, however, Ally occasionally found switching back to Spanish a bit difficult.
In general, school was very different than in Paraguay. Ally thought school here seemed easier, explaining that in Paraguay they have less homework and more extremely difficult tests. She thought the yearbooks were great, noting that in Paraguay they didn’t have them.
Ally came to learn more about the language and culture, but as a foreign exchange student she also learned confidence. Her parting advice: “If you don’t trust yourself to do stuff, you’ll never move on in your life.”
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