AFS San Diego

Photo used with permission from JoshBooX.

I could see the excited faces waiting for the day to start. I was impatient too. I was tired of imagining the fear running through my veins while flying in air. And soon, our wait was over; my wait was over. We reached magic mountain! Although the sun was burning hot, showing no mercy on us, our excitement and will never gave up. It was an incredible experience for all of us, especially for me because I had never imagined that I'll be flying on the world's largest and tallest roller coaster rides. Yes, roller coaster rides! Be it the Tatsu or the Goliath, the most amazing rides; we were never afraid of taking the challenge; or maybe it was not a challenge but just mere fun and excitement. Being with a group of exchange students from all around the world, I didn't even come to know when the time passed by. We, as a group, did all the possible rides, roamed around the park, ate a lot and most importantly, drank loads of water and lemonades to fight the dehydration. And in the end, we all were tired; even I was. Everyday has its twilight, its end. Sitting in the van and hearing all the excited voices commenting upon the the day's experience, I sat back thinking. I knew it was over. But then, I questioned myself: What did I get at the end of the day? I knew it was fun going on rides, but then, that excitement was temporary and had died already. But I knew there was something more to it that I couldn't understand. And then I realized, it was the smiles, the laughter, the jokes, all the things that we did as a group. Those were the moments that kept me alive. And now when I look back, I am afraid that these moments will never come back again. Jose's determination, Italo's food hunt, Lada's crazyness, Bijan's injured leg, Monica's tired face, Camille's jumping out of excitement; those are the things I take back. Just memories. But this wouldn't have been possible without the cooperation and support of the host parents and most importantly, without Becky. I just have two words to say " Thank You". Although these words are used thousands of times by all of us in a day, they mean a lot to me. It would have been impossible to make this happen without you all!

- Jay K.

Kristy Ishmael, one of our most dedicated volunteers, died peacefully in her sleep on March 6th after an eighteen month battle with cancer. I knew Kristy both as a host mom and as a good friend. She and her husband Ken hosted three students in successive years, Arthur Wong from Malaysia, Marin Stankov from Bulgaria and Germany, and Francisca Barreiros from Portugal. Two of her children went abroad on AFS exchanges, Timothy to New Zealand and Brynne to Austria.

Over the years, Kristy and I had many conversations, both in person and on the phone. She always made time to talk, and our talks usually centered on the challenges of parenthood, both of natural and hosted children, but we often digressed and chatted about things that were of interest or concern to the two of us. One of the joys of being her conversation partner was her total openness and candor. With Kristy, you always knew where you were at.

She approached her battle with cancer in the same open manner that left little room for false hope or wild speculation. She wanted to live, but she was prepared for the worst. Ken and she made sure that she received the best treatment possible; in New York, in San Diego, and finally in Los Angeles. I do not believe she was suffering greatly; I feel she would have told me. During her final months she spent a lot of time resting, but she found the energy to drive to Los Angeles for her treatments two or three times a week. When I asked her at a holiday gathering at my house in December how she felt, she responded, “I feel fine.” That was the end of that topic, and we moved on to things that seemed to interest her more.

Kristy took great pride in her children and their progress. She was a wonderful mom. Moreover, she was available to drive her hosted students wherever they might have wanted to go. She did have one iron-clad rule, however, for anyone in her care: no driving with teenagers and no hanging out with teenagers at their home unless a “responsible adult” was present. Other than that, she was as much a friend to her children and students as she was a parent.

Hi! Im one of the fifteen students that two weeks ago took part at the three-days-orientation in a camp in the middle of an amazing nowhere, in mt Laguna.

Only fifteen of us, not a big number, but a great group that includes many different countries: Italy, France, Portugal, Austria, Brazil, Germany, India, Chile, Sweden, Norway and Thai.

Before going there all of us were really scared that it would have been a boring and terrible weekend... But,thanks to our liasons that drove us there, thanks to the 3 wonderful people in charge of the meeting and, above all, thanks to us for being so nice and friendly with each other, we had a lot of fun together!

The orientations over the year are one of the most useful thing, that makes your experience abroad going on even better. You can share your own feelings, your emotions, your happynesses or sadnesses; you can talk about your host family, your school and your new friendships; and moreover, you can do that with guys that are facing your same situations.

Of course we didn't just even talk! We made a pumpkin for halloween, we tasted home-made dishes from all over the world and on saturday night we had a funny talent show about our countries.

We all enjoyed the stay but, the only regret we have, is that we have to wait till February for the next orientations together! Waiting for that.. we will try to keep in touch and I really belive that, since those few days, we has been building some friendships that might go on for the rest of our lives.

Sandy (Italy)

See the pictures here!

The annual picnic, hosted once again by Jeff, Cathy, and Nina Monroe at their lovely home in Fallbrook on August 25, was blessed with excellent weather and a congenial group of attendees. Becky Brooks, our orientations coordinator, added a little spice to the proceedings by rounding up our hosted girls for a hula dance and our hosted boys for a hula hoop exhibition under a canopy erected for the occasion. Selected host dads were invited to show their stuff as well. Oskar from Sweden and Alex Perry from Point Loma would still be hooping it up had they not been forcibly removed from the stage.

Becky also arranged for an ice breaker in the form of a questionnaire which encouraged attendees to mingle. Several volunteers were caught cheating by writing down the answers themselves with Ed Crawford being the principal culprit. The pot luck food was excellent, with the key lime pie and the lava cake taking first place honors among the delightful dessert spread. This year, many of our kids took to the swimming pool to cool off and to enjoy the spectacular view from the ledge. Nina Monroe, our 14 year old hostess-in-charge, ably directed the clean up crew consisting of Becky, Kristen, and Nick.

Photos of the Event

By Grace Micetich, freelance writer

Ramona residents, Ken and Kristy Ishmael, believe their children benefited greatly from studying abroad. Of their four children, two have been AFS students. And in 2005 & 2006, they hosted two AFS youngsters, one from Malaysia, and the other from Germany. They await the arrival in August of their next student, Francisca, a girl from Portugal. She, like all the Ishmael children, will attend Ramona High.

Son, Tim, now a student at UC Davis, studied in 2005 in New Zealand while the Malaysian student lived with his parents. Because she would be only 15 in her junior year, Brynne, their daughter, waited until she graduated from Ramona High to follow in her brother’s footsteps as an AFS student. In the summer of 2006, she left for her year with her host family in Vienna, Austria. While she was there, a student from Germany came to live with the Ishmael family.