AFS San Diego

The mid-term orientation for all SD Area Team exchange students will be at Foster Lodge, Mt. Laguna on the Sunrise Hwy, starting at 10:00 AM Saturday Feb. 7, ending by 2:00 PM Sunday Feb. 8.

We will be looking for eight to twelve liaisons, volunteers or host parents who are able to bring two or three students up, stay overnight, and bring them home. More details to follow.

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Jim Dooley
SD Area AFS Volunteer Area Team Chair
760-728-5682

San Diego AFS Area Team held their Mid-Year Orientation at a Sierra Club lodge on Mt. Laguna in east San Diego County the weekend of Feb. 7-8. Snow hardly ever occurs in the population centers here, and is uncommon in the mountains. So when we booked the lodge a couple of months ago it was with the thought that snow was unlikely. Our good fortune was that the snow did not accumulate on the roads, but we did have a few inches everywhere else. We had 24 AFS students there. Those from Northern Europe were relatively unimpressed. But for those from places like Thailand, including two who had never seen snow, it was a real treat. An unidentified student or students built this miniature AFS snowman as a greeting to all of us as we exited the lodge.

Doug Deane and Dana Goodrich of Alpine have found becoming “parents” to a 15-year-old Muslim girl from Thailand, a life changing experience. The same is true for their “daughter,” Mareenah (pronounced Marina) Useng.

“It rocked my world,” said Doug of the time Mareenah was missing. “I found out what being a parent is really all about.” He received a call from Dana that the bus had “come and gone and Mareenah wasn’t on it. I was panicked.” Actually it turned out that the bus was just late. Mareenah was fine, a new bus driver had apparently got lost.

“In the mornings, Mom takes me,” Mareenah said of Dana. Partly because she’s carrying a lot of books, Doug explains, “but also for security. She wears a scarf outside the house. She hasn’t had any problems with it, but she does stick out.”

Mareenah is living with the couple and attending Granite Hills High School as part of the AFS Intercultural Programs student exchange. She is one of 20 students in San Diego County brought over by the group, and the only Muslim girl they’ve ever had.

Rhonda Farrar in Poway has kindly offered her home as the location for orientations for the exchange students and host families. I said the hours would be from 9:00 A. M. until noon. And that we have not decided whether to host a lunch, but my inclination is to do the introductions and picture taking after the orientations, and allow the families to plan their own lunch arrangements with their students.

Location:
Angie and Herb Slocum’s home
14966 Vista de Pauma, Valley Center
(Google Map)

Instructions for liaisons:

• The students should arrive at the Slocum's between 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
• To minimize travel for families and to give the liaisons a chance to spend some time with the students, we are asking that the liaisons take their students to the event.