Why we’re hosting
My host family in the Dominican Republic.
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The full story behind our decision to host is now waaay back in the archives. I think I’ve had some pretty interesting (and yes, some boring) posts. Feel free to go back to the beginning and read along the way. Or, here’s the short version:
For three summers when I was a 15, 16, and 17, I volunteered with an organization called “Amigos de las Americas”. I convinced my parents to let me live with host families, in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. That was when I first had the thought that when I grew up I would love to have someone from another culture come and live with me.
If you want to read more about my Amigos experience, see:
http://our-family-of-six.tumblr.com/post/826085613/the-seeds-of-our-hosting-experience
Last winter, I found out a friend was hosting an exchange student. Then AFS did a presentation at Lisa’s school. I knew that affording it would be hard for our family, but I immediately thought about hosting.
All three of my daughters were very excited about it. It took us a little while to convince my husband, but we did. One of our big selling points: as the kids have gotten older, they’ve tended to pursue their own interests, and have been doing less things as a family. We have been good at eating dinner together almost every night, but haven’t been spending a lot of time together, unless it’s been on boring stuff like cleaning the house. Family bonding over cleaning the kitchen – hmmm, not so fun. We already have one away at college, and all 3 girls will be out of the house before we know it. The exchange students come to be students, not tourists, but we knew we’d want to show her some of the San Francisco Bay Area. It would be a good reason for our family to spend time together.
The video “Why We Host” mentions some of the reasons that we thought hosting would be a great experience for our family. Take a look at the video:
