It had been two days and Anna Anzilotti was still adjusting to her new ‘home away from home’ in General Ramírez, Argentina. Upon her arrival, a new classmate asked for her last name, using the spanish word “apellido.” Thrown off by the local accent she had yet to adjust to, Anzilotti misheard their question. Trying to mimic the word, she mistakenly pronounced “bachata”, the word for a type of Latin American dance. Unaware of what she was really saying, Anzilotti responded saying that her “bachata” was Anzilotti, to which her classmates laughed and replied “no”. While the confusion was soon cleared up, Anna was given a nickname that stuck: Anna Bachata.

Anzilotti, a junior at CHS, had dreamt of studying abroad since hearing about the experiences of other students as a freshman during World Culture’s Day. “I went home and told my mom that I wanted to study abroad for a year, and she was all for it,” Anzilotti said. Although traveling for a year in high school seemed too risky with graduation credits and college requirements, her dream to travel abroad, for a much smaller time frame, came true through the AFS Intercultural Program, a 9-week summer trip.

AFS originally stood for the American Ambulance Field Service, an ambulance service created to help wounded soldiers during World War II. After the war, in 1947, the AFS turned into a different type of program. In efforts to ease tensions between European and American people, they created a high school exchange student program, known as the AFS Intercultural Program. Now, the program has expanded to more than 75 countries, including Argentina, Anzilotti’s choice.

For Anzilotti, Spanish runs in the family. She has taken several spanish classes in school and her mother is fluent in the language. When choosing her destination, Anzilotti immediately narrowed her search to spanish speaking countries. However, based on the current turmoil in many of these places, Anzilotti had to refine her list of choices. One of the remaining countries was Argentina, a country whose history Anzilotti had already researched and become familiar with. This made it a perfect fit for Anzilotti.

A host family in General Ramírez, Argentina provided Anzilotti with a home during her summer-long stay. “I had a 14 year old sister, a mom, and a dad,” Anzilotti said, who did not describe the family as simply her hosts, but rather as her second family. Through their bond, Anzilotti was able to further her connection with the Argentinean culture by having a true Argentinean ‘family.’

A day in Argentina was always a busy one. Anzilotti would wake up at 6:30 everyday, go to school with her host sister, Mercedes, come home to do homework or spend time with her “sister” and eat dinner before having some time to relax. Through various experiences of baking cakes, playing go-fish, doing homework, or just watching a family movie, Anzilotti’s host family became like a real one.

Anzilotti was able to apply her knowledge with the English language while in Argentina. In her town, there was an English school where even her host parents would go to study. Anzilotti became an assistant teacher there, meeting with locals of every age, from tiny kids to adults like her host parents. Not only did Anzilotti learn during her foreign experience, but she became a teacher as well.

After nine weeks, Anzilotti returned to Clayton with an experience she will never forget. One of the many take-aways from her trip, Anzilotti said, was that it was a huge confidence booster. “I just knew that everything else was going to be easy because I had done this and I could do it,” she said. Other effects of the time abroad include appreciating and connecting with another culture as well as furthering her Spanish knowledge.

“It’s an experience [that’s] totally unique,” Anzilotti said. “To go anywhere in the world and to experience that culture so fully and really be submerged in the language, that’s just so perfect, so personal.”