Pablo Mendez is a 14 year old from Madrid. He will be starting his sophomore year of high school as a foreign exchange student in Acadiana.
Pablo told me he's excited to experience a new way of learning and a new culture. As a current soccer player, Pablo says he is looking to trying new sports.
"I also like volleyball, and I would like to try other sports," Pablo said. "I was told you all play baseball so I would like to try that."
Lacey Bueche, a local coordinator for Student Travel School Foundation, a nonprofit, will host Pablo. Bueche says she already has many things planned for Pablo to experience such as certain Louisiana festivals, crawfish season, and other trips. Bueche told me hosting Pablo is a way for her to help someone while bringing life to old experiences.
"It's easy for us to say 'Oh, I don't know if we'll go to the festival. We've done it before, or I don't know if we'll take this bike ride today," Bueche said. "We let life get in the way and I want to start embracing those moments more and having Pablo there, it excites us all."
Pablo says he's following in his mother Maria's footsteps by becoming a foreign exchange student. Maria says while she will miss her son, she's excited for him to experience the same opportunities as her, and she's grateful for the wonderful sponsor family her son will have.
"I think it's a great experience, we have a wonderful host family," Maria said. "So I'm really happy our host family is making things so easy."
There's one popular Louisiana holiday Pablo told me he's looking forward to.
"I don't remember what it was called but Lacey told me about one celebration called Mardi Tuesday or something," Pablo said. "My grandmother and my French teacher told me about that too."
Bueche says helping someone experience a different culture is a rewarding experience. For any family that is interested in sponsoring a foreign exchange student you can visit www.stsfoundation.org.
