NAMPA, Idaho — Hosting an exchange student can mean opening a home to a new culture, and one Nampa neighbor said it leads to relationships that last well beyond the school year.
Matilda Pardomi, a high school senior from Ferrara, Italy, is spending this semester in Nampa attending classes at Idaho Arts Charter School. Coming to Idaho meant stepping into a place she barely knew and learning about it day by day.
WATCH: Nampa mom shares how hosting an exchange student creates a lifelong bond
"I didn't really know anything about Idaho before coming here," Pardomi said.
"After being living here for two months, three months, basically, like I found it really nice and like a breath of fresh air, to be honest," added Pardomi.
Through the 2C neighborhood news Facebook group, I connected with Nampa neighbor Anna Daniel. Daniel is a Treasure Valley host mom and area representative with International Student Exchange. She said hosting is about much more than just offering a student a place to stay.
"Well, as a parent, you get to bring somebody new into your home and show them love and support," Daniel said. "And be their family while they're here and then you just, it's a new family member for you to love on for the rest of their life in your life."
For Pardomi, major cultural differences show up in everyday life. The biggest adjustment has been grocery shopping.
"They have so many things, like they are full of everything. So seeing all these things packed and pre-made, it's weird, but I guess it's different," Pardomi said.
Daniel said those experiences are part of what keeps host families and students connected, even when they are a world apart.
"We've been back to Germany to visit one of our students and we have seen one of our students that we had from Spain was here in the summertime and she stopped in to say hello," Daniel said.
The International Student Exchange program is looking for more host families in the Treasure Valley.
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