Coginchaug has the opportunity to welcome an exchange student from Spain, Ignacio De La Hoz Garcia. From Sevilla, Spain, he will be attending Coginchaug until the end of the school year. Ignacio is eager to explore a new country as well as a different culture.  

According to Ignacio, his intentions of traveling abroad are to make new friends, learn about American culture, improve his English, and experience something new while traveling on his own. While staying for the year, he decided to join the boys soccer team and will possibly try out for tennis or golf in the spring.

Ignacio expressed numerous cultural differences as well as how different the atmosphere is. In his hometown, there are “a lot more buildings and things to do. ̈ He also pointed out that people walk more in the streets of Spain to get to places while people typically drive here to get to where they need to go. He stated how “green” it is here compared to Sevilla and how much colder it is than where he is from, indicating there are a lot more open fields, flowers, and trees in Durham/Middlefield. 

Ignacio mentioned how different the two countries are when meeting new people. In Spain, when a man meets a new woman, he kisses her on either cheek. Men will shake other men՚s hands when meeting. However, in America, everyone typically shakes the other person’s hand or simply just says hello. Ignacio added  “the people are very good they’re good people“ about the people he has met here.

Although he is sad he will be leaving at the end of the year and will “cry for missing this city and all my friends,“ Ignacio is taking advantage of the opportunities he still has here by continuing to get to know the culture as well as making more memories with the friends he has made here.