The summer before my sophomore year of high school, my mom saw an ad in the newspaper about foreign exchange students who needed housing for three weeks in August. They were from France, and I begged and pleaded with my mom to let us house one. I had taken two years of French at that point and barely knew how to order food, let alone speak in coherent sentences. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to work on my French.

We met the other families hosting students in a grocery store parking lot and waited for the bus that would bring them from the airport. We made little signs and were so excited to meet her. Flora was quiet and a little shy at first, but didn't take long to open up. She had never been to the United States before and was just learning English. There was definitely a bit of a language barrier at first, but by me using my small amount of French and her English, we made progress over the weeks. I distinctly remember being so excited when I sneezed and I remembered the translation for bless you. I introduced her to all the American things like hot dogs and she introduced me to my favorite candy, Tagada. When Flora left after the three weeks, it felt like I was losing a sister. She had become part of our family and I didn't know when I would get to see her next.

We sent care packages and letters for the next year, and Flora came back the following summer with her whole family. We had so much fun, and I got to meet Flora's sister Lena. Flora's parents went home with Lena after two weeks and we took a trip with Flora to Niagara Falls. We went without seeing each other for another year, and then I got to go to France for two weeks as my graduation. It was amazing to see her culture, meet her friends, and learn more about what her life at home was like.

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet Flora and that she got to stay with our family. We keep in touch and talk weekly, usually over Snapchat (because it costs an arm and a leg to test and call internationally). We are almost always planning when we get to see each other next and talking about trips we will take together. She truly became like. sister to me that summer, and I wouldn't trade having her as one of my best friends for anything.