I have hosted International Students twice and my most recent experience was this year. I hosted a French girl named Layal, who loved music, sports, and food. She was the perfect match for me. We got along so well, she was like the sister I never had. We immediately had an incredible bond together and had a great shared experience overall. Even though she is back home in France, we still communicate daily about anything and everything. This summer I might go visit her for a week and stay with her family and I couldn’t be more excited.
Hosting Layal was an overall great experience, but I also grasped an unexpected takeaway from her visit. While yes it was all fun getting to know each other and living together, we shared a lot more common things that weren’t as fun. We shared the experience of racism. This came to my mother and me as a surprise because we only saw her as White. However, Layal embraces her African side and shows it proudly. Unfortunately, Layal discussed with us that she is not able to express her full self because of the racism in Paris. She shared anecdotes about when she was with her Black friends they would be asked to leave a certain area or constantly watched. I can heavily relate to these types of experiences but it took me by surprise that her friends experienced this there because I only thought of America to be the only hard-core racist place. Yes, I have traveled around the world, but rarely have I experienced things outside of the country that were racist. Layal also shared with us that ever since she was a child, her parents would tell her not to share her African side with anyone she knew because there might be consequences. Those consequences range from blatant racism to just access to education or other things. Again, very similar to what I experienced in America.
Overall, I had a wonderful time hosting Layal and being her older sister in America. We are currently planning to see each other again soon!
