In the summer of 2012, our family had the exceptional experience of hosting an EERC student. It wasn’t long after greeting our guest at the airport in Boston, that we all became comfortable and relaxed with each other. We enjoyed four weeks together, sharing our cultures, customs, and foods. For Anca, our student, there were many “firsts”, such as celebrating the Fourth of July, brunch, a drive-in movie, smores, and fortune cookies. She graciously answered our questions about life in Romania and prepared many delicious traditional Romanian meals for us. The joy of spending time as a family with Anca, as she experienced so many new things, is the source of many special memories. However, the best thing about hosting an EERC student was the close, lasting friendship we now share with Anca.
In the Spring 2015, my daughter, Sadie, and I, set out to explore her new camp at an open house at the Charles River Creative Arts summer program (CRCAP) in Dover. Little did we know that we would stumble upon EERC, and our lives would change for the better. Florentina and Valerica were at the camp booth, and they were looking for host families for the Romanian children who would be attending the camp. My husband agreed it was a great idea, and after we passed the home visit, we began to plan our summer. Thus far, over two summers, we have hosted first Ioana and then Maria; they quickly became part of our family. Sadie is our only child, and she was excited to have a visiting sibling. We kept busy showing off our family and the surroundings: we took to the city, the beach, family cook-outs, the Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium, even a trip to NYC. It was hard to say "goodbye" at the end of these two incredible summers. Tears were shed, yet the experience was priceless. Each year the girls learned from each other although they had different interests. My daughter Sadie loves all things musical theater and has little enthusiasm for sports. Ioana loved dancing; she picked up guitar and photography at camp. Maria loved all things sports, and she was not a fan of shopping and girly things. None of this mattered; Sadie become friends with each of them, they accepted their differences, and learned from each other. By the end of the summer, Sadie sang along as Ioana played guitar and Maria even admitted she liked the play Wicked. Sadie has learned to share her home and her family; her patience and kindness have deepened as a result. We are excited to see Maria and Ioana next summer as we travel to Romania, and we hope to host again.
