Emma Herlihy
Asst. News Editor

Sophomore Maria Raventós arrives at school greeting her friends just like any other girl, but her Catalan accent gives her away.

Raventós attends the Sacred Heart school in Barcelona, Spain — which is coed and includes a preschool, middle school and high school. Raventós says she’s enjoying wearing uniforms at Convent, which she doesn’t wear at home, because a new outfit does not need to be chosen every morning.

“We have all our subjects in the same class, except art in a different room and chemistry in the laboratory,” said Raventós, whose class of 100 is divided into four sections. “We also have a half an hour free in the morning and an hour free in the afternoon.”

Raventós’s school day is about the same as Convent’s, although her day starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 4:40 p.m.

Raventós is living with Sophia Favia during her stay in San Francisco. But living with a classmate does not replace her family.

“I miss my friends and my family a lot,” said Raventós. “I especially miss my brother and my two best friends because they are really special to me.”
Raventós has been getting involved in the Sacred Heart community in San Francisco by joining the JV tennis team and going to the recent boat dance.

“My school [in Spain] doesn’t have regular dances, so I enjoy [Convent’s] a lot,” said Raventós. “We just have a charity event every year for African kids that is like a party.”

Raventós says she hopes to gain maturity, responsibility and friends out of this exchange.

“The people and culture are absolutely different,” said Raventós. “I think that the people here mature earlier than in Spain. I think that people our age in San Francisco know all their responsibilities, but in Spain people know them once they are 20 years old.”

Although Raventós admits the beginning of her transition to life in San Francisco was complicated in terms of the different language and not knowing many people, she has adjusted well and made many new friends.
“I can tell that Maria is already comfortable here,” said sophomore Nicola Forbes. “She has made her own friends and not just stayed with Sophia because she is living with her, but reached out and made friends with others.”

Favia will attend Raventós’ school in Barcelona second semester while living with Raventós’s family.

“It was always something that was interesting to me, so I talked to [Dean of Students Celine] Curran about it,” said Favia. “I lived in Argentina for a year and a half, so I am fluent in Spanish.”

Sophia will travel to Spain in January and stay until March — with her California accent as a reminder of where she comes from.