From Spain to the United States – a natural father’s incredible fly-by

High School abroad years can be challenging for parents when their teenagers travel. Naturally, they miss their kids and worry about them being so far from home, even if they are in the loving care of Greenheart’s community of awesome host families. This particular dad’s story made us smile.

Natural Dad’s Fly-over: Spain to Maine

“What to do when your daughter is having an exchange year in Maine and she is 3,700 miles away from her family in Spain??  Well, Sofia’s dad did what any father would do…if all fathers could fly!  He’s an international pilot and this week he did a fly by!

In the photo above Sofia’s dad, Luis, is in the cockpit showing Sofia’s American home’s location on the plane instrumentation. Photos below show the conveniently located river near the Morgan’s host family home that easily identifies where his little girl will happily live for the next 10 months!  (Awww…Thank you Luis for sharing this!)

Things you can’t see from 25,000 feet? 

Sofia has a younger host sister and little host brother who she is falling in love with.  They have a dog and a pool in the back yard and her school is walking distance to the beach!  What’s not to love?  Sofia’s host family told Greenheart Local Coordinator, Faith Morse, “We bought a home with hosting in mind. We wanted the extra space to be able to offer our children the experience of having exchange students in our home as a part of our family!”

Sofia with her American host family
Sofia on the way home from her airport pickup

Thank you Faith Morse and Sofia’s dad, Luis, for sharing such an inspiring and sweet story with us! And thank you to the Morgan family for being such great hosts! Here’s to Sofia having an unprecedented exchange year!

Greenheart Exchange has been a sponsor of the J-1 Exchange Visitor visa since 1985. In our first year, we helped seven Spanish students find host families and attend high school in the U.S. Now, we welcome hundreds of participants each year who live with American families and study in high schools all across America.

Interested in hosting a Greenheart Exchange high-school student like Sofia? Visit HostwithGreenheart.org to learn more, to Meet our Students, and to apply.