MB Sister City Program celebrates 14 years
Rafael Villavicencio, Bella Tallman, Javier Villavicencio Camarena, Enrique Cuevas, Nicole Burke, Patricia Meza, Mike Rossi, Mirza Chazaro, Jesus Enrique León, Hunter Lange, Mariana Cuevas, Lezith Gayazar Martínez, Patrick McMillan, Albert Turner, Sharon McMillan, Mia Lange, Mireya Camarena, Jeri Orzeck and Tina Abel.
Manhattan Beach opened its arms once again to welcome the students from Santa Rosalia, Mexico, marking the fourteenth anniversary since Mike Rossi started the exchange program in 2003.
The high school students from Santa Rosalia visit from July 20 to July 27, while the students from Redondo travel to Manhattan Beach’s sister city in February. The visiting teenagers have participated in various activities such as enjoying Disneyland and Six Flags, touring the Manhattan Beach police and fire department, and going to Venice and Santa Monica. The group has formed many friendships and relationships as they participated in the various activities.
“I think they are like my second family,” said Javier Villacencio, a student who has visited the South Bay many times with his mother, who helps run the program. “I know a lot of people and they say ‘Come whenever you want,’ and come study in the United States. They said I can come for vacation, use their apartments, bring my friends, have fun. When I got sick with cancer they kept saying that I could come [to America] and do treatments here and that was nice of them, but I trust in my people in my own country, which is a good thing.”
Adults who chaperone or help run the exchange program also form close relationships with the people they visit. Nicole Burke, a vice president of the Manhattan Beach Sister City Association has become best friends with some of the people she has met during the eleven years she has been participating in this enterprise. Burke has been in weddings and met her friends in other countries, and keeps in touch with them nearly every day through the phone and social media.
Kate Ripley, an incoming junior at Redondo Union High School who participated in a similar exchange program in middle school to Hermosa Beach’s sister city Loreto, said this exchange program offers opportunities to learn about different cultures that is impossible to turn away from.
“There’s definitely cultural differences and I think it’s really important to learn about those,” Ripley said. “…I learn things through this program that I otherwise would not think about. The difference in how people talk to each other and how people treat each other. It’s pretty different between Mexico and the United States. It’s definitely taught me to look at all sides of things and consider people’s experiences and location as contributors to their attitude and personality.”
Mariana Cuevas and America Perea, two girls from Santa Rosalia both decided to partake in this trip because of their desires to travel and learn about new things.
“Because it’s an opportunity that no one one else could offer, I had to take advantage of it. I like to travel, to learn about new things, and the idea of being able to go somewhere with my friends and make new ones,” Cuevas said. “I learned how to be more independent and learned about different places and things that I wouldn’t have learned about otherwise. It’s beautiful and I like being here with my friends and my friends from California.”
Students and chaperones alike both hope to keep this relationship alive and continue this program for many years.
“I want to continue and I would like to ensure that the relationship is stabilized, so that one day if my mom can’t continue the program, I can be there to help her because it’s something special that we have,” Villacencio said. “It’s really important for them to learn about different cultures. These students have the opportunity [to learn] thanks to this experience.”