Submitted photo From left are Rotarian Jessica Sutton, Rotary Exchange Student Natalie Sutton and Elkins Rotary President Kenny George. Natalie Sutton visited the Rotary Club of Elkins to tell them about her exchange experience to Mexico. The pins on Sutton’s blazer are from all the other exchange students as well as pins she collected. It is traditional for Rotary Exchange Students to collect pins during their experience.

ELKINS — Natalie Sutton of Elkins has completed her Rotary Youth Exchange experience in Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico.

Natalie arrived in Mexico on Aug. 18, 2022, and returned home last month. She spent her time enhancing her language skills, discovering a new culture and truly becoming a global citizen. Natalie is the daughter of Elkins Rotarian Jessica Sutton.

When Natalie left, she didn’t know anyone in the area she was visiting. When she arrived, her first host family and a few members of the host Rotary club met her at the airport.

“I immediately felt better, more comfortable, more relaxed after meeting them. Everyone I met was super nice,” said Natalie. Upon arrival in Mexico, Natalie and all of the other exchange students in that Rotary district, attended a three- day orientation camp.

There were 39 students in Sutton’s district, hailing from countries including France, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Romania, Italy, Taiwan and Thailand. They learned about Mexican culture and geography, and also worked on their Spanish.

Natalie faced a lot of challenges during the first couple months because of the language barrier. She had taken three semesters of Spanish before the exchange but that wasn’t particularly helpful.

“When you’re immersed in it, it makes it a lot easier,” added Natalie. It took about four months for her to be able to hold a conversation and understand what was being said, but it was about seven months before she felt truly fluent in the language.

Natalie had two host families during her stay, each for about five months.

“Both of my host families were amazing,” she said. “They were just amazing people. I was lucky enough to be able to travel with them a lot over the span of my exchange.”

The first trip was to the State of Michoacan, on the western coast of Mexico, visiting the towns of Guadalajara, Tequila, Morelia and Patzcuaro. That trip was for Natalie and two of her fellow exchange students to celebrate Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).

“It was amazing to see all the traditions they had in the area. That area is very traditional, and they had a lot of things going on for Dia de los Muertos,” she said.

Natalie also visited Mexico City twice during her adventure.

“Mexico City was amazing and I’m so glad I got to see it. We went to an art museum and an exotic market where they were selling scorpions and chocolate covered scorpions which I actually ate one of. We also visited the pyramids of Teotihuacan which are just outside of Mexico City,” added Natalie.

“We also took a trip to the northern part of Baja California Sur and were able to go whale watching, which was really awesome, I was this close to touching a whale, and we saw some ancient cave paintings outside of Santa Rosalia.”

The final trip for Natalie and her fellow exchange students was to southern California. They visited Disney Land, Santa Monica pier and Warner Brothers Studios. The exchange group also attended the Rotary District Conference in La Paz, Mexico.

One of the biggest hurdles Natalie had to overcome was homesickness, especially during the first several months. At her orientation before leaving, this issue was addressed. Generally speaking, students are very excited when they first arrive at their exchange site but the longer the students are abroad, they start to miss their homes and families, especially around the holidays.

“Luckily, I had an amazing support system, and I couldn’t have asked for better host families. They helped me a lot and we had a full American Thanksgiving dinner,” Natalie said.

Natalie’s mother, Jessica Sutton, and fellow Rotarian Christy Tribble were able to travel to Mexico to visit with her close to the end of her exchange experience and meet the host families.

“We were out at a restaurant and Natalie’s helping us order because we didn’t speak Spanish. The waitress said, ‘Oh my gosh, her Spanish is exceptional,'” Tribble said.

When it was time for Natalie to leave and return home, she found it to be one of the hardest parts of her exchange.

“I knew that I was going to come back here after a year but leaving there was very difficult because I don’t know when I’ll be back or when I’ll see all of those I met again,” Natalie concluded. “I am incredibly grateful that I got to have this experience and that I was able to have a wider world view now and learn so much from the people in Mexico.

“I am so grateful to the Rotary Club for sponsoring me and everyone in Rotary for allowing me to have this experience.”

Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves.

Visit www.Rotary.org to learn more about Rotary International, visit the club’s Facebook page — Rotary Club of Elkins — or contact club president Kenny George at kenneth.george@blueridgeriskpartners.com for more information about the Rotary Club of Elkins.