Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in Colombia? I had the chance to interview Carolina and Manuela, two seventeen-year-old students at Marymount School in Colombia for an inside look.

Where in Colombia do you live?

Carolina: In Medellín.

How do you get to school?

Carolina and Manuela: Our parents take us to school.

Do you live close?

Carolina: Yes. She lives two minutes away and I live five minutes away from school.

What is a typical day like for you?

Carolina: We have the first class, then recess, then two classes, then lunch, and then the last two classes.  We go home at three.

What does your uniform look like?

Manuela: We have blue jumpers, saddle shoes, and white socks.

Carolina: And we have sweatshirts that say Marymount.

Do you play any sports?

Manuela: We go to the gym.

How many classes do you have?

Carolina: Thirteen.

Manuela: But in a day we have four.

What’s your favorite part about Marymount?

Carolina: My friends and that it’s huge.

How many people are there?

Carolina: One thousand girls, but [from the time] they’re three years old until we’re eighteen.

Have you ever been to the United States?

Carolina: Yes. New York.

Manuela: Miami

Carolina: Orlando

Manuela: Houston

Carolina: Missouri, Pennsylvania

Did you like it?

Manuela and Carolina: Yes!

What’s the biggest difference between Colombia and America?

Carolina: I don’t know, maybe that the people here are more outgoing.

Manuela: And here we have trees and plants and green places.

What are your favorite student activities at your school?

Carolina: We have Pink T-shirt Day.

Manuela: And we also have St. Patrick’s.

Carolina: And the Seniors’ Cup, where there are games and sports for them.

How many languages do you speak?

Carolina: Three: English, Spanish, and French.

Do you have Masses at school?

Carolina: Yes.  We have two or three in our chapel in a year.

Do you have to do community service?

Carolina: Yes, eighty hours of community service.

Manuela: For the whole time, but it’s hard to do them in tenth grade.

Carolina: Yeah, we finish them in ninth grade. We graduate in eleventh grade, not twelfth grade.

What are your plans for after you graduate?

Carolina: I want to be a doctor, so I’m going to study a year in a college nearby.

Manuela: And I want to be a journalist.

What do you think the biggest emphasis at your school is?

Carolina: English

Does everyone speak English pretty fluently?

Carolina: Everyone.  We learn three languages though.

What do you think about going to an all-girls school?

Carolina: I think it’s cool.

Manuela: Yes, I think it’s better for me.

Carolina: You’re more comfortable around your friends.

And do you have friends that are boys from before you went there?

Carolina: No, we don’t really have guy friends.

Manuela: No boyfriends!

Carolina: In eighth grade and ninth grade we had what I think is called integration with another school that is only boys, but [now] it’s all girls.

What is Colombia like?

Carolina: It’s pretty.

Manuela: For me, it’s beautiful.  And the people are nice.

Carolina: You should come!