Anika Gahren

Anika came to us from Salzgitter, Germany. She arrived on July 2, 2018 and returned home on July 14, 2018. Her stay was cut short by an illness in her family.

Anika summoned her courage and overcame her fear of doing this exchange. She told me she had never flown or ever travelled outside of Germany. She wasn’t sure from the beginning she could do this. She received encouragement from family and friends at home 
and reassurances from us that we would be here to help her through this adventure. She did grapple with being homesick but I believe she was getting over that when she was called home by her mother.

While she was here, we tried to make the most of our time. We spent an entire day in Washington, DC with Sarah and her boys. We visited the Jefferson, Lincoln & Viet Nam Memorials, went to Ford’s Theatre, the Petersen House, the US Capitol, White House and Hard Rock Café. 

Gini LaMasters was hosting several boys from France and a couple of girls that were visiting her. We got together with them for a tubing and zip-lining trip at Shenandoah Park in Front Royal, Va. They did the zipline course first, had lunch and then launched their tubes into the Shenandoah River for a lazy ride and fun with each other.

Another day Anika and Brie, a boy from France, Lorrie and I took a trail ride to the top of Seneca Rocks. Going up on horseback is certainly easier than the long climb to the top.

I had to pick-up 7 cases of fresh chicken halves for our Ruritan 4th of July program. Anika was right there helping unload those 80-pound cases to go into a refrigerator. She attended our 4th of July program and fireworks at Capon Springs resort just up the road from us. There were several quiet days at home an some local shopping in Winchester.

As I said, Anika told me her mother called her home due to an illness in her family. I hope that our paths will cross again and that she knows she is always welcome here.




German National Anthem
To silence the music you must mute your computer speaker or just let it play through to the end