By Kenia Ramirez, Talon Staff Reporter

Moving half way across the world to a town you know nothing about would be really hard for some people, but for senior exchange student Claudia Barros the move has been easier than ever. “Yeah it’s really different, but all the people here have made the move easy.” She is playing basketball as a swinger from Varsity to JV. Before this she played soccer, and after the basketball season she is thinking of playing lacrosse. She is also skiing on the side whenever her busy schedule allows it.

“The people, they’re all so friendly and welcoming,” said Claudia when she was asked what her favorite thing about Hood River was. She also mentioned that she’s enjoyed all the hiking she’s been able to do while here. Claudia, as of now, is housing with Payton Rigert. Before this she was staying with HRV students Sam and Claire Davies. As Claire said, “Having Claudia stay with us was definitely something new, she became like a sister to both Sam and me.” Her favorite classes are health and Spanish, although she is still getting used to the layout of all the classes and everything she is fitting in just fine. She also said it’s pretty different over here because she’s used to having uniforms in Chile and here you can wear whatever you want. Her favorite color is green and her favorite food here is waffles. One thing she doesn’t like is cats. And she just happens to have been placed in two houses that have cats. She’s made plenty of friends here in Hood River with her friendly personality and her optimistic attitude about everything.

When she returns to Chile it will be winter and she will be returning to snow and more opportunities to do what she loves, ski. She’ll be entering college a few months after getting back to Chile. When asked what she missed most about her hometown she said all her friends and her dogs.