Elizabeth Diggs

Senior Darin Voyles looked out the window of the airplane and began to write an entry in a journal he kept throughout a trip that he took to France.

“The sunrise from the plane is the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. It’s a perfect rainbow. It starts ruby red and shades to a dark blue. Only a few more hours.”

A few hours after this entry, Darin landed in Paris to start a 15-day-long trip for a foreign exchange program in France. The program was through his father’s work, American Airlines. His mother discovered the exchange program while going through a business e-mail and clicked on a link at the bottom. This link eventually sent Darin 4,394 miles away from St. Charles to live with a family in France for more than two weeks. According to Voyles, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Darin stayed in France with the Granger family from July 21 to August 1. The Grangers reside in a town near Orléans, which is about 81 miles southwest of Paris. As with any other exchange program, Charles Granger, age 17, came to the United States and spent two weeks with the Voyles family. Darin did not really know what to expect from the family before leaving for France.

”I didn’t really have any major expectations,” Darin said. “I was hoping for good food.”

The language barrier was one of the major conflicts for Darin while in France. Although he claims that a person could pick up the French language fairly quickly through body language and focusing intently on what is being discussed, Darin was still grateful for the seven years of English classes Charles and his friends had been through.

“I knew the language barrier would be difficult,” Darin said. “French I only gets you the basics.”

Darin’s father, Larry Voyles works for American Airlines and encouraged Darin’s travel plans.

“I was a little worried before we knew too much about [the trip], but after, I was relaxed because I knew he would be fine,” Larry said. “He knows how to get back if he needs to.”

While in France, Darin participated in activities that he had not done before. Whether it was riding dirt bikes with the Granger family or exploring the extravagant castles with unique architectural designs, they were busy every day of the trip. Darin learned how to make Crêpes (very thin pancakes that can be filled with sugar and fruits or meats and cheeses) with Charles’ mother, Sophie. He also got the opportunity to go horseback riding.

“My favorite [part] was galloping through the forest,” Darin’s journal says. “I was terrified and completely comfortable. It was like riding on the back of a street bike doing 100 [miles an hour] because all I had to do was hold on and enjoy every second.”