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Continued from page 1 boxes of beautifully wrapped Swiss chocolates, which have been going fast,” said Pat.
The Helmers have three daughters of their own. Their youngest, Kim, is a senior at RCHS. Rafael is their fifth exchange student.
“He will probably be the last, at least for a while, since this is Kim’s last year,” Pat said. “Without any other kids here, it would be really isolated.”
She said that the routine has been the same with each of the exchange students. “Each child brought different things to the family, though,” said Pat. “Rafael is the most typical teenage boy we’ve had, and he seems to have been born into the family. He has the same crazy sense of humor.”
The Helmers have enjoyed the first weeks of Rafael’s stay because of the difference a boy brings to a family.
“I’m always amazed when he can get ready for school in the morning in 20 minutes — from start to finish,” Pat said. “It usually takes me that long to get my girls out of bed.”
Rafael, too, has a lot to learn about having a girl in the family, or even in his classes. He has a younger brother, and when his class was divided, all of the girls and some boys ended up in one half while the rest of the boys, including Rafael, were in the other half.
“My classes are better now with no girls,” Rafael said. “Our girls always argue too much.” He had not made a decision about American girls.
He said that RCHS has almost the same number of students as his' school in Switzerland, but the building here is smaller. He has already started practicing with the RCHS soccer team.
With soccer practice, horseback riding and swimming, Rafael has had an active few weeks in Rappahannock. He will be taking a break from bicycle riding while here, though. In Switzerland, he rode his bike four kilometers (2 1/2 miles) to school every day.
Rafael’s father is a supervisor for a six-mile long tunnel through a mountain in Switzerland, and his mother is a hairdresser. “My parents were sad to see me go, but my brother was happy I was leaving for a year,” Rafael said.
This summer, Rafael experienced the other side of the exchange program when a U.S. girl spent the summer with his family.
“He had a good introduction to family life with a girl,” Pat said. “He tolerates Kim very well, but I think this will be a year of persecution as they see which one can tease more
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