Valentina Calling

We have a wonderful group of exchange kids all over Europe. We have been visiting them and their families for 23 years. I’ll tell you all about them as time passes . We love them all but one of them became our daughter. Her name is Valentina and she may not know it but she came to us almost by accident. Or fate. So I’ll tell her now. Our first student was Marco, The exchange was very successful. I’ll tell you about him in another post. After Marco went home we had summer guests and friends of friends and they were all great but in late Summer 1990 the exchange company called to place a girl from Rome. They told us (I suspect a marketing ploy) that we were her last chance for an exchange. My wife was undecided but I said “How can we turn her down?” We did all the paperwork and exchanged pictures and contact information. Found out her name was Valentina Robles. That she was born in Bari on the Adriatic, had lived in Naples (which she loved) and lived in Rome with her parents. One Saturday morning I was home alone when the phone rang and there she was. She said “Hello, this is Valentina, do you know who I am?“ She sounded so self assured and confident, her English was perfect, and we found out that she speaks German, French and Spanish as well. Surprised me when she told us later how nervous she had been. So some days later, off to the Sacramento airport. Twenty years ago you could go to the arrival gate and presently her flight arrived. She had pictures of us and we had pictures of her so she wasn’t hard to recognize. She was tired, didn’t say much but she was really cute with a dazzling smile and dark eyes that danced when she talked. In three days she was a member of the family. And she still is. I’ve said she has dancing eyes and a megawatt smile, she has a beautiful heart as well. And dark hair and olive skin and a strong chin and high cheekbones. She is one of the most photogenic people I have ever seen. The camera loves her. You can see her heart in every picture we have. And she has a personality to match . She enchanted all my wife’s relatives and all our friends. She protests when I tell her she is beautiful but I’ll convince her someday. It’s my job as Dad. The school year passed very quickly and before we knew it her parents were here for her graduation and a little touring in Nevada and Northern California. Having a really good exchange is a double edged sword. Along with all the fun and frolic comes that day when the plane leaves. Wasn’t easy, but my wife is stronger than I am and we did it. We were driving down the freeway going home and in another lane was a very rare Ferrari F-40. I took this as a sign that we would keep in contact. Don’t ask me to rationalize this, it isn’t rational . The year after she was with us we went to Italy and arraigned to meet her and her parents. We met in Florence, went to dinner and after we were walking around the center when a carload of young men went by and Valentina drew some well deserved male attention. I hadn’t heard a wolf whistle in a while but she got a good one. And said “Here I am, with both sets of parents” When she was here she was 17, we went to San Diego for an extended weekend. One afternoon we went to the Zoo and in her T-Shirt and coveralls with her hair pulled back she got in for the 15 year old junior admission. That night we went to dinner in La Jolla and she put on her sexy red dress, let her hair down and got served when we ordered wine. The toast was “Going from 15 to 21 in 5 hours” Her sense of humor is priceless, and a little wacky. We’ve been to visit her several times, she’s come here a few as well and we always know when we leave her that there will be another time. Failing a visit we chat on Skype or exchange e-mails. Vale has shared her family with us and they are wonderful. She has taken us to Puglia and we have seen the South of Italy with all its history and natural beauty, and eaten in restaurants the tourists are never going to find. In those 20 years we’ve all had our ups and downs. Family life isn’t always smooth but she’s strong and so are we and she’ll always be our daughter. We have a lot of friends that wouldn’t consider for whatever reason having an exchange student. It’s their loss. We’ve never had a bad exchange but if we ever did Valentina would make up for it. I can’t imagine life without that phone call. “Hello, this is Valentina, do you know who I am?” You should be so lucky.