senior program summer site : conversations : second session



	alex from spain (8/1) Alex is going into the 11th grade. She's in her second year at Explo . . . and while she was a day student living with relatives nearby last year, she's a residential student this time around. That took some adjusting to, but she's doing great now, making lots more friends, and loving her music-focused courses. What's your first course? My first course is "Stomp". We're dividing the class into groups and now we're preparing for the performance we'll do at Explopalooza. I think for that we perform in two groups then finally with everyone together. We're composing our own rhythms in our groups. In my group, I'm waiting for the bus and I start the beat and keep it. We might change roles, too, but we just started so I'm not sure yet. How do you make the beat? I start with my feet then with drumsticks on a chair. We use all of our own stuff -- everything that can make sounds, like sticks together, hands, everything you can possibly use. Do you play an instrument? Yeah, I play guitar. I've played for five years. And what's your second course? Ballroom dancing. I love dance and we're dancing waltz and salsa and swing and we've been studying some basic movements, but now we're getting into our performance for Explopalooza, too. My favorite's salsa, because I was born in Venezuela and everybody there dances salsa, so I just have the movements. So you're obviously into music and dance. Is that something you'd like to continue in the future? Yeah. Actually, my dream is, like, I want to be a filmmaker . . . but my whole dream would be doing video clips. My world is music, but also filmmaking, so I'd like to combine them. Like music videos -- you get to work with the artists, dancers, choreography people . . . I don't know, everything, everything you want. That would be amazing. What mini-course did you just finish? Skateboarding history and culture. It was cool. We talked about the history -- I liked it. You learn how it started and everything. Is skateboarding big in Spain ? Yes, there's a square or a plaza there -- actually, you can't skateboard there, but skaters dare to go there and then they sometimes have to run away. That's the place. What mini-course did you start today? Evolution of punk rock. I want to learn more about how they used the lyrics and the music to make a revolution and how they started. I really like it, but I want to know how it all started and how music can be used as a revolution, how they changed their world with music. What trips were you on last weekend? I went to Chinatown and Lake Compounce. I had been to New York, but never to Chinatown. It's amazing. It's crazy. I love it! There was Japanese and Chinese culture there. It was cool. I found this amazing candy store which had all kinds of weird Japanese candy I had never seen in my life. I love candy, so I just bought a whole bag of it, and now I have so much [laughs]. Lake Compounce was cool too. I went on the rollercoaster -- I really like them, so it was fun. Do you find it difficult to make friends here? I actually came with a friend, but I've found that makes it kind of difficult to make more friends because you're with your friend and don't get close to other people. Last year I came alone and made a lot of friends I think because I was alone and surviving meant making friends, so it was easier. This year it started off more difficult, but now I've made friends. So how did you get past that difficulty? Well, at first we were together all the time, but then we started moving apart a bit, separating and doing our own stuff. I met some friends in my living group and started hanging out with them, and they have other friends so I met them, and so on. Also the classes are good for that. In the courses you meet a lot of people. Usually, people here are open and they actually talk with you and they want to know something about you. Do you find it difficult being an international student here? A little bit, at first. Last year I was a day student because I stayed with a friend who lives near here. This year is, like, my first time away from home, and it was difficult at first. I felt really homesick. What changed that? My friends. And I talk to my mom and she's happy I'm here and she wants to meet my friends. Do you have any advice for someone coming to Explo for the first time? Yeah, they should be open. Don't get down the first day if you don't have friends or if you feel alone . . . like you don't have your own group. Things change quickly and you just start making friends and hanging out with people. It's actually fun not to have a group, because you can hang out with whomever you want and that's cool. What does Explo mean to you? The thing that I really like is that it's people coming from all over the world. Now I have friends in Japan, India . . . it's kind of amazing. Then, after Explo, you can stay in touch with them, maybe go to Japan because you have friends there, maybe go to China, and they can visit you and you can show them around. I think Explo is about learning about new cultures because we're so different but we can all be friends. more conversations > first session \| second session