Guillermo Muñoz: A Cougar from Spain

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Samantha Valdez, Opinion Editor

All of us come from all different places, some of us from the other side of the globe, and others from across the street. However we are all cougars, one of our fellow cougars, Guillermo Muñoz, is a foreign exchange student from Spain, he came to Sahuaro for his junior year. Guillermo is like any typical teenage boy, he likes to play the piano, travel, party and is a huge soccer fan (for Madrid obvi). Once Guillermo finishes the school year he will return to Spain, but before he left I asked him a couple questions about his cougar experience.

So far I wanted to know what Guillermo’ s best moment here had been and without hesitation he answered, ” My best moment was when Mr. Harkin, my English teacher, admitted me into his house, and joining the soccer team.” Because Guillermo has lived in Spain his whole life one of the biggest differences hes noticed between the two countries was, “In general school is different, distances are bigger and everything is closer in Spain, well and the language obviously.” He is part of our school’s soccer team and even though he is very passionate about soccer he admits to keeping up with American football as well. When asked about pets, Guillermo answered with a laugh, “Back home I used to have two pet fish but they both died, so I guess that doesn’t really count.” Because English is not his native language I asked Guillermo what word he thought was the hardest to pronounce, to which he replied after much thought, ” You know I don’t think there is a word in English that i have much problem with.” However he does have a favorite word, “Poop… I don’t know why but once i was with the soccer guys and I said it and they laughed and told me to say it again.”

Guillermo admits to being used to being far from home now, although he does miss his family and friends, “I talk to my family once every week or two weeks but I’m used to being without them. After your here for a month you get used to it.” Even though Guillermo has been using his English for over 4 months now he feels most comfortable about speaking Spanish. “I feel more natural speaking in Spanish, it’s easier for me it’s my native language, but I do also enjoy speaking English.” During the first month of Guillermo’s stay he admits to people having a hard time understanding his English with his accent, but claims his English has gotten much better over time. He believes that when this school year will end he will be ready to go back home, but he’s very sure on eventually coming back.