How often does a kid from Bermuda get to play dress-up with a child from Costa Rica? Or a Costa Rican kid get to make a Bermuda kite or sample the delights of a cod fish breakfast?

It happens a little more often now thanks to the efforts of a world-wide exchange programme called ?The International School-to-School Experience? (ISSE). ISSE aims to give primary school children the opportunity to experience and understand other cultures on a first-hand basis.

This week, St. George?s Preparatory school students hosted nine visiting Costa Rican students from the St. Paul School in San Jose, Costa Rica. In June, students from St. George?s Preparatory School will travel to Costa Rica to meet up again with their new friends.

The kids involved were in the 11- and 12-year-old age range, and it was the first time away from home and parents for many of them.

?The first night was the worst,? said Marie Paula Murillo, 11. She said everyone had experienced some homesickness. However, her classmate Cristian Navarro, 11, was more stoic.

?I don?t have that,? he said. ?I miss my parents, but not to cry. Some people cry. I think the first and second nights were the hardest, because you miss your bed and your family.?

On a wet Wednesday afternoon, talked with the Costa Rican students at St. George?s Preparatory School, where they were making traditional Bermuda kites.

?The hardest thing about making a Bermuda kite is keeping it all together,? said Rebecca Zumbado, 11. Rebecca turns 12 this week while in Bermuda. She was too modest to say what she wanted for her birthday, but she said, ?Anything will be appreciated.?

?Mine is just a normal kite,? said Marie Paula, who will also be 12 before the end of January. ?I haven?t picked the colours for it yet. We started making it on Tuesday, and we continued working on it today.

?Hopefully, tomorrow we can fly the kites. That?s if it is not raining.?

One of the hardest things for the Costa Rican children to adjust to in Bermuda was the climate. All of the students came with winter jackets.

?The climate is different here,? said Marie Paula. ?It is colder.?

It is summer time in Costa Rica, but the temperature stays around 77 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, making Bermuda?s winter temperature seem chilly and damp to the children.

?While we have been here we all went swimming at Tobacco Bay and Horseshoe Beach,? said Cristian.

?That is why we all have colds. The beaches here, are very beautiful, though. In Costa Rica, the beaches are farther from us, because we live in the city. Here you can live in the city but the beaches are very close. I like that about Bermuda.?

While in Bermuda, the Costa Rican students have visited Crystal Caves, Dockyard, gone to the movies and even tried golf, among other things. They also spent a lot of time getting to know their host families.

?I want to come back to Bermuda,? said Cristian. ?My host family cook really well. My host brother?s father is a professional chef.

?So I have been eating more. I think I am going to go home with a little more pounds (weight). I have had cod fish and potatoes. I liked it. It was nice. I had it with tomatoes.?

?My host family are funny and they are very nice,? said Marie Paula. ?I have a host sister. She will come to Costa Rica in June. She is one year younger than me. We went to the movies together, and had dinner and television time.?

Before the exchange programme it is doubtful that many of the Costa Rican children had even heard of Bermuda, leaving out knew where it was on the map.

?I had only heard about the Bermuda Triangle, before this,? said Marie Paula. ?But I was more nervous about being with a host family than the Bermuda Triangle.?

Cristian recounted how on the flight over some of the children became frightened when the lights on the airplane were turned out during landing.

?We were really scared when we flew into Bermuda and when we were going to land they turned the lights off,? he said. ?Somebody yelled we were going into the Triangle! And everybody screamed.?

Their chaperone, Paola DiMare, who accompanied the students on the trip, said that the Costa Rican children were picked for a number of reasons.

?ISSE selected the children based on good behaviour, for example, and interest,? said Ms DiMare. ?We also looked at their families, because they are going to receive the Bermuda exchange children in June. We had an interview with the children. They are all good students in school, and five or six of them are in the challenge programme.?

She said being on the exchange programme has done the children a lot of good.

?There are a lot of benefits,? she said. ?It is good to know different cultures, and different countries. It is very difficult at first, particularly on the first day because they miss their families. It is new to them, but they get use to it.?

She said Bermuda is very beautiful, and the trip has been very interesting for the students.

?The kids are having a good time with all the activities,? she said. ?We went to the beach. Today we were at Crystal Caves. That was excellent. The students are very happy to be here.?

Ms DiMare said she had been on the Island previously as part of another exchange with Costa Rica.

?Bermuda is very different,? she said. ?Bermuda is a paradise, but it is very different. We are in a large country compared to Bermuda. The weather is different. Our beaches are very beautiful, but your beaches are incredible.

?The school system is similar, although our school is private and bilingual, but we have similar activities. Here the people are very special.?

One of the St. George?s Preparatory School host mothers, Cindy Swan, said being a host sister had been a great experience for her daughter Zindziswa (Zindzi).

?Being a host mother has been a wonderful experience for me from the standpoint that Zindzi has a built-in playmate,? Mrs. Swan said. ?We are getting to know about the Costa Rican culture. I am from Belize, so I feel fortunate that I don?t have too much to learn because being from Belize (which is in Central America) we eat the same foods such as rice, beans, chicken and plantains.?

Mrs. Swan said it had been like one long sleepover for Zindzi.

?She is learning about Costa Rica first hand, and what to expect when she goes there in June, with friends that she has made from their visit,? Mrs. Swan said. ?She is also learning how to be a host.

?Generally, we have grown-up visitors, now she has her own guest. She is learning good houseguest manners such as sharing and making sure your guest is comfortable.?

Mrs. Swan said she is sure she will be nervous when Zindzi goes to Costa Rica in the summer, and may even shed a tear, but she is a lot less nervous about it after having met the Costa Rican children and their chaperone.

?They are such gentle and loving people. Also, we are sending her with two very compassionate people, our trip?s chaperones are Tara Smith and Angela McKittrick, who are teachers at St. George?s Preparatory School.?

Zindzi became involved in the programme through her Spanish teacher Angela McKittrick who has been liasing with the ISSE programme co-ordinators.