BUCKFIELD — Aisha Aitkeeva and Rita Castro Dias wanted to come to the United States to expand their life experiences.

They’ve done that and more as foreign exchange students at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School.

“We’ve met a lot of nice, interesting people,” Dias, 17, a native of Lisbon, Portugal, said.

“And we’ve met a lot of people from other countries, too,” Aitkeeva, 17, of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, said.

The two girls periodically get together with foreign exchange students attending other local high schools.

They met when they were assigned by their individual student exchange agencies to the small, rural high school. They’ve become good friends while they’ve been improving their English, and plan to keep in touch when they return to their countries.

Each girl is multilingual. Besides English and Krygyz, Aitkeeva speaks Kazak and Russian, and she plans to learn German next year. Dias speaks English and Portuguese as well as Spanish, and she understands Italian and French.

Both girls come from large cities, so living in small towns is very different.

Aitkeeva is from her country’s capital city with a population of more than a million people. Lisbon, with a population of more than 600,000, is also the capital of Dias’s home country.

But finding acceptance is easier in a small area, they believe.

“Everything is more familiar here. It’s easier to fit in, it’s an easier system,” Dias said.

“The people are really friendly,” Aitkeeva said.

Both girls said they must study much more in their home countries, and that sports and other school activities don’t take place at school. Students who want to participate in a sport must do it at a separate place, and only when school is not in session.

Aitkeeva said she was surprised that students had to attend classes just five days a week in the United States. In her country, she attends classes six days a week.

“The atmosphere is free (here). We can talk to teachers and friends in school,” she said.

Attending school in another country is also a way to gain independence, both girls said.

“It’s awesome we can stay here,” Aitkeeva said.

Both girls have participated in soccer and on the Math Team. Dias has learned to ski, which is something she can’t do in Portugal because there’s no snow. Aitkeeva sings in the glee club and volunteers at the local elementary school.

They will graduate with the Buckfield High School Class of 2011 in June, then return to their native countries soon after.

Dias, whose father is a pilot and mother is a designer, wants to study economics at the London School of Economics. Aitkeeva, whose father is an engineer and mother is a chemist, plans to become a business major at American University in Kyrgyzstan.

When they leave, both will share their American experiences with others in their respective countries. For Dias, she’ll speak to young people who are interested in becoming foreign exchange students. Aitkeeva will talk to a local newspaper. While living in the Buckfield area, she has occasionally written short articles about her experience for that newspaper.

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