Woman catches up with exchange student from Chile after 43 years
The 43-year gap closed in nearly an instant.
Gladys Leon Zuniga stepped off the plane at Sky Harbor with her son, Nicholas Seabrook Leon, and say Linda Kohler for the first time since the late 1970s. Almost instantly it was as if she was a teenage exchange student from Chile once again, visiting her American “mom.”
“When we met at the airport Jan. 5 it was like she was a little girl again. She is a wonderful person, as is her son,” said Kohler, who lives in Surprise.
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Gladys Leon Zuniga stepped off the plane at Sky Harbor with her son, Nicholas Seabrook Leon, and say Linda Kohler for the first time since the late 1970s. Almost instantly it was as if she was a teenage exchange student from Chile once again, visiting her American “mom.”
“When we met at the airport Jan. 5 it was like she was a little girl again. She is a wonderful person, as is her son,” said Kohler, who lives in Surprise.
Zuniga stayed as a foreign exchange student from Chile in Kohler’s Peoria, Illinois, home for six months in 1979 as a 14-year-old.
“I was treated like a third daughter by her family,” Zuniga said.
Kohler is now 75. She moved to the West Point neighborhood in Surprise 20 years ago.
She took in the exchange students while working as a medical technician.
Kohler said she is also very close to a former exchange student from Germany named Carolyn. She keeps in regular contact with about half of her exchange students.
“I had 44 different students and (Gladys has) always been one of my favorites,” Kohler said.
Keeping in touch was tougher in those days.
Kohler said she did not give up searching for Gladys, but both faced difficulties since their last names had changed in the intervening years.
Zuniga got in touch with Kohler’s ex-husband, Ken, in Illinois. Kohler said she is still friendly with him.
In November 2020, Kohler was able to reach Zuniga’s house.
“Two years ago, my brother said he received a message from Ms. Linda. At first I though he was joking,” Zuniga said. “We started again like it was yesterday. It was like the same person, We talked for many hours for most days.”
Zuniga lives in the seaside town of Arica near Chile’s northern border with Peru and in the middle of the Atacama Desert — the driest non-polar desert on Earth. She worked for an airline for years.
Kohler invited her and her son to visit early this year, not wanting to make an international trip at her age.
They went to spots around the western United States, but in a way Zuniga was most amazed by Surprise and the surrounding area, compared to her fairly isolated desert home city of 220,000 in Chile
“Surprise is amazing. This city for me was like treasure. The modernity in the desert is amazing. I don’t believe how you can combine the modernity with the beautiful areas nearby and the peaceful nature like in Sedona,” Zuniga said.
Their visit included stops in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
While in the Valley the visitors attended a Navajo festival, listened to live music at I and J Fountain Restaurant in Surprise and ate at Medieval Times in Scottsdale.
“I don’t have words to say how grateful and happy I am to receive this legacy from her,” Zuniga said.
“It seemed like six months because we did so many things. I’m going home with so much richness and thankfulness for my heart.”
Zuniga said the friendly, welcoming Americans she met at every stop of her trip were at odds with how Americans are often portrayed in her country.
Zuniga flew back to Chile on Jan. 26 while Nicholas came back Jan. 31.
“I’ve noticed that Nicholas’ English has improved greatly. Hers has always been great,” Kohler said.
Nicholas, 29, said his mother always talked to him about her days as an exchange student in the United States. He just finished his studies to become a civil engineer in Chile.
He said he likes the Arizona weather, which reminds him of Arica.
“It’s so emotional. It’s a one in a million story,” Leon said. “It’s my third time in the USA, but I only knew Miami and Orlando, not the West Coast.”
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps @rsmithYWV
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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