Twenty Spanish teenagers are scheduled to visit Orange County next month for what they thought was a mini-course of English immersion. Instead, they may get a taste of crisis management.
The first phrase they might need in their Spanish-English handbooks: "Can I crash on your couch?"
The teens have been saving their pesetas for years in hopes of making the trip. But a coordinator for International Journeys, the organization sponsoring the trip, failed to find homes for the group.
Another coordinator, Huntington Beach resident Lee Allton, jumped into the breach and is now frantically searching for families willing to host the teens when they arrive June 27.
"I said, 'Well, I'm well-known in the community, I won't have trouble finding homes,' " she said. "Well, helloooo! It's very difficult. . . . It's getting desperate. Spain is screaming like crazy. [The students] want to know who their 'parents' are."
