Chris McGilpin -- Belgium / Glens Falls Rotary

Sunday, December 23, 2007
I'm sorry its taken me so long to write this month, but I completely forgot until my friend Priscila told me she had to email her Rotary today!

Everything has been absolutely perfect in Belgium for me though. Lately, I've been visiting other cities in my region with some other exchange students. As of right now, I've seen the following cities: Liége, Verviers, Brussels, Brugge, Stavelot, Spa, and La Panne in Belgium, and Aachen, Germany and Maastricht in the Netherlands!

Last night was also my first experience going to a discotheque with my Belge friends! Today is my friend Melanie's birthday, so we went out last night to celebrate (I didn't come home until 4:00 this morning!)

As for the language, I'm not having any problems at all anymore. I've been getting lots of compliments (including one from my Rotary counselor here) about how good my french has gotten.

Hope you're enjoying all that snow in New York!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Allie Ritz -- Italy / Cobleskill Rotary

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

CiaoCiao, Its been about 3 months already!! Im improving and able to understand much better now, but I still have a ways to go. Ive made some good friends from my class. Im really not doing to much because I have school 6 a week and then I have italian lessons 4 days a week so that takes up most of my time. Im hoping that when my italian lessons are finished I can do something, like dance lessons or even go to the gym. I am pretty bored since my schedule never changes. For christmas Im going on vacation with my family so Im looking forward to that. Well talk to you soon.

Rachel Hoffman -- Bolivia / Salem Rotary

December 12, 2007

I just had my 19th birthday here in Bolivia, and it was by far the best birthday I've ever had. I woke up on Saturday when my Mom and Dad here came to my room and sang happy birthday and brought me breakfast in bed. Then midday we had a lunch at my house with my family, my Bolivian friends, and my exchange friend. I got to pick out an amazing chocolate cake called the Rosa Negra, it was so delicious. Bolivians are lucky, here they get to make three wishes before they blow out the candle, only then they push your face in the cake. Later we had tea with my aunts and my grandma. And in the night I went dancing with my exchange friends and friends from school. It was so much fun.

It is hard to believe that I am about to complete my fourth month here. I would say that I'm pretty well adjusted to everything. I call my parents Mami and Papi, and my sister and I get along so well. I am definately a part of the family. All November I took classes in cooking, and learned to make some great foods. I brought them home to my family for lunch and they loved every dish I made. Now they've given me the official cooking job in the house. I've been going to the gym to stay in shape, hanging out in the plaza with friends, and also three days a week I take salsa and marange classes from Cubans. It is probably my favorite thing right now. It's so much fun, I am going to continue that as long as I can.

I think I am probably the luckiest out of the exchange students, so far I have not been sick because of the food. (Knock on wood) This woman told me that I must have a garbage stomach then, so I dont know if thats a good thing.

For the New Year I will be traveling to Brasil with some exchange students and a chaperone from Rotary. I am trying to get my aunt to come with us. We will be going to the beach in Camboriu and then the Foz de Iguazu. But I wanted to let you know I will be out of the country from December 26th to January 9th. I have permission from everyone, and we are going to the consulate this week to get a visa for Brasil. Oh and luckily everything with my Bolivian Visa worked out well. I like to show everyone my carnet, or ID card, it makes me feel more Bolivian I guess.

But everything is going great with my family and friends. I am enjoying the summer vacation, although it will be very strange having a 90 degree Christmas in shorts and a t-shirt.

I hope all is well at home in New York.

Have a great Holiday!

Rachel Hoffmann (they call me Raquel here)

Kristen Kilpeck -- Mexico / Cobleskill Rotary

Monday, December 10, 2007

This month seemed to fly by, i can´t believe i´ve been here for four months already! i hope everything´s well in the states, and you´re all dealing with the icy cold weather while i´m burning up down here in mexico!! it´s actually gotten a bit cooler, but just at night so we all cover up. school´s over for me until january and has been for a week. i´ve finally found the right group of friends and we go out all the time, to the beach, to the restaurants, to the clubs to dance.. whatever we find to do. i´ve learned so much it´s unbelieveable. with rotary, we´ve recently had a presentation from an exchange student from brasil who´s leaving wednesday, and tonight we´re going to have a party for her. we´re running a drive to collect blankets and sweaters in this supposedly cold season for people in the state of oaxaca with my club, as well. i´ve been getting ready for christmas with my host mother buying decorations, sewing pillows and couch covers (never sewed in my life), and she´s teaching me new recipes and customs. after a few problems with my family situation and town gossip, everything´s finally getting on the right track. little by little every day gets better, i learn more, and become more mexican.

Happy holidays!!¡feliz navidad y prospero año nuevo!

Miland Rupchandani, India (Albany Rotary)

December 10, 2007

Happy Holidays!!! I am enjoying here a lot. I have send some pictures of mine. I had a UN trip in November and then in December we had NY City Radio City Christmas play trip. It was awesome. I also visited Niagara Falls. I always wanted to see that and now I have crossed that out of my list..I am still living with my first family and I will change within a week.. My school is going excellent and my 1st quarter grade was 95%. I joined the Underground Railroad Workshop also. My state of health is good. I went ice skating first time in my life and it was great. I had so much fun. I also send a picture of my first host family. Rest all is good and Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Bye.

Erika Kristiana, Indonesia (Host: Delmar Rotary)

November 2007

I really enjoy being here. I have gone to many places. A Rotarian brought me to the Festival of Nations, and I really loved it. Also I went to the 'Forces of Nature' movie. It was a great movie. I went to the Albany Museum with my host sister, and I found and learned lots of things there. It was fun!

Lauren Cuyvers, Belgium (Host: Albany Rotary)

September 2007

I don't remember that much of September, only that we went to the football game and Albany lost!! And we went to Vermont with my host family towards the end of September (Burlington), because my host Mum had a convention there. It was my birthday on September 7th, so we celebrated it: some friends came over and we had a Ben&Jerry's cake. The first day of school was okay... it was a lot of fun, not really felt the homesickness.

I was in good health in September, but at the moment my ankle is very bad and I am forced to take a break from Cross Country.

October 2007

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Cross-country meets, meets, meets.. + practice a lot!. Homecoming game + the dance!; party at Carli's, my friend's house; guitar lessons at New Music.

STATE OF MY HEALTH: bad ankle.

Halloween, I'll start with that. It's crazy out here! Everyone's really into it, even the grown-ups. We went trick or treating and afterwards me and my two host sisters traded the candy we didn't like. The homecoming dance was fun, and we went to a sweet sixteen birthday party afterwards. Two weeks after that I went to a Halloween party dressed up as a prisoner. It was a lot of fun. School is going okay, it's not hard, so my grades are fine.

Miland Rupchandani, India (Albany Rotary)

October 2007
I have joined many clubs after school like chess club, badminton, international club, Chinese club and will also join math club. And you will be glad to know that I am the Secretary of International Club for the whole year. My health is good and getting prepared for the winter season.

November 2007
Recently I went to the UN trip. I have joined many clubs in school like chess club, badminton club, international club and I am the secretary of that; so recently I gave the presentation of India in the club, math club, and now I am planning to take guitar lessons on weekends. It's getting cold here but I will surpass that and my state of health is OK. In between I got a little cold like sneezing and coughing but now I am fine.

Marta Gramza, Poland (Colonie-Guilderland Rotary)

November/December, 2007

PARTICIPATION IN ROTARY FUNCTIONS:
This month I went to NYC for the Christmas show in the Radio Musical, it was
awesome!! Also I went to the International Festival where I was able to
meeta lot of people -- I really enjoyed it.

October 2007
PARTICIPATION IN ROTARY: I didn't participate a lot in Rotary Club last month, but I went once for a lunch on September 19, 2007 and I sold raffle tickets which I got from my tennis team.

PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL: This month in school I participated on the women’s tennis team.

November 2007
PARTICIPATION IN ROTARY: This month I went to the UN day to the New York City. I had a great time, I met a lot of people .I am so happy that we are able to keep contact with other exchange students.

PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: This month in school I did not participate in any extra activities, besides going to school.

STATE OF YOUR HEALTH: My health is excellent!!!

Leonardo Beretta, Brazil (Host: Cobleskill Rotary)

October 2007

I twisted my ankle playing soccer, so I go to school and come back home, but nothing else! I have been to a Club meeting, and State Fair in September.

I like my family and chocolate...

Matthias Ruethers, Germany (Host: Rotterdam Sunrise Rotary)

October 2007

I really enjoyed my first weeks of school here. I made new friends and met lots of people. I also had fun at the Rotary meeting and did some activities with the Rotarians of the club. I also like playing soccer what keeps me fit. All in all I have a great time here and i enjoy the exchange.

Francesca Rossi, Italy (Host: Ballston Spa Rotary)

October 2007
PARTICIPATION IN ROTARY FUNCTIONS: I went to some lunches during this month and I enjoyed much.

PARTCIPATION IN SCHOOL/EXTRA CURRICOLAR ACTIVITY: I participated in Interact Club and Senior Class.

STATE OF YOUR HEALTH? Really good, I haven't been homesick and I stay with a good family. I enjoy myself at school.

Whitney Brown -- Belgium / Middleburgh Rotary

November 25, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
No festivities here, but I am certainly thinking of you all and I hope you are enjoying the holiday!
Things are still going really well here in Belgium. At the begining of November I went to Egypt for the week with my host family and it was an unforgettable trip! It is like a whole different world there. I learned and saw so much. Everything is so old, it is almost unbelievable. And the hot desert weather was a nice change from cold and rainy Belgium. We went to lots of museums, rode camels and horses along the nile, went inside the pyramids... oh I was great! And I got to spend last weekend in Paris with my Uncle David!!! It was fabulous! We went to a show at the Lido, viewed the exhibit of Monet's Lilies, walked a whole lot all over Paris, and wined and dined in great restaurants. It was so much fun and great to see a familar face!
School is going well. Still pretty boring because I don't understand the lessons in Dutch. So I'm still just focusing on the language. The students have 2 weeks of exams in December and since I don't take the exams, I will be doing a lot of studying. And then 2 weeks of holiday so that will be great! It's interesting to see the differences around the holiday season here. Just for example, Santa Clause does not come on the 25th of December to bring presents to the children, but he does come with his friend Pere Zwarte Piet on the 6th of December. Neat huh?

Lauren Bardin -- Czech Republic / Salem Rotary

November 25, 2007

Hello everyone, How are you all? I'm trying to think where to start.... Honestly, this past month has not been too too exciting. I was sick for about 3 weeks of it. I found some sort of lump on my neck and went to the doctor a couple days later to find the lymph nodes in my neck were inflamed and I had to spend a week in bed and take antibiotics. It was pretty hard for me to hear that because I didn't feel awful and I'd never spent more than three days at home for a sickness. And here, when they say "stay at home and rest" they really mean rest. I was in bed all day and didn't go outside the house for about 5 days, it was torture for me. The following week, I felt very healthy and returned to the doctor, expecting him to tell me I was back to normal and I could return to school. But, he said the opposite. He was worried I could have mono and he told me to stay home for another week. That weekend was the Halloween gathering in Cesky Krumlov that we'd been planning for the past month and I'd just finished collecting my costume and making my accessories for it. So, I begged my host parents to let me go and they're the nicest people in the world so they of course said yes. The Halloween party was a lot of fun because I got to meet new exchange students from Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. We all dressed up and took pictures, carved pumpkins, played silly games, and laughed a lot. We also got to see the beautiful town of Cesky Krumlov and tour some castles and museums. When I came home I realized I was sick again and it was strep throat. I went to the doctor again and he couldn't do much, he just told me to sleep it off...of course. After another week I was back in school and it had never felt so good to be out and about. That Monday morning I woke up an hour early just because I was so excited to see people again!
One of my friend's host dad works at the nuclear power plant here in Trebic so I got to get a tour! Much of it was in Czech, but the part where we actually went inside and walked around was great. Actually, it was hilarious. We got to dress up in bright yellow lab coats, hard hats, and slipper things! Then we each got name tags with special electric codes and about 4 other things to pin on us. We never figured out what everything was for but I think half was to keep us from being radioactive and the other half was to keep track of us in case we got lost. It was pretty intense; we had to go through security cages and scan our name tags about every 5 minutes.
The past two Saturday nights I went to an ice hockey match. It's very very popular in the Czech Republic and even more popular in Trebic because the Trebic team is so talented. The first game I watched was a landslide and Trebic won, but the next was an overtime game with individual goals at the end. I don't know what they're called in ice hockey but they're similar to strokes in field hockey. The "thing" to do at the hockey games is to eat a sausage with mustard and a piece of bread. You don't use the bread as a roll though; you take a bite of the sausage then a bite of the piece of bread, bite of the sausage then a bite of the piece of bread, and so on. All Czechs do it, and they do it with just about every food. The only thing I can think of that's similar is having soup and some bread. But that's not really a good example, it's just funny because Czechs eat bread with everything, except soup, which we have it with. I'm getting used to it, it's interesting. But this month the hockey games are changed to Wednesday nights and I can't go because I have Czech lessons.
I just went to my first Czech lesson set up by Rotary and it was really good. The teacher is fun and encouraging and I think it will really help me. I am speaking Czech in my host family every day but I know they are speaking slow for me because when I try to speak to others it's much more difficult. It's such a different sound than I'd ever heard before so it's taken me a while just to get used to the pronunciation of the letters.
I mentioned in my last email that an English teacher from my school wanted me to help organize and run a Halloween party. I was worried I wouldn't be able to because it was when I was sick and supposed to be in bed 24/7, but luckily my host parents understood I was beginning to go crazy so they let me do it! I was really nervous at first because the teacher wanted me to tell the kids about Halloween's history then partake in a skit about Jack and the Devil. But, it turned out to be a lot of fun and the kids really liked it. We got to carve pumpkins too, so that was extra exciting. I had forgotten how difficult it is to actually carve them; I think Dad was usually the one handling the hard work and I just never realized it. Cleaning out the seeds and mushy stuff was always the best part. The Czech students couldn't believe we just used our hands, haha. I also learned a lot of Halloween that I never knew before, which was interesting. I didn't know it started as an ancient Celtic ritual in Ireland and farmers dressed up in animal hides and attended bonfires with animal sacrifices, did you? Then I learned all about how the Jack O'Lantern came to be and I got to act as the Devil in the skit....my acting skills haven't improved much.
I just recently started helping another English teacher in her class. She teachers an older grade of English students and she asked me to come in every Wednesday morning and "answer some questions." Little did I realize that I would be basically teaching the class. I don't mind, it's fun to be in charge. I read some stories in English, asked them questions about the reading, they did some writing activities, and the teacher insisted I ask them questions and make conversation from the activities in the book. I know teachers do it all the time, but it is hard! I felt strange asking the students why they were going to the gym after school and what they wanted to be doing in 10 years.
After being sick for so long I really felt like being active, so I started going to the fitness center near my house. Another exchange student goes with me so it makes it fun and entertaining too. The first time we went we were like, "huh, our gyms at home have bottles of spray and they make you wipe down the machines after you use them." ....then we looked around and realized EVERYONE had brought their own towels and laid on them while using a machine. oooops. We also felt a little funny because we were changing all the pins on the machines to about 30 lbs instead of 90lbs. I guess we'll work up to that....
Last weekend I went cross country skiing with my host family! It started out as my host Mom, host Dad, the little dog, and myself. About 100 feet through the snow and the dog was whimpering and refused to walk any further. It had on a special, high-tech coat thing, I don't understand what it's problem was. His coat was probably warmer than mine was. So my host Mom took him back to the car and my host Dad and I ventured out into the woods. It was fun and after a while I felt more comfortable. I only fell twice and my host Dad only saw me one of the times, thank goodness. He raced back to save me, it was so embarrassing. After a long trip, we came to the main road. But, we were lost and had to walk on the road with our skis and poles for about 20 minutes.....I was happy to see the car. It was a beautiful trail and so many times I wished I'd had my camera. It really looks a lot like home but something about snow on the ground always makes everything 100x prettier.
This coming weekend I am headed to Praha!(Prague) The ROTEX (previous exchange students) have organized a meeting for us this weekend. We'll do the typical tourist things and hopefully some shopping. We're staying in another hostel, which is such a great experience. I'm hoping there will be some snow on the ground and buildings to make pictures pretty pretty pretty. Tomorrow night I'm making STUFFING and chicken drumsticks for dinner! Wish me luck, I'll need it! There is a cooking school right next to my school and I always wonder why I'm not going there, I would definitely benefit from that kind of education. So, I hope all of you are doing very well. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are ready for the real holiday season! I miss you all, take care!!!!

Rachel Hoffmann -- Bolivia / Salem Rotary

Hola a Todos!

I know it's been a while since I have written, but Ive been having so much fun and just havent had the time to write a big email. Everything in Santa Cruz is perfect right now. Today was like 65 degrees and everyone was acting like it was 30 below. We all got out our sweaters and it felt freezing! I stayed in my bed till about 12 like it was winter vacation. But tomorrow is supposed to be 90 something again. Its weird, it gets really really windy for one or two days but really hot, then you know the next day it will rain, and maybe it rains for one day, but the next day is beautiful again.

Ok so what have I done.....well the most exciting thing Ive done in the past few weeks was to take a trip to Trinidad, a small "city" in the department of Beni. I was invited by my second host family and I went with them and Zane, the kid from Minnesota, and the two daughters and their husbands. They are only 23 and 25 so its really fun to hang out with them. The ride was about 8 or 9 hours on this road that wasnt too bad for a highway in Bolivia, but really randomly there would be speed bumps and one time we didnt see them and we went really fast over them and i hit the roof a couple times, it woke me up but it was no biggy.

So Trinidad is pretty much Amazonia, and I guess you could say we were in the jungle. They have some pretty exotic things there. For example lions, anacondas(I saw three of them but they were in a cage, but one of them they found in the canal that was like 10 feet away, they were each about 7 meters long), aligators, capihuara, antas(which is like an ant eater i think, i touched one and it smelled my hand). I woke up in the morning to the sound of squawking wild parrots in the mango tree outside my room. there were tucans, tarantulas, but luckily only in the road so we ran them over. they all leave their homes when it rains. But you all get the point, it was pretty exotic. This town is so cool because the majority of the people dont use cars, they use motorcycles. So i got to take a vuelta(little ride) around the plaza on one of my cousins motorcycles. its kind of freaky when you are in the car though because about 20 motos will come up beside you and you feel like youll get attacked by some gang but you look over and its a grandma. or i did see a couple motos with 4 people. who needs a minivan when you can fit your whole family on a shanty little motorcycle! it does stink to live in this city when it rains though. apparently each year in about december or january it all floods. they are kind of just used to it and they expect to lose a bunch of their cattle and animals and homes. oh speaking of rivers there are also a lot of pihranas(spelling?). they eat tons of fish there because of the rivers.

Probably the most daring thing I did, besides stare at anacondas and ride a motorcycle, was eat alligator tail. it was the best thing ever!!!!!! I was kinda freaked out at first, and so was Zane, but we ate it and it was smothered in a garlic and butter sauce. its now our favorite food. i think they ordered us two helpings each. it was great, we were sitting in this little restaurant and I said to Zane, "do you realize that we are together, sitting here listening to a tape of 80s music from the US, eating alligator tail, drinking something with the name that translates into exotic horsefly, in Bolivia." it was just one of those moments.

I was surprised, i only got 4 mosquito bites, but I did take my malaria medicine so that was good. (mom dont worry!) and i swear that the mosquitos there are nicer than they are here. as we speak they are attacking my fingers.

So back to Santa Cruz, Im in summer vacation now and so I kind of just hang out every day. I sleep late, maybe ill go to the pool with my friends, because I think almost every exchange student has a pool at their house. I always eat lunch with the family, and then after i go to the main plaza in the city with the gringos. apparently we are known as the gringos of the plaza now so i was pretty happy about that. we like this cafe thats actually not bolivian at all, its arabic and the owner is from madrid, but we are now regulars there too. we like to sit there and drink coffee and watch the people in the plaza down below. its kind of funny but one of the things we like to do is watch the other gringos and we will comment and say, oh they are definately tourists, but we arent because we actually live here.

i started salsa dancing classes at this place that teaches all week and then on the weekends it turns into a bar/disco. its so cool the teachers are from cuba. im so jealous the way they move, but they have so much fun, and i love it. i feel really awkward at times, if you can imagine me trying to move my hips and be all sexy like a cuban, then you can imagine how awkward it is. but i dont care because we have a great time.

i also started my traditional bolivian cooking classes and tomorrow im making picante de pollo(spicey chicken) and bringing it home for my family for lunch, so hopefully they like it! its a lot of pressure!

im going to the gym now because the food is catching up to me, but its fun because some of my friends go too. and im actually a regular there too. i have to laugh when all of the really strong guys have to share the machines with me and i move it to like one weight and they use all of them. i think they are afraid to talk to me though, maybe they are just more serious about their work out than i am. its still fun though.

my family is great, i love them so much. im trying to save up for a trip to brasil or maybe uraguay. but other than that im just hanging out and enjoying my time. its funny because when we go to the rotary meetings, they get kind of boring at times, and so what the exchange students do is see how much spicey sauce we can put on our bread at once. the rotarians love it because they are usually bored too and love to watch the boys get really red.

well i hope everyone is doing really well. stay warm, if you get too cold think of me sitting by the pool tanning, or burning(again just kidding mom im using my sun screen!) and im sure that will warm you up!

i love you all and miss you tons!!

Kristen Kilpeck -- Mexico / Cobleskill Rotary

This month has been exciting. November in Puerto Escondido is the month of parties.. I went to Oaxaca city to celebrate dia de los muertos and halloween.. i decorated altars for the dead, went to decorated cementary parties, they held little parties with costumes in the streets, i went shopping.. actual shopping.. to the movie theatre to watch a mexican film, to the markets, the newest disco in the city with other exchange students that i met at our conference. other thing.. we had a rotary conference in Campeche (a 21 hour non stop bus ride there and 18 back).. met the exchange students in our conference, exhcanged pins and cards, it was really fun. we´ve set up dates to get together. but all of tabasco is flooded now and mexico is in major crisis. my host father´s children are over there so he´s left to go help. let´s see.. i´ve gone out a lot with my friends now, to see the sunset on the beach, (it´s absolutely incredible), to go dancing in clubs (trying to learn=impossible), to the gym (the other exchange students and i take spinning classes--yet i keep gaining weight), we´ve had dance contests, beauty contests, miss prepa puerto contests, miss puerto contests, miss chiquitita (6 year olds modeling bikinis and dancing reggaeton), sunday i´m going with my friends and family to a motorcross event, and the next weekend being the huge surfing tournaments. there´s always something going on in my small town. my spanish classes started this past friday, with a german professor.. with my allowance i´m also thinking of taking up german classes, but we´ll see how the spanish classes go first. i researched and gave a big presentation in my mexican rights class friday.. which was odd, a girl from the united states answering questions from her mexican friends about the mexican constitution.. but hopefully it´ll up my grade. my current gpa is 2.3 (=23%).. it´s so impossible to follow every teacher, get the homework.. the tests are designed to fail.. the spanish is still challenging but i love it here.

thank you all and i wish you a happy thanksgiving (and hope your halloween went well).

Alice Kelly -- Spain / North Creek Rotary

Hi Everyone! Greetings from Spain! Everything has been going really well. My Spanish (while still not even close to perfect) has gotten a lot better. I´ve been taking Spanish classes in school and next week I´m starting another class outside of school so hopefully I will improve. My host family has brought me to visit family in a lot off different parts of Spain-Cuenca, Eleche and this weekend I´m going to stay with a host cousin in Murcia, I´m very excited. And in a couple of weeks I will hopefully be going to Granada. School has been going really well also. I´m making a lot of new friend who are helping me with my Spanish. I´ve been able to go to some Rotary meetings and also a Rotary dinner which were really fun. I´m doing really well so far. I hope everyone else is having a good time!

Ashley Carey -- Finland / Amsterdam Rotary

Please excuse my declining English... you were right about that happening.I was having some trouble making friends in school and getting acquainted with the culture, but things are definitely looking up. In Finland, beginning in November, the sun starts to set earlier and earlier. It sets at about 3 pm now, and I think it's going to continue to set earlier. I visited Rovaniemi in Lapland in mid- October and stayed with another exchange student's host family. That was an incredible learning experience. I learned a new Finnish dialect, got to see a different kind of school, gave a presentation about the United States in a middle school, made tons of new friends, and I even met Santa Claus! (Or Joulupukki, as he's called here.)

September-October 2007 Newsletter

Hi! This is a realtime newsletter for Rotary Exchange students from Rotary District 7190, a collection of Rotary Clubs in northeast New York State.

We have a group of very talented and personable students scattered throughout the world. They are our ambassadors -- for themselves, for their families, for their Rotary club, and for their country. They will have many stories to tell about their year abroad. This is one place where you can read about those experiences.

Since the beginning of this exchange program, Rotary has asked that each student send a brief note to their exchange officers each month, and we would compile those notes into one newsletter. Over the years, we have migrated from a paper newsletter, to an electronic document distributed by email to Rotarians, the students' families, schools, and any interest party.

A weblog (or a 'blog', for short) allows us to move to the next step: realtime notes from the students, written and distributed over the internet. The students will still share their stories via this weblog, but this way, we can all share the stories much faster.

The first installment, though, will be more like a long newsletter. The students have sent email to us in September/October of 2007. What follows is a a compilation of all those notes, in one long posting.

Enjoy the stories. The kids are having a good time! If you have any questions or comments, you can send them to me at the address noted below. We'll try this out and see how it works!

David Walsh
Interim Editor
Glenville Rotary
sisudaw@excite.com

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Mikayla Misenheimer, Croatia
Middleburgh Rotary Club

September 2007

Hi all!!

I've been in Croatia now for almost 6 weeks and I am having the best time. The city is so beautiful and it’s still very warm here. School is helping me to learn the language. My music school however is amazing. I love all of my classes and professors. I'm learning so much there! While I'm on the topic of music I will tell you of my exciting news. My host mom’s brother is a famous musician in Croatia. I went to lunch at his house a week or so ago and he showed me his huge collection of music. He then asked me what music I liked to sing and I told him I really liked jazz. He asked me to sing for him and I did...he then asked me if would please join he and his band at some of their gigs here in Zagreb and sing with them. Of course I said yes!! I practice with them on wed. and sat. All of the members of the band are over the age of 55 but they are very nice and very talented.

This past weekend I went to the coast. I can’t even begin to explain how amazingly beautiful it was. I have never seen anything like it. My friends and I are going to take a train to Hvar (an island on the coast) next weekend. This weekend im going to Vienna again because I don’t have school on Monday. I like Vienna a lot...but it’s very expensive.

The Croatian language is unbelievably difficult. I always thought myself to be good at learning languages but Croatian is going to take me quite some time to get used to. I go to language courses twice a week, which helps, but it’s draining. I have a lot of Croatian homework but I know it’s the only way imp going to learn. My family and I have started to speak Croatian in the house so I never get away from it.

I miss you all and hope you are all doing well.

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Alexandra (Allie) Ritz, Italy
Cobleskill Rotary Club

September 2007

I am doing very well. I really like my family and where I’m living. I'm keeping busy. I went hunting with my dad and then today I went to the beach with my mom. I’ve gone to Pisa a couple of times. I start school the 13th. Then I'll be busy studying I’m sure. My Italian isn’t great but I’m slowly learning and my family is looking for lessons for me. I'll keep in touch.

October 2007

I'm finally starting to really settle down and feel really comfortable. The first few weeks were difficult and I was homesick which I really didn’t expect, but now I'm doing really well. I really like my family and classmates. I’ve started language classes so hopefully that'll help. I'm learning slowly, because everyone knows English and its bothering me somewhat that everyone speaks English to me. I’m having a good time and don’t realize that I’m across the ocean. haha; Well, ciao!

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Rachel Hoffmann, Bolivia
Salem Rotary Club

September 2007
September was such an amazing month. I did so many cool things, and I feel like it was the month where I really became accustomed to things. I feel really comfortable with my host family, I love them so much. My friends at school are so great. My Spanish is coming along great, or so I am told, but I feel like my English is getting worse now. I am taking a Spanish class three days a week, but honestly I feel like I am learning so much just by listening and attempting to speak it. The other day I asked my host sister why they were saying thank you at the cash registers, and she said Rachel, they said gracias. So I think that’s a good sign, that I am not really thinking about understanding too much. But then it’s hard to tell what is English, and what is Spanish. School ends at the end of October, so I will start summer vacation then. I plan on taking a salsa class or a cooking class.

We are taking a trip to a town to see a festival of Orchids soon, and the wedding of my sister of my second host family is also in October, and I was invited to that. I am very excited to be a part of the celebrations and to witness the culture firsthand.

I absolutely love the food here. My favorite drinks are made of corn, which at first sounded really weird, but they are so delicious! I am managing to try pretty much everything here, even if it isn’t the most appealing, for example at the rotary dinner the other day we realized that we ate cow tongue, and surprisingly it was really tasty! But, the food here has many calories so we have to stay busy!

Everything is so cheap here that I am not having a problem with money at all, the money the Rotary gives me lasts a while. I just have to be careful that I make sure I have room on the way home!

One of my favorite things to do is sleep in the hammock when I get home from school. I have managed to actually stay in it and not fall out...yet. It just turned to spring here, and the weather is extremely humid and hot, so I am excited to see what summer feels like! But I don’t mind too much.

Hasta luego!

October 2007
This past weekend all of the exchange students went on a trip to these two towns called San Xavier and Concepcion to see a festival of orchids. It was sponsored by the Rotary, and I think all together there were about 25-30 of us from the US, Canada, Belgium, Francia, Germany, and I think that’s it! Anyway the first amazing thing was that there were two boys from Germany. I am always interested, a little bit obsessed I guess, with meeting Germans obviously since we went there. But anyway, I was talking with this kid, Tim Stimberg, and he said that he is from Ludinghausen. I could not believe it. When I told him I went there he couldn’t believe I knew it either. Then I started naming my friends and he was like, oh wow I know them! I still cannot believe that we met in Bolivia. He is spending his year in Sucre. That shows you how small the world really is.

So we looked at a couple of churches in these smaller towns. everything was really decorative and everything was painted, with the smallest detail. for example on some of the decorations it was painted with staccato. It was beautiful. We drove a lot and it was mostly in the country, on these long dirt roads with really beautiful scenery and little hills and a lot of trees, cows, and what not.

We all stayed in the same hotel, and we had 3 guides who explained things to us, in Spanish, and also just hung out with us, kind of like chaperones. But the first night we all just hung out in the hammocks and talked. The second day we went to concepcion to see the orchids. After a 2-hour bus ride on this straight narrow bumpy dirt road, we arrived at this small town, which was actually like 4 huts. There we found horses that had papers taped to their faces that read "taxi". It was so great that I had to pay the 10 Bolivians to ride one. This little boy named Miguel led my horse up this dirt road to a little exhibition of flowers. I was joking and saying that I felt really bad for my horse because im so fat and they didn’t really laugh, but then imp like, what is the horses name. And they were like "flaco" which means skinny. Once I started cracking up the guys were laughing too. It was great. So we went back down the road and then all of the exchange students "gringos" ate lunch. We found a turtle and a little tiny piggy too. Then there was a dance performed by the kids of the town. It was so cute. I took so many pictures, and in the next week I will put them on the computer and send them to you all.

So after lunch we all walked up the hill again to see the orchids. They smelled so nice! Then we started walking to see the orchids that were in the wild. The guide man was like, yeah it’s a three-hour walk, both ways. They didn’t really prepare us for that so we were all in flip flops and had our purses. It was quite an experience. We walked through the jungle, practically but maybe im exaggerating a little, the whole way, but some kids moved ahead and hitched rides on the back of trucks. I wasn’t as fortunate. When we arrived we had to hike up this little mountain thingy to see the orchids, which grow on the rocks. On the way up this girl and me were attacked by little bees that don’t sting, but they make loud noises and stick to your clothes and your hair. I had about 20 or 30 of them on me, and was freaking out. This nice woman helped me take them off though. Once I made it past the bees we went up the other side, and were almost attacked by red ants but made it past them. The view from the top was definitely worth all of the insects...almost.

After that we stopped in this little town to go to the bathroom, well in a box or a field. I think the field was better than the little wooden box. But anyway there were festivities for the festival. The kids were doing a dance with ribbons around this pole, and they were doing tug of war, but with the rope around their necks. Lucy and I wanted to do that but we figured it probably wasn’t that good of an idea. Then there was this game called palo en se vau, or something like that. It’s this hugeeeeeeee pole that’s really tall and extremely slippery. The wood is so smooth that it’s almost impossible to climb. All of the little boys have little strategies of climbing it and putting flour and stuff on it. So we told all the tall gringo boys to help them. So in the end they made a human tower of two tall gringos, and I think about 5 boys, each standing on each other’s shoulders. At one point Zane had two on his shoulders, and one boy fell and he was holding his feet with his hands, all while standing on the shoulders of someone else. It was my favorite thing ive seen so far. I don’t know how fun it was for the boys, but it was great to watch. Everyone was cheering and laughing. In the end the boy made it to the top where there were sweets and buckets of sugar or Tupperware, a little different than the prizes in the us. But the look on the boys face told me he thought it was worth it. The next day we were all in the newspaper.

That night we went to a boliche, and sang some karaoke. And just hung out. We ate a lot of traditional foods, but Saturday night we had spaghetti. It was the best spaghetti I have ever eaten; I didn’t realize how much I missed it.

The next day it was rainy and we went to another church, and walked around this market. I bought some cool bracelets, I met this guy from Texas who has volunteered for 2 years and leaves in one month to go back to the states.

It was an amazing trip and I feel like I got to know the other exchange students so well. We all have a common connection and they are great friends.

Today was my last day of school but we didn’t go because there was another pare, where the city stops for political reasons. So I guess my summer vacation started again today. Tomorrow I am going to the wedding of my host sister in my second family. I will take a lot of pictures.

I am entering the gym next week because all this amazing food is catching up with me. But imp learning how to cook also. Also I am going to take salsa-dancing classes at this Cuban dance place. I also plan to continue the horseriding; I just haven’t had time for it. And another thing I am looking into for the summer is some sort of volunteering. I will either go to some small pueblito for about 2 weeks to help out with kids either in an orphanage or doing medical things or dentistry because my mom did a lot of missionary work so she has a lot of connections. I will probably also start volunteering during the weeks at an orphanage here in the city. I feel like it will give me something to do, I will learn more Spanish, and I get to do something worthwhile with my time. I love the kids here too, and their emotion.

Also, there is a possibility that I will travel to either Brazil or Uruguay with my host sister and a couple of my exchange friends, during summer vacation. I hope it works out. It’s the equivalent of flying to Chicago from New York, probably even cheaper. And so I figure, when am I this close to Brasilia or Uruguay?!

Well I will try to keep you all updated. I hope everyone is well. I love and miss you all!

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Alice Kelly, Spain
North Creek Rotary Club
September 2007
Hello! I’m finally here in Spain. It’s great so far, even though I miss my family. I flew into Alicante at 11:20. My host mother picked me up. Neither my host mother or father speak English, and my Spanish leaves a lot to be desired so it’s hard to communicate, but we’re trying. Thank you for all the help you gave me during this process. I can’t wait for tomorrow to see what we’re going to do.

My host family is very nice and they’ve really helped me to adjust quickly. My parents do not speak any English so we’ve mostly been communicating with sign language and translation from my host brother. I love the city of Torrevieja. I started school last week and everyone has been really nice and helpful, and even though I can’t understand anything the teachers are saying, I know that I’m learning and (hopefully) I’ll be able to understand soon. I met with my Rotary counselor the other night and he’s really nice. All in all I’ve been doing really well, and even though I still miss my family my homesickness hasn’t been too bad so far. I hope everyone else is doing well!

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Kristen Kilpeck, Mexico
Cobleskill Rotary Club

October 2007
This past month seemed to fly by. I was sick for most of it, but I’m back to regular health and keeping just as busy. I try not to go to the beaches as much this month because we’re in the rainy months and they’re super contaminated. But between school, helping my little sister and brother, and going out with my friends, I stay busy. I’m going to join a gym today to help burn off the 20lbs (I’m not joking) that I’ve gained and I play basketball with the receptionist at my mom’s hospital. The 24th we’re traveling to the city of Oaxaca and we’re coming back the 3rd to move into a new apartment where I’ll have my own room and my own bed! :) How exciting. Everything’s going great here as I hope they are in the States!!

I’ve started my dance classes, wow. I was sick for the first 4 classes so I’m totally lost. It’s funny to watch Joaquin, my instructor, though. Spanish classes should start today after school, and surfing in a few more weeks.. (I’m still working on my swimming). I like the food now=bad news because I’ve gained almost 12 kilos.. that´s like 20 something pounds.. THANK YOU MEXICO. I applied for my visa today and should be getting it in a week or two. In October my mom told me we’re traveling to Oaxaca, Puebla, Campeche, Mexico City... and more. Also she’s buying a new car and a new house.. so this is exciting.. still working on my Spanish and battling the heat, hope all is well in the states!

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Lauren Bardin, Czech Republic
Salem Rotary Club

September 2007
I'm here in the Czech Republic!!! I left Monday and arrived Tuesday and so far everything has been great. I’m learning more and more of the Czech language every day...even if I'm not remembering it...at least it's a start. I'm going to the 2-week language camp on Saturday so that will definitely help me. I'm really excited to see all the other students and see another town. Třebíč is really great though, actually much bigger than I expected...but I guess anything is bigger compared to Salem.

October 2007
Ahoj,
How are you? I'm doing great, I just enjoyed a fantastic Czech dinner of....meat and potatoes! I have this every day, at least once, but it's always a little different, and it's always delicious. I'm even learning some of the recipes because I cook with my host mom at night. I'm excited to bring home all these ideas for dinner, my mom will be amazed!

I am really getting comfortable in Třebíč now, and I really love my host parents, host sisters, kids at school, and other Rotary students in my town. School is very strange for me because I can't do ANYTHING. Sometimes I feel like my brain is shrinking and when I get back to the States I will have the intelligence of a 10 year old...but then I realize what I am learning, and that is so much more valuable. Not to mention I am studying the Czech language all day during classes. Then I come home and my host parents want to help me study. So, hopefully it will all pay off and I'll be able to communicate well soon!

The two weeks at language camp were fantastic. I learned so much about the region, the people, the history, the traditions, and of course, the language. I also got to meet all the other Rotary students in the Czech Republic. It was such an amazing beginning to my stay here in the Czech Republic and everyone I met, including my teachers, were great. We stayed in a town called Jindřichův Hradec, which had about 4 castles that we walked to. We also went flying in an airplane, went swimming, went to a local high school and talked to some students, shopped around the square, took a day trip to the neighboring city of Tabor, and went hiking in "Czech Canada.

Coming back to Třebíč was a little hard because there was not as much going on and I wasn't surrounded by other kids 24/7, but I had my first week of school so the pace picked up pretty quickly. The kids were really interested in a new exchange student because their school has only had one other, so it was nice to have everyone asking me questions about America and my first impressions of Třebíč and so on.

The next weekend I went to Prague with my host family!!! I couldn't believe I was actually going to Prague!!! It was so amazing, I loved every minute of it. We walked all over the city and saw so many touristy sights, then at night I went to a movie with my host sisters and to the pool for swimming. It was so wonderful, unfortunately my camera battery died on the first day so I didn't get any worthwhile pictures...but I know Rotary is planning a shopping trip in early December, so I will have my camera ready for the trip! And maybe there will be some fresh snow on the ground to make the pictures even more beautiful.

I have been studying Czech every day and I can really see my progress, so it almost makes it fun! I'm also taking a lesson once a week with a friend of my host family; she doesn't know any English so in a way it's good, because we are forced to use Czech. Although the learning is exciting, I can't wait until that day when everything clicks and I am dreaming in Czech without a problem! Can't wait!

School is....not school. It’s more like a building I go to every weekday, filled with teenagers speaking Czech and drinking coffee, classes where I study the Czech language and get laughed at when I try to speak it. It’s so much fun though! I don't ever dread school, except when I wake up at 6:30 in the morning. My days usually go from 8 AM to 1:30 PM. Then I go to lunch at the canteen (British term), which is a cafeteria for all the surrounding schools in Třebíč. The food isn't usually the best, but it's cafeteria food and it's free, so we eat it. I have a lot of math, accounting, and economics classes because I attend the economic school. Many of the kids here want to be in the tourism business when they are older, so they also study English every day. That comes in very handy when I need some directions explained to me. The kids are super nice to me; they're interested in America and especially NY. You should see peoples' faces when I say I’m from NY! Their eyes light up like all of a sudden I’m some movie star! (I don't bother to explain to them I’m from upstate NY). A lot of kids here speak English and once they realize my Czech is horrible, they aren't embarrassed to speak to me in English. The English teacher loves to stop in the middle of class and awkwardly ask me to sit in the front of the class and answer questions from the kids. I also get a lot of questions about America's economic system and I feel pretty uneducated when the teacher uses terms I’ve never heard of. I played volleyball and floor ball last week! It was great! The volleyball team was really impressive; the quietest and sweetest girl in my class turned out to be the insanely scary girl who spiked the ball in everyone’s faces. I was awful too, haha, but it was fun to meet other girls and see a real game with a real team. Last Wednesday I played floor ball in a tournament and it was surprisingly very similar to field hockey. It was also very different though. The sticks are more like ice hockey sticks, the ball is a whiffle ball, the goals are smaller and the goalies are on their knees inside the cage, you can go behind the goals, and you can even kick the ball. It felt so strange to hold and play with this kind of stick but it wasn't long before I felt like I was playing Salem hockey again!! It was so great and I really want to continue to play, but there are no teams at my school, unless I want to play on an all boys team. And no, I think I’d be pretty beaten up after the first practice. Unfortunately, my dancing lessons have been interrupted by rotary meetings the past 3 weeks. We had to dress up in our classy Rotary jackets and give presentations about our home towns one week. I’m glad that's over; even though they can't speak English, a bunch of silent, dressed up Rotarian families can be intimidating! I have dancing lessons tomorrow so it'll be an interesting night seeing how everyone will be 3 lessons ahead of me. Uh oh.

I’m getting really comfortable with Trebic. I really like the size of the city; it has a lot of people but it's not too big and confusing so I get lost every day. And catching the bus is getting easier; I plan when I leave places around the schedule so I don't have to wait outside in the cold for 15 minutes.

My first weekend back from language camp my host family took me to Prague! We were supposed to go hiking in the mountains near Austria, but it was going to rain all weekend so we changed the plan. It did rain a little, but it is such an amazing city with spectacular buildings and architecture everywhere! I am really excited to return in December for some shopping and to meet my visitors coming for new years! I went to the BODIES exhibition and it was realllly creepy. It’s a new exhibition and they have real, preserved body parts...everything all put back together, it's totally creepy. My host family treated me to lunch and treats and coffee several times throughout the weekend and I had a lot of fun walking around with my two host sisters. Speaking of my host sisters...Bara, the older one, is is in the hospital right now. She’s been on and off sick with the flu for the past 3 weeks and her parents finally took her to the hospital today. She’s staying overnight and she might have something serious, but they're not positive yet. I’m really really hoping she is ok!!!!

Last weekend I went to Brno, the second largest city in the CR. It’s a big shopping city with a lot of nice stores and malls and it felt so great to SHOP! I’m having a lot of fun with Czech people and other exchange students. There is a boy from Australia, a girl from Texas, and a boy from California here in trebic and we all get along perfectly. Some kids in my class are friends with some kids in john's, the boy from Australia, class, so we can all hang out and go to cajovnas and cafes together.

My host dad loves castles and walking outside so he's taken me to two towns with two amazing castles. The first was jaromerice and rokytnou, which I’ll send a photo of. The second I can't remember the name of, but I’ll send a picture of that also. They were both so amazing and I wanted so badly to take hundreds of pictures inside but they never let you.

This past weekend I had about 6 rotary kids come to my house and stay. 8 kids came total and stayed for the weekend. It was a lot of fun to tour with them and my host parents. I was a little nervous about hosting a bunch of boys because I knew they'd be loud and.boyish....but it was all ok. One of them fell down the stairs one afternoon and another accidentally walked into my host sister's bedroom instead of his. Haha, it was all funny though, neither of them will live their mistakes down.

Halloween is not celebrated here but a lot of the kids are really interested in it. One of the English teachers at my school wants me to do an after school contest kind of thing where everyone carves pumpkins and eats Halloween candy. I’m not sure if they have a lot of pumpkins here, so it'll be interesting to see how many kids actually find and bring their own pumpkin. My English teacher also wants me to do a report on Halloween and tell the classes about it. I’m excited to tell people about it!! In two weeks there is another Rotary gathering in a town called Český Krumlov, which is actually where the movie Hostel was FILMED!!! The movie Hostel takes place in the Slovak republic, but it was actually filmed in the Czech republic and specifically in the town we will be celebrating Halloween in!! (If you don't know hostel, it's the intensely gruesome horror film that came out like a year ago.) So right before we all go, we're going to watch hostel and get really really scared. and....we're staying in a hostel!!! I know I’m setting myself up for a stressfully-scary night, but I’m excited!

Well, it seems I have run out of interesting updates. I will do this again! I hope you all are doing great and enjoying how beautiful fall is! The trees have some different colors here, but nothing as beautiful as home.

Take care everyone! Tak ahoj! Čau Čau

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Chris McGilpen, Belgium
Glens Falls Rotary

I'm really enjoying Belgium! I started school on Monday and it’s not quite as difficult as I thought it would be, but it’s still really hard. My French teacher is my favorite so far because she's actually challenged me the way I need to be right now. Today in class she had me read the paper out loud that she handed out to us, and helped me out along the way. I've already made a few Belge friends, and I have a ton of other exchange friends. Its great out here!

So far in Belgium I've visited the cities of Brussels, Namur, Liege, Spa, Stavelot, and Bastogne just to name the larger ones! This past weekend I went to Luxembourg with my Rotary Club here, and we visited two castles and visited the city of Luxembourg.

As far as my host family and Rotary Club here go, I couldn't really ask for any better. My host family is very nice and takes me somewhere new almost every Sunday, and as for my Rotary Club..they're a bunch of crazy guys who like to have fun. They make more jokes than the exchange students do!

The other exchange students in my club are Karys (Australia), Stacey (New Zealand), and Pamela (Mexico), and in January Karys and Stacey leave and another girl Rachael arrives from New Zealand!

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Jessica Wilke, Poland
Schenectady Rotary Club

September 2007
So I have been in Poland for 3 weeks now! I'll admit I felt sick when I first came but I feel fine. The day after I arrived, I went to another city, Torun, about 3 hours away for a language camp. I loved the family I stayed with and was sad to say good-bye! I met lots of exchange students and even learned some polish, although its very difficult and I have lots of studying to do!

The first week of coming back, I didn’t have a school to go to. Today was my first day of school though and I had a great day. The classes are in English, so that’s good and bad. I actually have to do well in school now, as well as study polish!

Poland is so much better than I expected and what the impression people have of it back in the states. Today I went to a rotary meeting and in 2 weeks I will do my presentation in front of the all men’s club.

I am having such an amazing time and I know it has just began, thank you so much for allowing me to be here!

October 2007
So I’m having a great time in Poland! About 3 weeks ago we had our first conference with all the exchange students in Poland, about 55 students. It was great to meet everyone, people from Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the US and Australia. Also great to meet up with the 20 students I had gone to language camp with the month or so before. I'm definetly excited for the next conference and the traveling I will do with these exchangers.

School here for me, is actually in English, unlike most of the exchange student’s schools, because I am doing the IB program. However, it is very difficult, especially to be in high level classes that I have never taken before and the rest of the class has. I’m hoping some types of credits will transfer, if I can even pass these classes! Ha. However, having classes in English puts less pressure on my polish speaking, which isn’t very good!

I’m enjoying my time here, and am having a great time with my new Polish friends!

Surprisingly I haven’t gotten sick yet, despite the fact that most everyone else has, because of the weather getting colder! I have attended a few Rotary meetings but am still waiting to present my presentation, with their being cancellations, etc. (I am receiving my monthly allowance) I have also attended a Roteract meeting as well, and will most likely be getting involved with this group.

The newest in my life, is that I am actually moving homes today and only found out last week. It’s very early to be switching but I believe the reason is because my next host sister wants me to come before she goes abroad in January. I know it will be a bit of a challenge to live a bit far from the city...getting to school and meeting up with friends but I am just going with the flow. I'm also excited to now have a host sister, a change from having a host brother.

Again thank you so much for this opportunity, I am experiencing so many new things daily, some good, some a bit difficult but I can already see the positive changes in me, as I learn and mature from being out on my own! I love it!

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Lucy Reeder, Bolivia
Albany Rotary Club

It’s officially October now, so I thought I’d write and tell you how the last month was. I’ve been having a great time. My family is awesome, and I really feel like a part of the family now. I hang out a lot with my older sister, Raquel, and we spent a lot of time just talking, which is nice both because I like to talk to her, and because I learn a lot of Spanish that way. My Spanish is improving- I can understand most all of what is said to me, and also a good deal of the conversations going on around me. I even understand most of the priest’s sermons now! I really like my school. The teachers are nice, as are the students, and I’m actually learning some things. My favorite classes are math and physics, because those are the subjects I like the most (I’m majoring in physics in college). I also like them because numbers are the same in every language. My most challenging class is probably literature, for obvious reasons. I’m reading the works along with the rest of the class, so it’s a great way to learn Spanish, and also very difficult. However, the one book that we’ve read so far was excellent, and I felt really accomplished that I was able to finish it and understand it. I’ve been getting good grades in school, which I find amusing, and which tends to annoy some of my classmates.

I don’t do that much outside of school with my classmates, though I’m beginning to become better friends with some of them. It was hard to make friends because not only did I not understand the language, but also I came in the last part of their last year of school together, and they had already formed fast groups of friends. Everyone was very friendly, though, and I’ve made good friends by now. I spend a good deal of time with my sister and her friends, whom I really like and are really welcoming. I also spend time with the other exchange students- wonderful people that I would otherwise never have met.

My days used to be long and boring, because I leave school most days at 12:30 and then have the afternoons free. However, now I have joined a gym and am taking Spanish classes, so my afternoons have filled up considerably. I do schoolwork, mostly because it’s something to do and a good way to improve my Spanish, and watch TV a bit at night.

I have yet to become homesick. I was surprised how quickly I felt comfortable here. Indeed, I was comfortable from the very beginning, which almost made me uncomfortable, because that was not how I expected it to be. I don’t really miss my home that much, though sometimes I miss my mother’s cooking. The food here is good, just not up to her standards. I was surprised to find that what I miss most are green vegetables. Who would have thought?

I hope all the exchange students that came to our district are enjoying themselves as much as I am. Give my love especially to Agustín Carvalho if you see him (I’m living with his family). Thank you again for helping me realize this wonderful opportunity. I have already met people and been places and learned things that I never would have otherwise, and for that I am extremely grateful.

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Whitney Brown, Belgium
Middleburgh Rotary Club

Hoe gaat het (How are you in Dutch)? Everything is great here!! I have been in Belgium for 6 weeks so far and each day gets better and better! There is never a dull moment!

I like my school. My class is so nice and very welcoming! The teachers are helpful and are trying to teach me Dutch. The school is very big... it's hard getting used to. There are so many buildings and you have to go outside to get to the next. It feels like a maze sometimes. I am really enjoying discovering all of the differences between school in Belgium and school in New York. Everyone brings their lunch to school (you can't buy it like in the states), most of the students ride their bikes to school and there is a huge lot just for bikes, no lockers, no school sports or clubs, all of the students study at least 3 languages, school gets out at noon ever single Wednesday, but other days I am there until 4:30, and I could go on and on.

I have been so busy here. There are always new places to see and people to meet. My host family has been taking me on day trips to different cities in Belgium. I feel so lucky to be living with this family.... we feel very comfortable with each other and they couldn’t be more welcoming! Everything is so beautiful. All of the houses are made of brick. I have yet to see a single wooden structure!! My new friends are always inviting me along which is great... I went to a big music festival in Antwerp with all electro and techno music... it is very popular here in Europe! The disco techs are a lot of fun too, nothing like I have ever seen before. Last weekend I went on a kayaking trip with 150 exchange students in Belgium. I play soccer 3 times a week with the women’s team and I really enjoy that! It is keeping me fit so I can still enjoy all of the great Belgian chocolates, fries, and waffles!! YUM!! At the end of October my host family and I will be going on holiday in Egypt!!! So I am really looking forward to that!

This is going to be an amazing year!

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Karissa Seeberger, Argentina
Cobleskill Rotary Club

Hola from San Luis!

I know its before the two month mark, but I realize that I won’t have access to a computer for more than 10 days, because I will be on a class trip to Bariloche, Patagonia. (It’s a trip that all graduating students make, with clubbing at night and excursions during the day, they tell me it’s an unforgettable experience) I have been doing really well here and enjoying everyday in Argentina.

Last week, I went to my first Rotarian dinner and prepared a little something of a recap of my time here. I feel very comfortable in my beautiful home with my caring parents. I’m taking tango classes and I’m also involved in theater here. We travel to different places and perform two really fun songs (one when we dress up like dolls).

There’s always something to do on the weekends and during the week I go to the gym with a good friend of mine, soon we will be starting pilates classes in addition.

I’m studying literature, Portuguese, English, political science, math (unfortunately), culture, and project.

I LOVE dulce de leche and maté...and I are no longer a vegetarian-I think I lasted 3 days as a vegetarian in this meat-obsessed country. Argentina is a melting pot with beautiful people, who truly love their country. Truly the Europe of South America and I have yet to visit Buenos Aires, but I’m told that it’s the Paris of South America.

One cultural difference that I am struggling to accept is the inequality of the sexes, however currently there is a female candidate in the presidential race, Cristina Kichner (a Hilary Clinton-esque candidate). I’m really interested in the politics of Argentina and have been able to explain our governmental system to my host dad. My host mom has always wanted a daughter, and therefore she spoils me. I really love my family Muchas gracias for all of your support back at home! I’m truly grateful to have this opportunity! besos!

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Zachary Smyth, Taiwan
Middleburgh Rotary Club

Zachary Smyth is safe and sound in the very heart of Taiwan. It was an uneventful flight filled with vaguely interesting people (andKorean pee wee baseball players). After 26 or so hours, I reached Taiwan, it is hot in Taiwan. My host family consists of 3 individuals, Stanly, his wife (who is in Tibet right now) and their son Filan, they are all good people with better English than my Chinese.

Tong lo would be a small town if I was not raised in Middleburgh. I go to school in Miaole, school is boring, but the people are very nice and help me any way they can. I will make friends.

The other exchange students are in varying degrees, me. I have never before been with a group of people that shared so much in common with me. I am well and in fact having the time of my life.

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Zoe Fullem, Ecuador
Albany Rotary Club

Everything is just getting better and better for me in Ecuador. I feel like more of the family here, and can understand more of the dinner talk. I went on a mini vacation with my family to Quito (we drove all night through the mountains) where I met all the aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and went to the futbol game of Venezuela vs. Ecuador. Then the next week I had my first Rotary trip which was great! We went to the beach and port cities and I met kids from all around the world. I'm having a lot of fun, and I hope everyone else is too!

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And lastly, Sabrina Adikes from the Colonie/Guilderland Rotary Club, who is in Ecuador. Her well-documented experiences are found at her blog:

http://sabrinaadikes.com/

Thanks for giving me the idea for this, Sabrina!