Ariel Dunster -- Brazil

March 16, 2010

Rotary District 4420, Santos- Boqueirão
Current Family Address: Rua Alberto Bacarat nº50 apt 21Boqueirão, Santos, SP, Brazil11050-050

In the past month I´ve done a lot. It began with Carnaval here in Brazil. My family and I went to an island just off the coast of Santos. At night they had samba/pagode bands along the beach. I had a head cold for a little over a week, but a lot of rest helped me to get better quickly.

My American sister and her fiancée came to Brazil from March 6th- March 14th. It was good to see them. I was able to do a lot with them while they were here. I ran a 10k, and was able to visit a lot of turistical places that I hadn´t been to before. We visited the old historical part of Santos, including going to the top of one of the morros surrounding the city, as well as passed through the coffee museum. There were several interesting facts in this museum, such as that there were competitions to see who could walk with the most bags of coffee beans on their back. The champion could carry 5 coffee sacks, which altogether weighed about 300kg.

One of my favorite things I did with them was learn how to surf. All of us succeeded in standing up and balancing on the board after only 1 hour.

One of the most difficult things about this month is that 3 more of my good friends left to go to college in different cities. I felt like I had a going away party for a good friend practically every weekend.

This month has been one of my favorites because of all the opportunities I´ve had. I now go to Santos soccer games on a regular basis, and I´ve learned the portuguese chants. I learned how to surf, and I´ve seen some of the greatest views of Santos possible. It was also a month of hard work and training with running in order to complete the 10k. This will be one month I´ll never forget.

Gil Strizich -- Argentina

March 5, 2010

Host Club: Rotary Club of San Salvador de Jujuy, 4800

Over the last month I attended one rotary function. In late Febuary I attended the one hundred and fifth anniversary of Rotary international. I gave a small speech in Spanish, thanking them for accepting me into their rotary club and giving me this wonderful opportunity.

The first week and half of Febuary I was on vacation with my host family in Chile. My real parents came in late Febuary and are still here, we will be leaving for Buenos Aires tommarow. I will begin attending a local University here in Jujuy to study anthropology on March 22.

I am in good health.

Emma Fullem -- Taiwan

March 4, 2010

Host Club: Miao-li Mountain Club, Taiwan

In February, I had the last 3 weeks of my winter vacation. I spent 1 week of that in Taipei with a ROTEX member, Jessica Hsia, who stayed at my house 3 years ago through Rotary. I spent a lot of time with her family, which was really cool since I met them when they came to visit her in NY. I also got to see lots of new places, like a famous geological park and some really interesting museum exhibits. At the end of vacation, I celebrated Chinese New Year with my host family, which was very interesting. It seemed to mostly center around big meals! Very similar to American Thanksgiving or Christmas, except it lasted for about a week! I also moved families in the end of February.
In the last month, I have attended one official Rotary club meeting that was the first one of the Lunar Calendar, so it was mainly just a potluck with very little actual business. On New Year’s Eve, I went to a Rotarian’s house for dinner with my host family. Also, I had three tai-chi practices with the other exchange students in preparation for a performance in April at the district conference. Last weekend, my district’s exchange students joined with a larger district in Taipei for a second orientation where we went over the benefits of learning Chinese and of following all the guidelines and rules for exchange.
I am in good health, and trying to make the most of my last 3.5 months in Taiwan!