Lucy Holecek -- Belgium (Home Club: Albany)

Bonjour tout le monde, ça va?
Hello everyone, how's it going?

Belgium is pretty cold, but I can't complain because it's warmer than Albany right now. French is coming along, I still have difficulties, but I love the language so I'm trying my best. It's almost Christmas time and my presents are bought for my lovely host family. I love my family; me and my sister are finally starting to be great friends which is sad for me because I am moving out soon. This is okay though because we go to the same school and are in the same class. I hope everything is going well for everyone. It's all going so fast and can't believe another month has gone by. Happy holidays!

Lucy Holecek
Albany, NY --> Belgium

Shilo Christiansen -- Japan (Home Club: Cobleskill)

December 9, 2013

Host Rotary Club: 7190

Sponsor Rotary Club: 2560

Current Host Family: Sumimoto

Counselor Name: Nishiyama-san

It has been four months already? It's shocking to even think that! November was a very busy month. I went on the Rotary Excursion to Hiroshima. On the way we visited some beautiful shrines and temples, including one that required me to climb 1300 steps. It was hard, but the view was beautiful. We went to the Hiroshima Memorial, and it was difficult for everyone in the group. However, one thing I noticed, and was appreciative for was the message of the memorial. It wasn't placing blame on anyone, but it preached for peace and a message of:  "let's never let this happen again". I really found the memorial beautiful in many different aspects. 

School life is pretty much the same. I just began my one month of winter vacation! After that one month ends, I will be moved to a different class. The class I was with finished their college entrance exams and no longer need to attend school. I'm a little bit sad and excited for a new class and new friends. I took a Japanese Proficiency exam a week ago. I think it went pretty well. I did find that the listening section was the easiest among the sections, that's due to the immersion.

I changed host families. This host family is pretty different from my first one. They're an elderly couple and are very traditional and conservative. We do have a good relationship....It will be a good learning experience.

My relationship with my host club is good. Among the other exchange students, their expectations run higher for me. I'm not allowed to make the same mistakes as the others, because I'm held at a higher expectation. That is a little bit stressful, but I think it's because I often act as a translator for the other exchange students. My counselor is still amazing! Nishiyama-san is the kindest and thoughtful consoler I could wish for here. 

So all in all, it has been a great month! I'm really looking forward to Christmas and New Year's here. I am a little sad that it won't be the same warm Christmas I'm used to every year. I won't sing carols or watch Christmas movies with my family because Christmas isn't that big of a deal here. It's actually considered a romantic holiday, like Valentine's Day. I will be spending Christmas with my Japanese best friend and her lovely family. I'm really looking forward to it! 

Sincerely,

Shilo Christiansen

Anthony Vandyke -- Ecuador (Home Club: Salem)

December 4, 2013

So now I am a good way into my year long adventure in ecuador, I have made many more friends and have kept myself fairly busy here. School is rather boring but it has its fun moments. My friends invite me to go with them on the weekends which is a good break from the normal weekday routine. My Spanish is getting slightly better as the months pass but it is still quite difficult for me to speak more so then than the other exchange students, but I understand a lot more then before and can have simple conversations with my friends and host family. Recently I've been going out with the other exchange students and getting to know them and their cultures better.
I just recently came back from an amazing trip to the Amazon jungle in a resort called yasuni. It was a 2 hour boat ride from the airport into the jungle. It was very hot and humid but the scenery and wildlife was amazing, monkeys, lizards and many kinds of insects were everywhere. It was one of my favorite trips so far with rotary. It was kind of a short trip but very enjoyable and memorable.
So I think that's about it. I really am enjoying myself here and look forward to what more ecuador has to offer me in the the mother to come. I'm also hopeful that my Spanish will improve with practice. Adiós for now

Gabe Gerhardt -- Brazil (Home Club: Cobleskill)

November 30, 2013

                So third month down and eight more to go till I come home. This month was pretty slow as school goes but outside of school it was pretty good. The school year is winding down and the lots of my friends at school were stuck studying and preparing for final exams. So at school it was pretty boring, but I was able to hangout and get to know the exchange students in my city. I started going to the movies and with them after our Portuguese class. I found out also that I can finally start watching movies in Portuguese without subtitles and understand it pretty well.

                This month I was able to go to the beach which was awesome. My third host father invited me and the rest of my family to spend the weekend at their house on the beach it was amazing. The first day we went to the beach and my host brother showed me this awesome rock that if you hit with it a hammer it makes the sound of bell when you hit it. The second day we went on this awesome hike into the jungle where we swam in this awesome waterfall. It was an awesome experience.

                Another awesome trip I got to go on was a visit to the Intuition of Batana which is a campus where they make anti venom for snakes and siders. If someone gets bit by a venomous snake or spider they can be airlifted to the intuition and injected with the anti-venom. They also have an awesome reptile house with every possible snake, frog, lizard, and spider that Brazil has to offer. I got to see a rattlesnake from the northwest of Brazil, a poison dart frog from the Amazon, and a 10 foot long boa constrictor. It was really cool to see.

                The biggest news that I have so far though is I will be changing families within the next two weeks. I am still a little nervous because I know who they are but I really don’t know what they are like and what their routine is. I want to still be able to do things like go out with my friends and continue doing Ju Jitsu but I unsure if they will let me or if they can take me. I explain this to my host mother and she was really awesome she is taking me to a couple of activates with my next family so I can talk and get to know them a little better.  I really am going to miss this family they have been so nice and have treated me just like their own. 

                So I guess that it, for now. A chapter closes and another opens, filled with experiences and adventure. Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving and an awesome Christmas. 

Brendan Kelley -- Brazil (home club: Albany)

November 20, 2013

Everything is good here in Brazil.  It's VERY hot, usually above 40 degrees every day.  Right now I'm working on finding my next family.  My Portuguese is improving, I've been doing a lot of cool stuff.  I get to ride horses almost every week, and I swim almost every day.  

Hope everything is good in the states!

Lucy Holecek -- Belgium (home club: Albany)

November 19, 2013


Belgium is great I love it so much. It's very different, but I think it's good for me. I have been pretty homesick, but the past few weeks have been much better. I have made a lot of exchange friends and a few Belgian friends, but making more and more as the time goes by. My French is also getting better, but it's still difficult for me. I'm trying my best because I want my exchange to be the best it can be.

I've been in Belgium for about three months and I have already had the chance to go to Italy and France and in two weeks will be going to London.

My families are great they all live on the same street and they all try to do stuff with me. The time I went to Italy I actually went with all three of my host families it was great.

I'm looking forward to improve more and more as the time goes by. And I can't believe it's almost already been 100 days into my exchange.

It's a hard time, but it's worth the good times.

Lucy Holecek

Gabriel Gerhardt -- Brazil

26/10/13

October update

                Hey everyone. It has been a really big month. This month I got to go the city of Sao Paulo itself which was awesome. I got to see a lot of the sites like the Mercado principal which is like their version of the Boston market, where you can buy almost any food you want from Brazil. I also got to see Liberdad which is like their China Town. You can buy a lot of awesome things there that are really cheap which is rare here. The government puts a lot of taxes on everything so all the prices are really high. My father was telling me that 30 % of every Brazilian´s salary goes to paying taxes.

                 I also got the visit a different state, the state of Minas Gerias which was awesome. It one of the bread basket states so it is a really big industrial center and agricultural center. I really reminded me of Cobleskill with the rolling hills and all the farms. It was really nice to get out of the city and out into the country.

                Ju Jitsu has been great. I have made a lot of friends and my Ju Jitsu has improved a lot. My professor says  that I am really strong on the ground but I still need to work on my posture which I will learn in time. One of my teammates has invited to his wedding in December which I am really looking forward to. I really want to see if a Brazilian wedding is any different from an American wedding. Also in December I will be able to compete in my first competition in Sao Paulo, which I  think will be awesome.   

                My school is also celebrating Halloween so they have asked me to help organize the event and make a presentation on Halloween all in Portuguese which maybe hard but I think I will do just fine.

                 So, one more month down, one more chapter in my exchange, and a ton of memories to remember when I am done. Hope everything is going well with you guys at home I look forward to hearing what you guys are dong at home.

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13/9/13

September update

My trip so far has been really good. I really haven’t been having any problems with the language I can understand what they are saying pretty well, but I have trouble sometimes pronouncing the words. To improve this I have asked for help from my English teacher and in return I have been helping out in my school with the English classes.

I also started going to the gym and I am starting Ju Jitsu. It is really fun and I love to do it. It is a great way to keep fit and meeting friends. I also can practice my Portuguese there which is great. I think I have learned more Portuguese there than I have in school because I am forced to really pay attention to what they are saying and forced to ask question.

My school is great everyone is really receptive to me and helps me out a lot. The students like to practice their English with me and in turn I practice my Portuguese with them. The teachers like to ask me a lot about the US foreign policy though which is like a balancing act because I don’t want to say the wrong thing. I like to ask them a lot though about their politics specifically about Vargas there leader during the 1930s because  I find it interesting how if  you ask one Brazilian what they think of  Vargas they say he was the best thing that happened, if you ask another he was the worst thing that happened. 

Rotary here is really big, every town I go to I see a rotary sign or symbol. They are also are big into an organization called ROTEX which is a club for ex foreign exchange student. They organize trips and community service projects which is awesome because I can participate in them and get to see more of the sites.

I love it here and so far I haven’t been having any problems. Hope everything is going well there.  

Shilo Christiansen -- Japan (Home Club: Cobleskill)

November 7, 2013

Late again, time really flies! I didn't even know it was November until yesterday! How is everyone doing?

11/07/2013

Host Rotary Club: 7190

Sponsor Rotary Club: 2560

Current Host Family: Minami

Counselor Name: Nishiyama-san

 

I really don’t know how a month passes so fast. It has been another month of being in Japan, and once again it was a really great month. I feel my language skills improving so much, it’s incredible. I think completely in Japanese unless I hear English, but I don’t think English once while speaking Japanese. It really is an amazing feeling. 

                       School is going very well. I’m just a little sad because next month I get a new classroom. In Japan, after everyone takes their college entrance exams, they don’t have to come to school. So I will be getting a new class. That is a great opportunity to meet new people and make more friends, but I am a little sad to not be in my current class.

            I really love my rotary club...a few of them really take the extra step to make me feel like home. I went with my counselor and another exchange student and met his whole family. It was really nostalgic. There were little kids and I felt like I was apart of their family instantly. Nishiyama-san, my counselor, really is the best counselor I could ever wish for.

            Next weekend, we are going on our three-day excursion to Hiroshima. It should be great! Lots of really beautiful places are on our itinerary, and I am very excited to go! It has been another amazing month in Japan.

Michaela Schnore -- Finland (Host Club: Glenville)

November 13, 2013

  I have now been living here for over 3 months! I have now been living with my second host family, the Siltanens, for two weeks. They are very kind people, and I have been really enjoying living so close to the center of town and so close to my friends.
       The Rotary club has kept me very involved in their activities this month, and they have decided to pay for the Lapland tour costs for me. As a thank you for taking care of those costs of the trip, I made the club two pumpkin pies with the help of my friend from Florida. Everybody really liked them.  

    This month, I visited a castle for the first time, in Hämeenlinna with my exchange student friends. My second host family brought me to Tampere with them for two days over autumn break. It was snowing quite a bit in Tampere!
        My current host family brought me out to dinner after a nice trip to an art museum in Helsinki. The restaurant was called Chico's and their slogan was "America on a plate". It was a really great restaurant and everything they had was actually American. I ordered a pulled-pork burger which came with coleslaw and onion rings. I was in heaven.
       With my friends and host families, I carved a few pumpkins, which none of the Finns had done before. I also made piparit with my host sister's scouting group, and made cake-lolipops with my host family for Finnish Father's Day, which was today. It has been a really fun month!

       

Anthony Van Dyke -- Ecuador (Home Club: Salem)

October 9, 2013

Hello from Ecuador!  My first month here has been quite an experience. I've gotten to know my host family a lot better, learn how they live their everyday lives and managed to learn a good amount of Spanish.  I've attended school for several weeks but just returned from a language camp on a resort on the beach in Monpiche. My Spanish is coming along but very slowly. Luckily some of my friends at my school know a little English to help me get by in class and to teach me spanish. I also just joined a track team last week to practice pole vaulting again and to stay in shape. I'm having a lot of fun here and I will be going on a trip next week to a different beach. I really enjoy the city and being able to walk or take a taxi everywhere. So far it's been quite the adventure and I can't wait for what the next months ahead have in store for me.

Brendan Kelley -- Brazil (Home Club: Albany)

October 10, 2013

I'm having a great time in Brazil.  I just had a meeting last week with a bunch of other rotary students, and I realized that I hadn't done any monthly updates.  I'm really sorry I forgot about them, and want to get back on track as soon as possible.
         Here in Brazil I'm living on a farm outside my city, Pirapora.  It's nice to be around animals, and to eat lots of natural foods all the time.  My second week here I milked my first cow.  My host family is really nice, and I'm doing well with school as well.
               I've acclimated really well to Brazilian culture and my Portuguese is coming along nicely.  I have next week off so I'm looking forward to that.

Shilo Christiansen -- Japan (Home club: Cobleskill)

October 11, 2013
Host Rotary Club: 7190
Sponsor Rotary Club: 2560
Current Host Family: Minami
Counselor Name: Nishiyama-san


I’m doing really well these days. I’m very healthy and loving life at school and with my friends....
            School is amazing! Of course it’s boring like school in any country is. I’m so lucky to have such great friends that make school interesting for me. Most times during classes, I study my languages, read, or do nothing. I joined Japanese tea ceremony club, which is a perfect club for me. I sit in a room, drink tea, eat some snacks, and chat with my friends. I feel so accepted by my classmates. My class is like one big family.
            I went to a Rotex picnic in Kyoto a couple weekends ago. It was really nice, and the Rotex members were all so nice. I last met Nishiyama-san at the monthly rotary meeting. He’s taking me to a tea ceremony at a temple soon, I’m really excited! I did receive my allowance, it was roughly 90 dollars, because of my cellphone bill.  My relationship with my host club is excellent, and with my counselor excellent.
            I haven’t done anything super exciting recently. I’m just really content with spending a lot of time with my friends, and learning Japanese. It has become a lot harder as I have advanced. I think a lot of times the older people around me expect a lot more out of me than the rest of the exchange students in my group. That’s a bit of a burden. All in all, I’m really happy with my time here so far. 

Michaela Schnore -- Finland (Host club -- Glenville Rotary)

 October 2, 2013
 
   Wow! I can't believe I have been living in Finland for 8 weeks now! Practically two months! The first jakso of school has already come to an end, as of today. And on Thursday I start a new jakso and a new schedule. 

        I haven't had to attend class since last Tuesday because it has been the exam week at school, and on Thursday I return to school for just over a week until it is Autumn Break already. I will be taking conversational English and Spanish, textile design, recording studio music, and physics. I am looking forward to a more challenging course schedule. 

       It has gotten colder and darker here already and it has put me in a Christmas mood prematurely. Admittedly, I did watch White Christmas the other night, and I have already begun practicing some Christmas music for guitar.

      I was only homesick a few times this month, and not for very long either. Within the month, on October 26th I will be moving into Klaukkala city to live with my second host family. I'm sure it will be a very bittersweet time for me. I really love my current host family, but it will definitely be nice to be closer to the school and all my friends.

      A lot has happened in the past month, its hard to remember it all. The Rotex organized their first meeting with the students in district 1420 and it was a fun time. My best friend from Rotary, Sarah, got to spend the night in Lepsämä which was a lot of fun, we made real American pancakes. I attended a few Rotary meetings, one was a visit to a rehabilitation center, and the other was a presentation on Nuclear safety in Finland. And tonight, I went with Sarah's host family to a hockey match between Jokerit of Helsinki and Ilves of Tampere. Jokerit got slaughtered at 4-0.

      

       Sincerely, 

      Michaela Schnore

Shilo Christiansen -- Japan

September 9, 2013

Shilo Christiansen
09/09/2013
Host Rotary Club: 2560
Sponsor Rotary Club: 7190
Current Host Family:  Minami
Counselor Name:  Fukumura and Nishiyama

Hi everyone! I’m very healthy and I’m doing great! I’m very comfortable with my current host family and we get along fabulously.

            I love school so much. I have gone every single day so far. I haven’t joined any clubs or official after-school activities yet. In school, everyone is preparing for the cultural festival. So after school, I have been helping my class with that. I have made a lot of really great friends.  It’s really easy for me to carry a conversation, so I think that made making friends an easier process. Everyone in my school is really nice to me.
            I attended the big district meeting on August 25^th. I also attended my city’s Rotary club meeting last Thursday, on the  5^th. They went really well. None of the foreign exchange students except me speak Japanese, so I can only speak English to the other foreign exchange students. I received my monthly allowance of 10,000 yen, which is about 100 US dollars. I would say my relationship with my host club is good and my relationship to my counselor is excellent. I think Fukumura-san is my official counselor. I haven’t met with him much, so our relationship is just okay. As for Nishiyama-san, who I think to be my actual counselor, our relationship is great. He is so kind and helpful to me, and I really like seeing him.
            I’ve gone to Kyoto a few times, and seen a lot of beautiful historical things. I’ve also gone to Oksaka a few times and done a lot of shopping! I love where I live so much, it’s a really great city. It’s the perfect balance of traditional and modern, and it is very close to two really big cities. I’ve seen the Big Buddha, all sorts of temples and palaces, and it has just been simply amazing.
            At each Rotary event I have introduced myself.  I’m no longer nervous. I had to introduce myself in front of my class at school. I was a little nervous. I was even more nervous for the introduction in front of the entire school. That went really well, and after that I am no longer nervous about self-introductions.

I felt a huge improvement in my Japanese in my first three days here. It’s almost been a month, and it’s as if I’m whole different person in terms of my Japanese level. I’m really glad that I learned a lot of the language before coming. I think that has opened so many doors for me in terms of enjoying my time here. I just have had the best month of my life.

Sincerely,

Shilo Christiansen

Michaela Schnore -- Finland (home club: Glenville)

September 4, 2013  

 I have now had my first full month living abroad in Finland and I am loving it! The first two weeks were very difficult at times but now that I have settled in more I have already made a few good friends and that has helped me to feel a lot less homesick. I made several friends during orientation camp and I have already met up with my closest friend from camp in Helsinki once and we are planning to go to Helsinki again this weekend. I am so lucky to live only half an hour away from the city! 

       My first host family, the Lotila family, is so nice and they were so helpful with everything. We have gone to their summer cottage (mökki), picked berries and mushrooms, gone horseback riding, and we have gone to a museum in Herueka. The kids are very nice and we always have a lot of fun jumping on the trampoline together. 

       They held a welcome party for me once I had been in Finland for two weeks so that I could meet my other three host families. (I have four in total) My second family also recently invited me to a crayfish party at their house which was a lot of fun. At the crayfish party one of Sanni's (my second host mom) friends promised to lend me a guitar and ukulele! I just picked up both instruments today and she said I could use them all year, which I am very grateful and excited about.

       This jakso at school I am taking two art classes, two music classes, and an English class. I will probably take more challenging courses once I learn more Finnish (I start my Finnish lessons on Thursday). I am really enjoying the art classes and especially the music classes because the school has such nice facilities and equipment. 

       There are six exchange students in total at my school, one boy is from Buffalo, NY, and is also with the Rotary, there is an AFS girl from Florida until January, there are two German girls, and a Slovakian girl. I like them all and it's really nice having other exchange students at the school. 

     I really the Nurmijarvi-Klaukkala-Lepsämä area so far, its a perfect mix of countryside, and small town, and is nice and close to Helsinki and Espoo. Since I am currently living in Lepsämä, its a little far from the school, about 8 km, so I have to take the bus to school. Luckily my three other host families live much closer to my school and to the center of town, so it will be much easier for me to hang out with friends after school without worrying about having to catch the bus by a certain time. 

      Sincerely,

Michaela Schnore

Aubrey Racz -- Ecuador (Home Club - So. Rensselaer)

May 10, 2013

 

Everything is going really great. I have been kind of bored on vacation but Monday the exchange students and I will be starting going to Solca, a hospital to work with children that have cancer. We will have our last trip to the mountains of Ecuador on the 17th with all the exchange students in Ecuador. It will be great getting to spend my birthday again with a bunch of exchange students :) It's finally starting to hit me that I have less than 2 months left of my exchange. :( I really don't want to go home. I have met some really amazing people here and I just don't want to say goodbye!

Kirsten Beth Lomnitzer -- Brazil (Home club: North Creek)

May 13, 2013
 
Sponsoring Club: North Creek Rotary Club District 7190
Host Club: Sao Luis, Sao Fransisco Rotary Club District 4490

Ola! This is my second to last report before I return to the United States. The date is set, I will be leaving Brazil on the eighth of July and arriving on the ninth. I will be very sad to leave but it will be good to go home.

So, a lot has happened in this month. One of the biggest things that has happened is that my family has come down to visit me here. They will be here until the twentieth of May, and we just spent the weekend in Rio de Janeiro, visiting the Cristo, Sugarloaf mountain and spent Dia das Maes (Mother's Day) on Copacabana Beach. We had a very good time. Today is my birthday and we just arrived in my host city of Sao Luis earlier today. We are staying with David. Later today we will be going out to celebrate. I can't wait!

Keith Roscoe -- France (Home Club: Cobleskill)

April 20, 2013

 

        I decided it seemed that it may have been about time to write again.  But what to write about?  

         I am now in my 3rd and final host family.  We get along extremely well. They are sarcastic and joke all the time; Which is good. I also feel extremely comfortable with them. I believe this has also helped with my confidence level. I speak up and participate more in general.  After one day I realized that I was sort of just tolerating things instead of taking an active role, I have been enjoying myself more.  

          School here is almost over. I just finished with a large class project within which I was painted green as Shrek. I will eventually put pictures up. The performance for our theater group is coming up, as well as for our music group.

           Other upcoming events are the Bustrip Eurotour and my trip to England with my host family! I leave in a week for the Bustrip!! I can't believe it is already here! The bustrip is 12 days in a bus with the other exchange students. We will be visiting: Paris, Reims, Strasbourg, Nuremberg, Vienna, Prague, Milan, Lido di Jesolo, Venice, Geneva, Chamonix/ Mont Blanc, Dijon, and then returning to Paris.

             Continually, I am having a harder and harder time writing regardless of which language. Which is stressful, especially when one thinks that he starts his university year with a 3 week writing and reading seminar...

              

              Besides that, everything else is going super well.

Kirsten Beth Lomnitzer -- Brazil (Home Club: North Creek)

April 11, 2013
Sponsoring Club: North Creek Rotary Club District 7190
Host Club: Sao Luis, Sao Fransisco Rotary Club District 4490

Ola! Tudo bem? That means 'how are you in Brazilian Portuguese'. I have been having a great time here in Brazil for the most part. This month I learned a hard lesson about straying from the beaten path.

On March 31st, the day after the incident, I wrote this on my blog...

"They say hindsight is 20:20 and now, looking back, I rather wish we had gone INto the (bus) terminal, or at least near the entrance closer to the police. Andriea was painting her nails, Celina was looking at photos on Andriea's camera and I was telling them about the Hudson River Gorge and rafting, when three men came up and took our stuff before running across the street. I ended up with the only 'injury' (though you can barely call it that...) as I had been pushed down and had ripped my jeans and scrapped my knee. The police showed up rather quickly but they needed one of us to go with them to help point out the robbers. Seeing as I was the one who was the calmest (something I'm rather proud of myself for...), I jumped into the SUV with the four policemen and we took off after the men. If I wasn't so freaked out it would have been rather cool, considering that I was being involved in a police chase but I was a little bit freaked at the moment. The three men split up, one (the one holding my bag, of course...) ran towards the interior of the island, one (holding Celina's bag) ran towards the shore (which was near the bus terminal) and the last one (with Andriea's bag) ran a bit further before heading the same way. One by one the three policemen that weren't driving would say pare (which means stop) and one would jump out of the car to go chase a robber. Soon it was only me and the policeman who was driving in the car, he drove to the area behind a restaurant and after telling me to go to the restaurant, took off to help the other policemen.

I went to the restaurant and explained what happened in rather poor and panicky Portuguese. (I must admit to saying things like 'Eles tem a minha bolsa!' which means 'They have my purse!' along with the one that I think anyone would say, 'Eu quero a minha mamãe.' which means 'I want my mommy.') They got me a bottle of water and helped my calm down a bit. The officer soon came back and drove me back to the terminal where I went to the small guard station where Celina and Andriea already were. Andriea was crying and claiming that it was all her fault, to which I forced her to look in my eyes and told her that it was not her fault it was the robbers fault and we we just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Celina was also crying and I gave them both hugs and sang a little bit (okay, I sang a lot, but it seemed to help them and it passed the time...). Andriea had her phone, it was the only thing of value that wasn't taken because it was in her pocket, and she called her mom asking her to come and get her, originally she was going to go home on the bus but none of us wanted to be alone for that long.

It took a while but eventually my host parents came, they weren't aware that we had been robbed, Celina's phone had been taken and no one remembered their number, so they had to be told by people who had seen the robbery that we were in the guard station. When we saw my host mother, Celina and I gave her a big hug and then she went to go and get my host father who was still in the car. We were very happy to see both of them. We then waited for Andriea's mother to come on the bus.

While we were waiting for her, the police brought a man in that they had caught and asked us if he was one of the robbers. However, because I had only caught a brief glance of them, I couldn't be sure, it was a rather nerve-racking experience. We then sat just outside the station, in the terminal waiting for Andriea's mother.

After she arrived, all of us (including Andriea and her mother) piled into the car and went to the nearest police station (that was not an outpost or a guard station) to report what happened. Of all of us, Celina lost the most, including her exchange student ID, along with her phone, nail polish, credit card and money. Andriea lost her camera, money and nail polish. And I lost my nail polish, my hair clips, my boater's license (which I have never used...), my money, my credit card, (my library card, too, now that I think about it...) along with my camera which is why I won't be able to upload all of the stupid photos that I took of me with my face painted. I really wish I could redo yesterday but no such luck...

We took Andriea and her mother to their house before going home ourselves. When we got their, Celina said that she was seriously considering going home, I told her that I would be staying to finish out my year, even if it was just to prove to myself that I could. And when I Skyped with my family earlier today, my dad had a good point, I shouldn't allow one bad experience to ruin what has been an awesome time so far. She has since then decided to finish out her year, I have to admit I'm proud of her, she is only fifteen and it is a powerful experience to go through at that age. (In fact, now that I think about it, I was the oldest one of our small group yesterday. Andriea turned seventeen in December.)"

If you want to see a full account of that day, it can be found on my blog at http://adkstobrazil.blogspot.com.

Other than that incident, my time here has been well spent and I am loving every minute of it!

Sincerely,

Kirsten Beth Lomnitzer aka Kikif