Zachary Pinto -- Belgium (Home Club: Ballston Spa)

(Up until) Sep. 10th, 2016

Ballston Spa Rotary Club

Braine-El-Château Rotary Club

Ann De Neve (Host mom)

Didier Noriens (Club Counselor)

I have been fine health wise for my first half month in Belgium. I feel fine, and I feel as if I am getting along comfortably with my host family, including both my host mom and host siblings. It’s been great, and I feel as if I’ve been welcomed into the family in a great manner.

I had started attending school at Cardinal Mercier, a school in a my town, and actively went to school every day. At first, school was a little difficult to adapt to, as Belgian students seem much more independent and have their own very small groups of friends. But naturally, I managed to find a small group of Belgians I would hang out with during lunch and other breaks. Overall, I felt very well accepted at school.

I had attended one Rotary meeting by this time, and met the club president, my counselor, and many other members in a nice hotel in a town near Braine-le-Château, where I was introduced as their exchange student for this year. I would describe my relationship with my club and counselor as both great, although I had still be new the club.

For my first week in the country, generously thanks to my Rotary club, I was enrolled in a French language camp where I not only got to learn some french skills for the first part of the day at a college called EPHIC at a university near me, but I got to meet other exchange students and visit some of Belgium’s landmarks and attractions as well. It was an unforgettable experience that taught me many things in just the span of one week

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(Up until) Oct. 10th, 2016

I have been fine health wise, and I still feel well accepted into my family’s home. Unfortunately, as I came back from a concert one night in Belgium, the bike I had used to get to the train station (which is owned by my host brother who’s currently on exchange in Mexico) was stolen, and I felt as though my family had taken some anger out on me in that unnecessarily, though we agreed that I would pay for the bike it it’s entirety by the time my host brother arrived back from Mexico in June.

School had still been good, and although I found it very difficult to learn much information in my very challenging course option, I still managed to keep a good relationship with both my option’s teachers and other students. I had learned how to navigate across the school’s campus and the surrounding area.  I felt confident to talk to any other person in my class by this point.

By this point I had attended still only one Rotary meeting, but I had joined my Rotary in two events that took place outside of the usual meeting spot. The first was to help put on a play in our town, where many people came to watch the play, which took place outdoors. I was in charge of serving drinks, which included learning how to fill beer and serve it. I learned a new skill that day and found myself entirely in a new cultural experience like never before. The second was at a Medieval Festival near our town as well, where I also served drinks, but got to explore much of the surrounding area, which displayed tents of typical European festivities, including food, swords, and other trinkets. I would still consider my relationship with my club and counselor as great. They seemed to really like that I was eager to help during the festivities and improve my french.

By this point, I had met up with other exchange students to sightsee different landmarks and cities in Belgium, some of them including Bruges and Namur. In addition, Rotex had organized an event where all the exchange students kayaked down a river called Ambleve in the goal of having fun and making friends, and it definitely worked. I’ve made friends at a rate like never before in an even small amount of time, and would definitely consider the exchange successful.

(Up until) Nov. 10th, 2016

School has still gone well and although I found it difficult to get adequate results in my academic program, I still managed to learn many new things, both factually and due to experience. By two months at this school, I felt like I had already been going there for ages, and that most of the kids in my option were great friends. I was truly lucky to be able to go here.

I had not been to any Rotary meetings in this time frame, as the one I was planing on going to got cancelled. However, I still expected that the relationship with both my club and counselor were good.

Rotary had organized a mandatory meeting to the Parliament of Walloon in Namur, where we met the governor of that state of the country as well as learned some interesting things about the country. Afterwards, we went on a boat tour down the river in the city of Namur to bond and sightsee more of the country. It was, once again, a cool experience that I’ll never forget.

(Up until) Dec. 10th, 2016

I still felt very healthy by this time, with no outstanding problems. And besides some small issues with my host sister as I talked about previously, there was no serious problem that couldn’t be sorted out in the end, and I still felt very welcomed in the home.

School was still going well, and by this time I managed to hang out with Belgians quite a few times outside of school to go out and explore my city of Waterloo. I had never missed a day or class of my school and wouldn’t even consider it slightly, as I consider myself lucky to have been handed this opportunity to go here and meet everyone inside of it. I particular enjoyed the Religion class, which gave me a new perspective on life, as well as improving my french listening skills, and sport, where I did things I had never done before, such as diving and practicing breathing drills.

I had been the this month’s Rotary club meeting in the same usual spot of the hotel in our town of Braine-le-Château. Like usual, I talked to some pretty interesting people and had some amazing food. At the end, a man presented his fundraiser to fight against brain diseases. And although I couldn’t understand most of what he had said, it felt cool to be in a room with such amazing and intelligent people.

By this point, as the weather started getting colder and people wanted to travel around the country less, I began hanging out more locally or with Belgians, which is always nice as I can practice the language more and see more of my local town and surrounding areas. However, there is one event that comes to mind that Rotex had organized, and that was a chocolate factory tour followed by a visit to the Comic Book museum in Brussels. Although I’d already seen much of Brussels by this point, it was awesome to learn more of the country’s cultural history and see something it takes great pride in. (Which would be the fact that Belgium make’s the world’s greatest chocolate, not Switzerland, and that the largest selling point of chocolate in the world is Brussels Airport. Also, Tin Tin is originally Belgian. AND so are the Smurfs, so who would’ve ever known? Anyways, it was great to see more of Brussels, a city I visit frequently baed off my close proximity to it, and have come to love almost as much as my own back in the U.S.

(Up until) Jan. 10th, 2016

I still feel healthy for the most part, though I did get diagnosed with Bronchitis around mid-february, which did unfortunately impact my ability to take my school exams. OF course, I managed to take the required amount regardless.

Like always, school has been going well. I finished up all my exams lately and enjoyed the Christmas break, which gave me lots of opprotunieis to explore more the Belgium countryside and her cities, including Antwerp, the second-largest city in the country that’s located in the Dutch speaking part of it. Also, I was actually excited to see all of my Belgian friends once the school year resumed after break. By this time, I felt like they not only thought of me as a close friend, but that I had bonded with my class so well that I’d imagine being friends with some of them for quite some time afterwards.

I went to the next Rotary meeting after I had my brief meeting with my counselor a week earlier, and found myself in the same hotel treated in a very nice manner, as usual. I sat next to my club’s president and discussed some of the issues I had had but he assured me it would be fine depending on how it went with the next host family, which had been great so far on my first day. Overall, I would say my relationship with my counselor and president was OK, they didn’t seem to have full trust in me before the talk, but any doubts they had would be shown to be wrong as I would try very hard to not lead myself into any future misunderstandings.

I spent New Years with some friends in Brussels, and let me tell you: It was the coolest thing every. I honestly wouldn’t even know how to begin...whether that would mean explaining the ferris wheel ride at the Christmas market or the huge parade throughout the city’s center. Or perhaps the enormously decorated Grand Place. In my opinion, the best part was the fact that every where we went, thousands upon thousands of people seemed to be having a good time. It was also cool that I spend it with friends I had only known for a little over four months. This night was a clear example of my exchange year. Short, but unforgettable.

(Up until) Feb. 10th, 2016

Anne and Hermann (Host parents)

Didier Noriens (Club Counselor)

Overall, I feel much happier an more comfortable in my new house and home. I have no host siblings, which feels like quite a change. Technically there’s a host brother and sister, but they’re never home as the as the brother is away at college and the sister’s on the exchange in Spain. I feel like I have a good relationship with them. Of course, my other host mom explained her problems with me to them as she knows them a little bit, but they told me that they’d give me a fresh start, which I was very thankful for. Overall, I feel healthy both physically and mentally, and I appreciated getting into a new atmosphere. It would benefit me in multiple ways, including getting yet another perspective on the country’s history. I’ve already learned quite a lot from my host father, who’s from the German speaking part of the country, so it’s yet another learning experience.

School is going well. I have finally grown to not just love it, but think it as my own school. Weird how your brain does tricks like that to you after just five or six months. And now I can talk french comfortably with the Belgians without a problem. (though the pronunciation is still a jiffy) And for the first time, I feel like they look at me not completely as an exchange student, but as a fellow classmate, so that feels awesome too.

I went to another Rotary meeting, where i was again greeted by warm gestures and food. I would say that I have shown my Rotary club, at least to an extent, that any past misunderstands were nothing more than that, and that I was willing to move on from that in any way possible. I also can’t wait to join more service community projects in the country, so I can show them that I am honestly dedicated to doing things that the Rotary stands for and show them that I am a good person. I would say that my relationship with my counselor and club has improved, and in time will hopefully be at a level where I’d like to be at again.

The Rotary organized a meeting for everybody in District 2170 (which runs down the middle column of the country, from the dutch speaking Antwerp, through Brussels (near where I live) and the south. We all spoke in french to each other and discussed mutual problems and ideas of how to fix them. It was great seeing some faces I hadn't seen for quite some time and also having the Rotary display that we are all one family sharing one mutual struggle as exchange students. Plus, it was interesting to see how everyone’s french-speaking skills have improved in the last five months. And for the most part, everyone’s was coming together quite nicely!

Cole Malerba -- Peru (Home Club: Colonie-Guilderland)

February 15, 2017

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to spend a few days in Huaraz. Huaraz is the capital of the Ancash region of Peru (located northwest of Lima). Its location in a valley between the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra mountain ranges makes it a very popular tourist site for outdoor sports such as, hiking, climbing, and skiing.

I first heard about Huaraz from my sister. She visited Peru before and recommended that if I had the opportunity, I should visit “Laguna 69”. Once I came to Lima in January, I began to look at photos and I became obsessed with the idea of a visit. I just needed to find an adult who was willing to travel with me. I first approached my current host family about the idea but they had already visited Huaraz, and did not wish to return. The only other option I had was to ask my previous host family from San Borja, a district of Lima. Before I flew to Arequipa I stayed with them for a week in Lima, but I had not seen them since. They were not obliged to host me because they did not have kids of their own, but they agreed to do it as a favor for Rotary. In that week we had formed a very strong bond, so I decided to ask my previous host mom, Cecilia, about the idea. She showed a lot of enthusiasm, and offered to go with me despite the fact that she had already visited Huaraz two times. She even offered to plan the trip. I was delighted. I got the permission to travel from my program director, and we quickly figured out a date.

Cecilia had a friend in Huaraz who put us in contact with a hotel that offered us cheap accommodations and a 3-day tour. We also purchased round-trip bus tickets. All that cost us about $100. We met in a bus terminal on Thursday, February 9^th, around 10 pm, where we took an 8-hour bus ride to Huaraz. We arrived to our hotel in the early morning, slept for an hour, and then got up to eat breakfast and start our first day-tour.

The first day, we visited others surrounding towns that made up the region of Huaraz. We first stopped in Carhuaz, where we bought delicious flavored ice creams, such as “Rum & Raisin” and “Pisco Sour”. Next we visited Yungay, a town that was buried by an earthquake-driven avalanche in 1970, resulting in the deaths of 20,000 people. The site was declared a national cemetery by Peru. Crazily, people continue to live there. The town was relocated about 1 mile north of the original. Next, we entered Huascarán National Park and visited Laguna Llanganuco. For $3, locals offered short rowboat rides across the crystal-clear lagoon. The scenery was beautiful. After the boat ride, we bought something small to eat. Cecilia pointed out a llama and said I should get close to it so she could take a photo. I guess the llama didn’t like that, because it turned and spit in my face. Sadly, she didn’t get the photo. I washed my face, and then the tour guide brought us to a place to eat lunch. We ate picante cuy (spicy guinea pig) and chicharron de chanco (fried pork). After lunch, we visited Caraz, a town that specializes in making sweets like, manjar blanco (dulce de leche). Lastly, we visited an artisanal shop, where we watched a pottery demonstration.

The second day, we went to Chavín de Huantar, an archaeological site of the prehistoric Chavín people. Along the way we made a scenic stop at Laguna Querococha. The visit to Chavín was interesting. We took shelter from the rain in some underground tunnels, then got lost from our group and ended up in participating in a small ritual. It was a nice day. We got back to Huaraz around 6 pm, got something to eat, and then went to bed early.

The third day I woke up at 5 am, and got on a bus to bring us to Huascarán National Park. Along the way we stopped for breakfast, and to buy some provisions for the hike. We began the hike at 9:30. The hike lasted 3 hours. It began in green cow-filled pasture, eventually progressing into steeper, mountainous terrain. The entire hike was beautiful, with scenic views of snowcapped mountains, twisting waterfalls, and exotic vegetation. When I arrived at Laguna 69 I couldn’t believe my eyes. The contrast of the clear, turquoise water, the stark, gray rocks, and the shimmering, white glaciers was breath taking. I took a few photos and then sat for a while just taking the view in. I had never seen anything like it. Another 3 hours on the descent and I arrived to the bus aching, tired, and hungry, but extremely satisfied.

Arriving back in Huaraz, we had a few hours before our bus left. Cecilia suggested we meet her friend at a restaurant. We shared a nice meal, and then Cecilia and I had to go. We arrived to the bus station to find it was closed. Apparently, we had mixed up the departure time of our bus. Scrambling, we ran to the nearest bus station and got on the last bus to Lima that night. All in all, everything was fine. We got to Lima safe and sound, and it made for one interesting adventure.

Cole Malerba -- Peru (Home club: Colonie-Guilderland)

January 9, 2017

In late-November, I graduated from my high school in Arequipa! I enjoyed my time in that school, but I was happy to move on to a new experience: Peruvian cooking classes!  

The other exchange students and I were enrolled in cooking classes in a Peruvian culinary institute. Our Rotary clubs generously agreed to cover the cost of the classes, and our host parents helped us to purchase the ingredients. If you didn’t know, Peru is generally considered to have one of the most diverse and interesting cuisines in the world. Part of this is due to the geography of Peru. The three main geographic regions of Peru are La Sierra (desert), La Costa (coast), and La Selva (rainforest). Each of these regions has their own local ingredients and traditional dishes.

We each received a schedule of the cooking classes, listing which dishes we would prepare each day, and the ingredients that each person should bring. The first class we learned to make “arroz con leche”, a Peruvian variant of rice pudding, and “mazamorra morada", a pudding-like dessert made with purple corn and various fruits. We were spilt into four groups and given the same ingredients and instructions. Then, with the help of the chefs, each group attempted to recreate the dish, and at the end we got to compare each other’s successes (or failures). The next three weeks, we learned how to make a variety of traditional Peruvian specialties. My favorites were “rocoto relleno”, a baked hot-pepper stuffed with a filling of beef, onion, carrot, olive, egg, and topped with cheese, “lomo saltado”, beef stir-fried with soy sauce, onion, tomato, aji (a native peruvian spicy pepper), and served with a side of fresh french fries and rice, and “chupe de camaron”, a seafood stew made with shrimp, lima beans, rice, and a variety of potatoes. It was a very fun (and delicious) experience that helped to bring the exchange students of Arequipa closer together. I loved learning about the complexity and diversity of Peruvian cuisine. 

The cooking classes ended about a week before Christmas. I spent the next week shopping for presents for my host family, and trying to get into the Christmas spirit. Christmas was different, but nice. There was no snow or cold weather. There were no insane Christmas decorations. We spent the whole day with family: my host parents, my two host sisters, their husbands, and their kids. We had a great meal with turkey, pork, salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a few desserts. I prepared cranberry sauce and chocolate-chip pumpkin bread, and my family loved both. As it got dark, we sat together, exchanged a few small gifts, and talked around the television. As midnight approached, people began to set off fireworks. The frequency and the volume of fireworks increased until they reached a massive crescendo. At 12 o’clock, we ran out on to the roof and watched as the whole city lit up. It was mesmerizing. Around 12:15, the fireworks gradually began to stop. We went back inside, said goodnight, and went to bed. 

In the morning, we went to church. After church, we went shopping for lunch: guinea pig (don’t freak out, the guinea pigs were already dead). We bought 15 guinea pigs. My host mom put them on a clothesline to dry. Then, she fried each guinea pig until they were crispy, and served them alongside some potatoes and a homemade sauce called “copa”. I’m not going to lie they were pretty delicious. This might sound horrifying, but please try to understand that this is completely normal for them. Nobody in Peru owns a pet guinea pig. 

The next day, December 26th, my sister, Holly, arrived in Arequipa! I was so thrilled to see her after what felt like a lot more than 5 months without her. My host family kindly invited her to stay in their home. We spent the next few days socializing with my host family, and doing some sightseeing around Arequipa. On the 30^th, my host family took my sister and I to the beach. We spent two nights at the beach. The second night we camped out and sat talking around a fire. At midnight, we all hugged each other. There were more fireworks, and then we slept.

The next morning, I had to say goodbye to my host family. It was a sad experience, but it made me happy to know I would get to see them again. My host sister’s husband drove my sister and I back to Arequipa, where we took a flight to Lima. The next few days were amazing. Each morning, my sister and I got up early, ate breakfast in our hostel, and then walked 5 minutes to the beach where we surfed for a couple of hours. We spent the rest of the days eating in nice restaurants and exploring the nearby areas of Miraflores, Barranco, and San Isidro. We had wonderful, sunny weather, and the whole time was very relaxing.

 On the 6th, my sister had to get up early to catch her flight to Colombia, where she would spend the next week. I had to say another goodbye, one that was almost harder than the first one. After my sister left, I took a taxi to house of my current host family. Now I am living in the Villa Militar in Chorrillos, a nice residential area located just 10 minutes walking-distance from the center of Barranco, a district with a big art culture and a bustling nightlife. I love my new host family. I have two host brothers, 18 and 20, and a very sweet host mom. I look forward to spending these next two months with them.

That’s all for now. Thank you to everyone who made this experience possible for me. Until next time!

William Kelly -- Chile (Home Club: Glens Falls)

February 7, 2017

January in San Carlos is known for being brutally hot and dry; temperatures in the 90s without a single rainy day.  That might sound nice in the middle of winter in New York, but it can get a little suffocating when you're in the middle of it.  Luckily, my family planned a huge road trip through the south of Chile along the Carretera Austral, the “highway” built under Pinochet to connect the Southern Region with Magellenes.  It is thousands of kilometers long, mostly unpaved, and connected in parts by ferry.  While the intention was to provide a domestic route to transport military and economic goods to the south, most trucks still go through Argentina to get to the south because to the hazardous road conditions.  The Carretera Austral today is mostly used by adventurous vacationers and cyclists.

A few days before the trip, everyone gathered at our house to get ready.  My host family, the grandmothers, my host dad’s sister’s family, my host dad’s girlfriend, her son, and her brother and his wife.  Thirteen of us all together.  The first stop was in Bariloche, a lakeside city in Argentina known for its chocolate factories and long history as a vacation spot for Chileans and Argentinians in both winter and summer.  A twelve hour car ride wasn’t the best way to start the trip, but we broke it up with an amazing lunch at the half way point and kept ourselves entertained with music and conversation.  Unfortunately, the long distance we needed to cover meant that we could only stay there one night, so after checking out some chocolate factories the next morning, we got on the road again.  This time traveling to Futalefu, back in Chile.  This meant we had to cross over the Andes again, and it was awesome to see the change in landscape from the arid Argentinian planes to the lush Chilean forests. We arrived at night with heavy rain with no food or water thanks to the notoriously stringent policies at the Chilean border, so I was send out with a cousin to run around the town looking for an open restaurant.  We got thoroughly soaked, but it was worth the effort to find the hidden Italian restaurant where we ate.  The next morning, everyone was up early to do some sort of outdoor activity.  Some set out hiking, others to bike, and I went with my host dad, brother, and cousins to go rafting on one of the many world renown rivers that flow by Futalefu.  I had never been rafting, so I didn't really know what to expect.  All I knew was that the river we were going on had the highest rating of difficulty that exists for whitewater rapids.  We got to the launch site, put on wetsuits, did a few practice drills in calm water, and set off down the river.  There were seven of us in the boat, but the river still tossed us all over the place. Two people fell out and one guy jump out voluntarily!  They all agreed it was more enjoyable in the boat.  Afterwards, we had some snacks and got to talk to the guides about their cool watersport lives.  This was definitely one of the most fun things we did on the trip.

The next day we packed up again and continued south, getting as far south as Caleta Tortel over the course of the next few days.  With so much ground to cover, we spend most of each day driving, but it was incredible to see the innumerable mountains, waterfalls, lakes, plants, and animals from the road, all of which were totally new to me!  And we did make sure to save time to fit fun things in like fishing, hiking, kayaking, and swimming (sometimes in volcanic hot springs, other times in glacier fed rivers).  We returned north through Chile, at times island hopping by to get past the sections without road.  The ferries are generally considered part of the “highway”.  Finally, we reached Puerto Montt, from which point we would have paved road and just one more day driving back to San Carlos.  Unfortunately, the return to the connected world meant we heard the news about fires all across the northern half of the country.   

The last final hours of the trip we spend driving through thick smoke.  Upon arriving back at the house, we heard all of the local news about what had happened.  There were forrest fires in towns both east and west of San Carlos, and the smoke had spread to cover just about everywhere.  While these fires were put out relatively quickly and the smoke had dissipated by the end of the month, others around the country continued, and still haven't been fully contained.  Thankfully, everything seems under control where I am living, and international help seems to have turned the tide.  It was incredible to see the huge efforts that people immediately made to help those affected.  We had numerous events and fundraisers in San Carlos, and the number of people trying to help actually became a problem due to traffic jams going to affected areas. 

Despite the disaster, I'm doing great.  I've had an amazing summer here so far and I'm looking forward to what's left in store.  Hope its not too cold in Albany!