Amy Hayes -- Brazil

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Everything here is going well. This past weekend, all the exchangers in my district (one of the largest, I think, 50-something of us) had a conference. We took a bus trip to some amazing places I would not have been able to visit otherwise. We went to an amusement part called "Beto Caharro" which was SO much fun. This was my first time meeting all the other exchange students, since I came late, and before this weekend past, I knew only three or four of them through facebook. We also went to a beach for two days, and Curitiba as well. We stayed in nice hotels and ate amazing food.

 

The district is full of great people,and I love them all. I was thinking on the trip how absolutely amazing it was that we had literally, the entire world, in a bus.

 

Brazil is so beautiful, especially when you travel it. School is great, and I always take tests with everyone and have my school supplies there. I was talking to other exchangers, and they told me at their schools, they don't do very much. Sometimes I get bored, but for most of the time, they keep me occupied.

 

I switched families in mid-March. They are COMPLETELY different, but nothing for the better or worse, every family is different. I think this family fits my personality more. I am a bit reserved sometimes, and so is my new mother. I have a little sister, and although I am not so great with kids, she is seven, but we get along. I have no internet in my apartment now, which is a change.

 

Emma Fullem -- Taiwan

April 4, 2010

Miao-li Mountain Club

In March, I attended one Rotary meeting. With the other exchange students in my district, I had a weekly tai-chi class to learn a routine that we will perform in mid-April in front of about 2,000 Rotarians. I’ve seen our costumes, and supposedly we get to keep them, which is really exciting. In the middle of March, I went on a bus trip with about 50 other exchange students to the east of Taiwan. Although the whole of Taiwan is smaller than NY, I’ve never been to the east coast before, so it was really interesting to see lots of famous places for the first time. My favorite place was Taroko National Park, which is a huge area filled with gorges, forests and waterfalls. I just wish we had more time there, since we only had an afternoon in the whole park!
In March, I was mildly sick for about a week, which gave me an insight into the Taiwanese medical system-totally different than the United States’! I think the most shocking part to me was how eager the Taiwanese are to take medicine to clear up your sickness-even a cold!
I’ve now been in my new family for about a month, and I’m really happy here. I have three siblings here and it’s really easy to connect with them so that’s helped me feel a lot more at home. I’m already worried about leaving them in June!

Ariel Dunster -- Brazil

April 11, 2010

Rotary District 4420, Santos- Boqueirão


This past month has been a lot of fun. I started surfing lessons. They´re every Saturday and Sunday from 8-10 in the morning. Surfing has become one of my favorite hobbies here. I´m part of a class of about 60 surfing students, and then we´re broken down into smaller groups based on our skill level. This week the waves have been pretty big actually. Some of the waves yesterday were 3 meters!

Last week I presented a powerpoint to my Rotary club about my life in the United States. I was happy because I actually didn´t have any trouble presenting in Portuguese. I wasn´t at all nervous either. I discussed numerous topics including Ballston Spa, Sacandaga Lake, Niagara Falls, and Dry Brook Sugar House (maple syrup).

About 3 weeks ago I was robbed while out with my friends one night. 2 Brazilians and I were robbed by an armed man. He seemed both drunk and high, so we gave him our stuff without much negotiation because we didn´t want to cause trouble. Amongst the things I lost, I lost my cell phone, camera, and R$50. Strangely enough we had more trouble 3 days later. A young girl called our house screaming that she had been kidnapped and that she was our maids daughter. The man who had "kidnapped" her stayed on the phone and demanded a lot of money from our family. He also had called my host fathers cell phone number and persuaded him that his oldest daughter had been kidnapped as well. We thought this was connected to my cell phone being stolen, but it wasn´t. The man had gotten all of our information about our family through previous conversations on the telephone. Fortunately everything turned out alright and no one had been kidnapped. Our family was shaken up quite a bit, so we created new household rules to ensure our safety.

Easter was last weekend. It´s actually a pretty casual holiday here. I woke up and went to surfing classes. Later, my host family and I went to my host grandmothers house for lunch. We had fish. But afterwards my family went to the mall to go Fall clothes shopping. Here the tradition is to give big chocolate eggs to everyone.

My day to day life has been pretty normal. The weather has gotten a lot colder. It dropped from 91° to 55° in the past few days. I learned that I have a 4th host family and I´ll be moving into their home in June. All I know about them is that they have 4 children.

Beijos!

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!

Eliza Chappell -- Spain

February 24, 2010

HOST CLUB:
ROTARY CLUB MADRID-SERRANO

I have been attending school daily at IES Isabel La Catolica in Madrid and have completed all assignments, projects, and tests.

I resumed with school after Christmas vacations, and all is well. My mother and little sister can to Madrid to visit me at the end of January. It was great, and it was a good boost for me. I think I've reached a certain level of fluency, which of course is very exciting. The Rotary sponsored trip is fast approaching, and that is something I'm really looking forward to. Everything is going great!