Julia Galasso -- Romania (Home Club: Cobleskill)

A post from Julia in her own blog:

http://usatoromania.blogspot.com/

Michela Rossetti -- Italy (Home Club: Southern Rensselaer)

A late November post from Michael: on her own blog:

http://usatoitaliarye.blogspot.it/

Emily Williams -- Slovakia (Home Club: Salem)

Two posts from Emily (12/3 and 12/21) on her blog:


https://fivedegreesofseparation.wordpress.com/

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

December 12, 2016

November 2016

Everything is going super well here in Chile.  Caught up in everything that has been going on, I’ve forgotten to report on those same activities!  I am living on a farm outside my city of San Carlos in the very north of the Southern Region of Chile, and smack in between the ocean and the Andes.  I live here with my host father and the two family dogs.  Just about every weekend we either travel to Santiago to visit my host brother, who lives with his grandmother in her apartment there while he is studying in University, or he comes here.  This provides me with a really stark contrast between rural and urban, while San Carlos gives me something in between.  At first, it was a bit difficult to navigate the constant changes in pace but now that I have settled in, I am very grateful to have such a varying lifestyle here.  It certainly keeps me on my toes.

I arrived towards the end of winter here in Chile, and things on the farm have been building throughout the spring towards right now.   Blueberries are falling off their bushes in astounding quantities, with raspberries on the way shortly.  The summer also brings more to work maintaining other crops like porotos and remolacha, both of who's names have given me fits in trying to translate.  Porotos, or beans, can refer to a seemingly infinite number of types of beens, although there also exists an even less exhaustible number of words to refer to beans.  Luckily my host dad, a bean farmer, doesn't like beans, so it doesn't come up terribly often.  The confusion with remolacha is more straight forward.  While remolacha directly translates to “beet”, or the well known purple beetroot, Chileans use “remolacha" to refer to sugar beets, which are used to make sugar or to feed animals.  They call normal beets “betarraga”.  All of this had my head twisting and turning, but never the less I love learning about all things related to the farm, and my host dad and everyone else here has always been excited to share share their knowledge with me.  One of my proudest moments came after talking to one of the farmers about the merits of pesticides on apple trees, when he asked me what varieties of apples we grew on my farm in the U.S.! (I live in the city of Albany).

My class here had two field trips this month, the first to Siete Tazas National Park and the second to Valparaiso.  Siete Tazas was spectacular! The Rio Claro, which runs down from the Andes carved the seven cup-like pools on its way down to the ocean.  Each has its own waterfall and most are surrounded by huge rock walls.  The river really earns its name, with cristal clear water running the whole way.  My classmates wasted no time in deeming it safe to drink, declaring Andean water the purest in the world.  I cautiously declined to drink it, citing the family nearby us with a young child peeing in the water.  The trip to Valparaiso was also super fun.  To make the most out of the day trip despide a 5 hour drive, we departed from the school at 2:00am.  Some kids tried to sleep, but the collective excitement of the class ensured that no one got more than a wink.  We arrived for our tour of the National Congressional Building somewhat drowsy, but equally excited.  We got a tour of both houses of the legislature, and I got to sit in the seat the president sits in when she addresses the nation on special occasions from the Salón de Honor.  Things are much more relaxed there then they are in Washington.  We didn't even go through metal detectors.  

All in all Im loving my experience here, and I can’t wait to do even more in the coming months! A big thank you to everyone that has made this possible for me.

Emily Williams -- Slovakia (Home Club: Salem)

November 28, 2016

The other day at my host Rotary Club meeting my YEO had me read aloud an update from our outbound student (my absentee host sister) to the assembly (didn't understand all of it and stumbled here and there, but they said my American accent wasn't too bad(: ).  Anyway, it made me want to write to my own club and district just to say thank you again and let you know a little bit about how my exchange is going, especially since I haven't posted to my blog in a little while (which I am hoping to rectify soon!). 

Today marks the end of my first three months in Slovakia, three months of school and family and friends and new experiences.  I love the language of this country, and even though it is still challenging I feel like I have come a long way since I first got here.  Every other Tuesday I go to Rotary meetings, and each time I understand more and more of the conversation around me.  I am the only exchange student in my town which can be a little lonely sometimes (I have only met other students twice since I've been here), but also means that I have gotten to know the students at my school a lot better than I may have otherwise.  The 27 other students in III.C at Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina are slowly but surely becoming my family here (my new Slovak nicknames are Emilka or Milka).  After school I often have a busy program between CrossFit, Zumba, Rotary, and some music classes.  I've gotten to go on hikes in the nearby countryside and in the gorgeous High Tatras in the northeast of the country.  There is a rich folk culture here that I have seen in some performances of dance and music, and I've also gotten to see a couple wonderful classical concerts.  It's common here on the weekends or after school to go out to a kaviaren for coffee and tea or to a cukraren for cake.  The food here is heavy and filling - lots of meat, cheese, bread, and potatoes - but my host mom (and, from what I've heard, future host moms as well) cook lighter, healthy dinners at home, and there is an abundance of fresh and local ingredients. Everybody here drives a little crazy compared to what I'm used to, but at the same time there aren't nearly as many cars on the road since more people take buses and trains.  In my little town of Piešťany, many people walk or bike as well.  Piešťany is a pretty and fairly modern town, a popular destination for tourists because of the spa resorts located on the Váh River.  I love going for runs along the river and in the park, and feel like I can get around on my own.  Shopkeepers are very kind about helping me out when I let them know I am still just learning Slovak, especially since I have learned it is polite and expected to say "Hello" (Dobrý deň) and "Goodbye" (Dovidenia) when you enter and leave a store or restaurant.

Overall, I am very satisfied with Slovakia and hope that I will get even more opportunities to travel to different cities and experience as much of the country as possible this year. 

Many many thanks again and best wishes to all of you for the holiday season,
Emily

Michela Rossetti -- Italy (Home club: Southern Rensselaer)

Michela Rossetti posts recent experiences on her own blog here.

Julia Galasso -- Romania (Home club: Cobleskill)

Julia posts a blog about her recent trips here.