Jane Lebowitz -- Estonia (Home Club: Turning Point)

November 7, 2017

 

Sponsor Club: Turning Point 7190

Host Club: Tartu Estonia 1420

Current Host Family: Mait and Epp Klaassen

Health: No problems

Family: Everything is great family wise, we all get along, there haven't been any conflicts. I change host families later this month.

School: Yes, I am attending school. I don't speak a lot of Estonian, but I understand it pretty well. I've been attending lectures about Astrophysics in Estonian outside of school, which has been a lot of fun. I'm not close with any of my classmates still, so I'm trying to reach out to the other people at my Astronomy and Physics lecture, since we already have something in common. 

Rotary: I still attend the lunchtime meetings once or twice a month, whenever my host father can manage to take me along with him. My allowance is still 100 Euros, and I still see my councilor on a regular basis. 

Activities: Starting in late October I've been attending a lecture series about Astrophysics in Estonian, which has been one of my favorite things to do in my free time. When I'm not in high school, or at the lecture series, I like to take advantage of the lack of snow to go for a run, or get some exercise outside, before it gets too cold. Tartu is a city, but there are still some nice sized parks to go for a walk in, and I've been going to plenty of museums after school when the weather is bad. Also recently I took a train to Tallinn, to meet up with the other exchange student in Estonia, Kylan, for a day. The city is almost as beautiful as Tartu, but Kylan gets on my nerves, overall it was a good trip, and I saw lots of sights. I'm glad that I love Estonia so much, I went to district conference in Helsinki, Finland a few weeks ago, and actually missed Estonia. I feel like I'm acclimating to the culture and language very well, no home sickness yet.

Jane Lebowitz -- Estonia (Home club: Turning Point)

October 26, 2017

Sponsor Club: Turning Point 7190

Host Club: Tartu Estonia 1420

Current Host Family: Mait and Epp Klaassen

Health: No problems

Family: Everything is great family wise, we all get along, there haven't been any conflicts.

School: Yes, I am attending school. I don't enjoy it still, but as the Estonians say. "On nagu on" (it is what it is) I think the 3 year age difference between myself and some of my classmates makes it a bit hard to connect with people, my host father and I talked about signing up for a university class, just to meet some people closer to my age, whom I may have more things in common with. 

Rotary: I recently attended our 1420 district conference in Helsinki last weekend, and have been going to my Rotary club's monthly lunch time meetings. My allowance is still 100 Euros. I last saw my councilor at one of these meetings, less than a month ago. 

Activities: The weather in Estonia has been really beautiful lately, so I've been doing a lot of outside activities. My favorite places in Tartu include the astronomy observatory and the planetarium, so there's never a dull moment. My host family and I also recently went to the movies, and saw a film in Estonian, which was very interesting.

Siddhant Chaturvedi -- Hungary (Home Club: Shenendehowa)

October 12, 2017

Host Rotary: Club Rotary Club of Szeged, Tisza

Sponsor Rotary Club:Shenendehowa Rotary Club

Current Host Family:Gabriella and Luigi Szegi

I feel really happy and excited that I’m here in Hungary and I’m enjoying it thus far.

Since I’ve arrived in Hungary i’ve only gotten sick once and that was because our language camp was quite rainy and I didn’t pack proper clothing which resulted in me not being exactly the warmest and dryest. Since I’ve gotten in my host home it took me a little bit to acclimate to the differences but once I did it’s never felt better. My host family is honestly the nicest family and people I’ve ever met they care for me as if I’m their own son (which for the next couple months I am) and I feel right at home. School for me started on the first of September and it’s been quite good so far. The classes aren’t that hard and my classmates are great. I’ve made a bunch of friends here and everyone is very nice to me and I’m being taught Hungarian by almost all my friends which will help me learn the language a little faster. I don’t really have any activities outside of school that I participate in but I do hang out with my classmates and I did go to a festival the first couple of days in Hungary.Thus far I’ve attended every Rotary meeting possible and I’ve even made some friends in my Rotary club. We all go out for dinner every night after our Rotary meetings and we talk about things since one of them is a Lawyer and ones a photographer and another is a professor. I even met the past district governor of District 6990(I think) from florida since he's a traveling professor and gives lectures on law. I’ve been to the other kid’s host family's house who lives in my town and they are Rotarians but I’ve never stayed the night only just hung out there. I receive from my Rotary Club 15,000 forint each month which averages around $60-70 here and it’s way more than enough for me. My Host Club is amazing and it’s great hearing what they have to say and trying to understand bits and pieces of what they say as their meetings are conducted in Hungarian. When I got here I got to go to a festival and I experienced that but otherwise I haven’t done anything truly extraordinary. I did go to Vienna Austria though which was insanely cool and it still feels unreal. Other than that nothing really bad or super interesting has happened to me.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo7q0PxnDiY&authuser=0

Abigail Toomey -- Argentina (Home Club: Salem)

October 3, 2017

Salem Rotary Club to Formosa Rotary Club. Host Family:
Maria and Carlos Caballero. Counselor: Dirse Alvarenga.
 

Hello from Formosa, Argentina! I have been here for about a month and a half. I am
doing really well. At first, I had a bit of culture shock, but I am well now. My host family is
SO amazing. They are very loving. They make me feel comfortable. When they pick me
up from being anywhere I find myself getting excited to see them. I have a host sister that
is very sweet. We watch tv and eat sweets together. I have been eating a lot here, and
I've started doing yoga daily and going for runs. I feel that exercise, especially yoga,
helps me in many ways. Not only does it keep me physically healthy, but it is something
that makes me mentally and emotionally ready for the day.
 

I thought making friends at my school was going to be a challenge, but it hasn't been at
all. The students here were so eager to meet me. They make me feel so welcomed. I
have been hanging out with them outside of school and enjoying myself. There is no
clubs or sports affiliated with the school here, so I don't really have any options. It is
weird for me not to be doing sports or clubs but I have been dancing with my class for an
upcoming gala. This is something so out of my comfort zone but I enjoy learning how to
dance. Though they are all amazing dancers, they include me as if I am one of them. I
also am a part of my interact club in Formosa. I never knew that there was such a thing,
but I am amazed at how much I love it. I wish that there was an Interact club in Salem.
We have meetings every Friday and activities weekly. I am very busy between interact,
school, dance, friends, etc.
 

My Rotary Counselor is the head of the interact club so I see her a couple times a week.
She is very sweet. I haven't met with her in a formal setting but I am close to her. I have
been to one Rotary meeting, and I had to speak at it. They were impressed by my
language skills. I also presented to my Interact club. I did receive the monthly allowance
for my first month, I haven't yet received my allowance for the second month. It is in
pesos but it is equivalent to 60 USD. While I love my counselor, the Rotary club here is
very disorganized.
 

I have traveled to two other Provences here in Argentina- Chaco and Corrientes. We
went for an interact meeting Chaco and after I traveled to my family to Corrientes to
spend the weekend. It was raining so we didn't get to go to the beach, but it was a really
great experience. We might go again this month. I went to my first camp in Paraguay. I
really enjoyed being around the other exchange students. It was an amazing experience.
There is a total of two camps for the year. The first one was in Paraguay and the second
one is in Misiones, Argentina. I had to pay 300 USD for these camps. At the first one we
were explained the trip opportunities. They are very expensive but the two I would like to
make are the Patagonia trip and the Brazil trip. For Brazil I need to get a visa and it is
quite complicated, so I'm not sure.
I'm sorry this is not very detailed, it is difficult for me to sum up a whole month here. I am
learning new things every day and I am growing so much. Thank you to Rotary for
making this opportunity happen for me. I am so amazed that I am actually here! Thank
you thank you thank you!
I have more detailed writings of my experience thus far on my personal blog.https://abbytoomey223.wixsite.com/adventure

Emma Dillon -- Bolivia (Home Club: Ballston Spa)

September 30, 2017

Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Host Club)

          I am currently staying with Alejandra and Jose Aguilera. I am planning on staying with this family for my entire stay. My host counselor is Patricia Arnez Gianella.

Health and Home

          I have now been here for 6 weeks as of yesterday. Time seems to be flying by already. My health has been good but there were a few weeks where I had a really bad cough and extreme exhaustion. My host mom took me to the doctor’s office for some medicine and I have been doing better ever since. I am extremely comfortable in my home and with my family. However, I wish I had more siblings. As of right now, I only have one sister who lives in our house and she is only two years old. I am looking forward to developing my relationship with my family throughout the next year.

School

          At first, I had trouble adjusting to waking up early, as I leave my house at 6:30am for school, but I am beginning to grow accustomed to it. In addition to this, due to being sick for so long, I was not originally attending school every day as I should have been. However, now I attend on a regular basis. I do not participate in any activities in school but out of class, as there are not many offered here.

          Originally, I did not feel accepted by the students or fit in very well as I was put into a course level equivalent to 10^th grade. Yet now, they moved me up to 11^th grade. I am much happier and I love my new classmates. They are kind and look out for me. Next year, my host club will be sending me to the local university after I finish out this semester in high school.

Rotary

          Every Friday I attend a dinner/meeting with the Rotarians and other exchange students. I also am in the process of joining the Roteract group here as a way to spend my time in an underdeveloped country usefully. My counselor brings me to each meeting and we discuss my life here before and after the meetings each Friday. I am beginning to develop a very good relationship with her. Each month I do receive an allowance of what is equivalent to 60 American Dollars. I have a very good relationship with my host club, including my Youth Exchange Officer.

Activities

          Every week all the exchange students get together, including rotex students, and go out to dinner. Often times we go out more than once a week. We have all already gotten so close.

          This past week and a half “La feria exposicion” has been going on. It could almost be compared to a county fair in the states but much larger and much more elaborate. It is where large companies go for this week to sell their new products for cheap before they’re even available. Including companies as large as Honda. The fair includes pop-up restaurants and museums.

Concerns

          As of right now I am very happy with my life in Bolivia and I have no concerns.

Jane Lebowitz -- Estonia (Home Club: Turning Point)

September 25, 2017

Current Host Family: Mait and Epp Klaassen

Health: Health wise, I'm doing fine. My first wisdom tooth came in, luckily I don't need surgery, so that's all okay.

Family: I love my first host family, Mait and Epp are awesome, we all have a good relationship, if there was ever a problem, I wouldn't hesitate to ask them for something. We spend a lot of time together, and have our own personal jokes and things like that. Apparently in Estonia, the sound their washing machine makes when it finishes the cycle is almost the same sound as fire alarms in the US, so that made for an interesting experience my first week in the house...

School: Yes, I am attending school on a regular basis. I have not joined any extra curricular activities, nothing seems interesting to me. Usually after school I go to the library, or read, or go to public events though, to learn something new and get out of the house...

Rotary: I have attended multiple Rotary meetings, events, and luncheons since arriving here. My club gives me €100 a month, to cover school lunches and other activities. It is completely sufficient for everything I need. All of the people in the club are very kind to me, I have not been the guest of any of them yet, but I see them at events such as concerts, theatre, etc. often. I last saw my councilor about a week ago, when he helped my apply for my residence permit. 

Activities: I do lots of Estonian activites all the time. Almost every weekend my host family takes me to Võru, where the country house is. There we go swimming in the lake, use the sauna, pick berries, and go to the farmers market. Before the school year started, we also went on little excursions, to small Estonian towns to go out to eat, visit landmarks, and experience life outside of the city. I see the other student in Estonia once a month, in August we went to the science museum, this month we took the whole day to walk around Tartu, and took tours of old buildings, went out to eat, etc. I think we will see each other again at district conference in October in Finland.

Emily Williams -- Slovakia

May 25, 2017

 

Once again it has been overly long since I reported anything about my exchange.  These past couple months have been some of the most exciting. My mom was able to visit for two weeks in May and with Rotary's blessing we traveled to Prague, Slovakia, Budapest, and Vienna. Shortly after I went on my district's Euro Tour. We spent another two weeks touring Paris, Barcelona, and Italy. I had macaroons on the Eiffel Tower, fell in love with Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia, sunbathed on a boat in the Mediterranean, sat with gelato watching the colors change across the Trevi Fountain as the sun set, got a crash course in Portuguese while waiting in line to enter the Vatican's St. Stephen's Basilica, and ran down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. I learned so much about European history and cultures by visiting all of these places, but also realized just how much there is I still don't know. It was an unforgettable trip. 

I've been living in my third family for the last few months. They have two daughters, one studying fashion in London and one working in Prague, who both visit regularly. Today however I am moving my things for the last time to spend the end of my exchange living once again with my first host family.  I spent the first five months of my exchange with them, and their apartment is what feels like my truest Slovak home. It seems right to finish this journey there where it began. 

Spring has been here for a few weeks now. The weather is nice enough that I can once again go by bike around town, to school and after school activities and get together with friends. Everyday on my way to school I pass my favorite bakery and cafe in town, so if I have a little extra time I buy myself a pastry and espresso in the morning (I have managed to master the art of biking with a cup of coffee in one hand!).  

There is so much more I could say but I don't want this letter to be too long. My blog is sadly behind right now - there just hasn't been enough time to stop having new experiences for long enough to write about them!  I hope to fill it in sooner or later however. 

As always, I am forever grateful for having had this opportunity. 

Best,

Emily