October was one of the fastest months yet. I have started the busiest part of my exchange. I have lots of things planned that I am trying to do before I go back home and before the holidays.
At the beginning of October, we celebrated my host sister's birthday! She turned 19 and then I switched to my third and final host family the week after. Right now I don’t have any host siblings that live in the house. They are all adults and have kids of their own. The grandkids/my host nieces and nephews are all very young and have lots of energy. They always come ready to play and tire me out. The house is very nice and has a huge garden. My host parents have all kinds of trees and plants. They grow sweet potatoes, beans, oranges, lettuce, yellow plums, and more. They even have fresh pecans, macadamia nuts, peanuts, and cashews. I am currently living in the same neighborhood as my first host family. It’s not too far from the center of the city and some days after school or in the morning I run to the center of the city or somewhere in my neighborhood.
I have continued to play volleyball with the same team and recently we had a girls' volleyball tournament and we won! I have been having so much fun with my friends and volleyball teammates. My volleyball teammates truly are my best friends here. When I return to the US it will be difficult to say goodbye. I wish I could take them all back to the US with me. I genuinely think that they may be my hardest goodbyes. But until the time comes to go home I will continue playing, practicing, and enjoying my time with them.
Overall school has been going very well too. I understand almost everything in class (unless it’s physics or chemistry hahaha) but I have loved getting to know my teachers and classmates more throughout the year. My math teacher and my biology teacher are my favorites. I am never afraid to ask them questions about the subjects and they are kind to me too. Right now in my biology class, we are learning about genetics, and let me just say it is so much easier learning something for the second time. I don’t remember a lot about genetics but everything my teacher was saying made complete sense to me! The school year is coming to an end and while I am excited for summer and my plans it also reminds me that my exchange is coming to an end which is bittersweet on its own.
One more thing that went well was a trip I recently took at the end of October/beginning of November. Everything went well except for my flights which were a complete disaster. I had 3 flights canceled out of 4. On my way home I got to spend a night in Sao Paulo which was an experience on its own, hahaha. I traveled to Bonito with other Rotary exchange students and it was so much fun! Originally the trip was supposed to go to the Pantanal but the Pantanal unfortunately is burning due to a drought right now and the river is dry. I had the most amazing time meeting new people, seeing the wildlife, and relaxing. I got the chance to snorkel, hold a snake, horseback ride, swim in waterfalls, visit a cave, and even visit a children’s school.
One great thing about exchange is meeting new people and on this trip, I got to meet people from all around the world and sometimes even from your state. I met an exchange student from Illinois and we bonded over missing some Midwest casseroles. We plan to meet when he comes home and it will be nice to talk to someone in Portuguese who can relate to me as an exchange student. I also met an exchange student from Argentina. It was a little different because he didn’t speak a lot of English but I was able to get to know him well by speaking in Portuguese with him which was cool. Most of the exchange students just arrived a few months ago and so they are just beginning to learn but since Spanish and Portuguese are very similar he was able to learn enough to communicate with me very well. I love speaking Portuguese and I think when I return home I will miss it a lot.
Overall this month has been completely busy, fun, and just another reminder of how great exchange is. I am so grateful I took this opportunity to learn and grow. Exchange isn’t easy but it is 100% completely worth it. If I could do it all over again I would and it’s crazy that I’ve almost been gone for a year.
Till next time,
Julia
Here is a picture of me getting ready to serve during the tournament and thee other picture is me and my team after the tournament.
These are some of the pictures from my Bonito trip! We did a snake project and we all got to hold the snake. The snake decided she was camera shy and decided to coil around me and go up my backside. Normally, I would be scared of snakes but after learning more about them I am less scared. if one shows up in the garden back home, I will still scream and run away :) When we went snorkeling the water was clear and we saw so many different types of fish. The water was a little cold but it was so worth it! The rafting was so much fun too, there were small waterfalls and we fell, I fell a lot. (The guide decided to tip me off my raft about 6 times during the adventure.)
Here are some pictures of some views I got to see. Some are at the hotel we stayed at and others are when we were in nature. The blonde girl was one of my best friends from the trip. She is from Denmark and she is the sweetest person ever. The girl in the purple shirt was one of our chaperones. All of the employees with this company are former exchange students or travelers and she did her exchange in the US! She was so nice and I loved talking to her and the other chaperones.
