This week, we have an update from one of our 2017–2018 outgoing Youth Exchange students. Holly Caboti-Jones is studying in Brazil this school year. Here are excerpts from her correspondence: Right now I’ve been in Brazil for a month and a half but it feels like I’ve been living here my whole life! In such a short time I have changed so much and done things I couldn’t even imagine before coming here.
Click on the link below for more on Holly's time in Brazil...
My family is so kind to me and I truly feel at home with them. I also really love my school and class mates who definitely are to thank for helping me reach fluency in Portuguese! I am the only exchange student and gringo in my city so English speakers are hard to come by, but on the bright side I feel like I’m having a true immersion into Brazil.
My day to day life is very active and I rarely stop unless it’s for napping after lunch time- something typical and much needed after 6 to 10 (depending on the day) rigorous hours of school. I participate in Rotary every Wednesday and Interact every Friday, volunteer at an English school called FISK, and play tennis twice a week. I also have really fallen in love with walking, especially since this town is so small everything is starting to become more familiar as time goes on.
The people I have met here are some of the kindest and most patient humans I have ever met. Whenever I don’t understand a word they go out of their way to find other words around it to make sure I know, they are always teaching me new expressions and phrases. Even though Mato Grosso is one of the less known about and less traveled to districts in Brazil, I would definitely consider it a diamond in the rough. Even though our roads are awful and our wifi is so bad I can barely send emails, Mato Grosso has some of the most beautiful nature I’ve ever seen in my life. Just two weeks ago I went to the Pantanal and all it took was a 3-hour car ride. I’ve come within inches of alligators, pet monkeys and even fished a piranha during my time there—life has been wild.
Mike Kallas is on the Youth Exchange Committee and is the Rotarian counselor assigned to Holly this year.