Karine Andrade

2004-05 Inbound from Brazil

Date of Birth: November 18, 1987
Hometown: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Sponsor: Bahia Rotary Club, District 4550, Brazil

Host: Mandarin Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida USA
School: Mandarin High School

Karine's Bio

I have always wished to live abroad at some point in my life, and the Rotary Club of Mandarin District 6970 is giving me the opportunity to do so as an exchange student at the age of 16. My name is Karine Andrade, and I come from Salvador, a city in the Northeast of Brazil.

Salvador is on the coast, and has beautiful paradisiacal beaches and opulent historical monuments, houses and churches. Salvador exhales culture. It has one of the best carnivals and most known singers of Brazil. I live at the center of the city with my family in an apartment with my father, Emerson, my mother, Odete, and sister Natalia. I miss them and all the other members of my family, and I know that I will eventually miss all of them even more as time goes by.

Although I long for them once in awhile, the desire to see the world through another perspective, and to go in an adventure that would allow me to grow up becoming more independent, mature and knowledgeable about a different culture made me determined to become an exchange student. The thought of living in a new environment, with a new family, new friends, new school and new culture had indeed been developing in my mind for a considerable amount time, but I have to confess one thing. Not even in my sweetest dreams had I envisioned such a rich and joyful experience.

Thanks

Karine 

September 26 Journal

On the 17^th, the Summer Village initiated. This time I participated as a Junior Counselor, because I had participated before in such a camp when I was eleven in New Zealand as a camper myself. It was an extremely rich experience, which I have always treasured. To live, for a month, with 12 delegations from different countries is always an indescribable happening. All together there were 48 kids, from 12 different nations, 12 leaders 21 or above years old, 6 junior counselors of 16 or 17 years old with different nationalities, and the staff, six adults, above 21 years from other locations of the world. Learning a little about the culture, customs, and developing friendships with people apparently so different fascinates me. I love it!!!

After the Village ended on July 15, I had a bit agitated period until the 25^th when I would actually start the year of my life, of my exchange. During this ten day period which I spent in several different houses here in Jacksonville, I got to know several people, and undoubtedly perceive that the people here are very good hosts, for I was always warmly received by every family I lived with. As I could not say, a very BIG Thank You for the Divertie’s, Young’s, Kalter’s and Gulliford’s.

Through out this period, I had the opportunity to get to know better the president our Rotary Club of Mandarin, Mr. Bill Gulliford and his wife Harriet for a week. They are very sweet. I had the impression I already knew them for years. I became very fond of Harriet. We were always in the same wavelength, despite our difference of age. It is great that we still talk on the phone. I also got to know their daughter, Catherine who was very fun. You are all in my heart, not only because at your house I could have as much ice cream and that key lime, hum…delicious, as much as I wished, but because I truly adore you all!

And it does not stop, I was also at Al’s house, yes, it is really him who I talk about, our dear Al Kalter. His family is really nice. His wife, Sue, is very kind. His daughter, Kate, is very very very cool. She is a great friend. I have gone out with her and her other friend also called Katie sometimes, and we had a great time. What can I say about Al to those who do not know him? People, Al is incredible. I never told him that, and I hope he does not get mad at me, but every time, I look at him is as if I was facing a genie; one of those genies who lives inside a lamp, who we can make a wish and they will grant it to us. Being part of this exchange has always been what I ever wanted, Al. Genially, with much competence, intelligence and dedication of much of his time, he has been, in that best way possible, making this dream come true to all of us exchange students. I cannot leave out from my diary a SUPER THANK YOU.

Finally, on the 25^th, Mr. Lindell and little Sarah picked me up. I was very anxious to meet the whole family. When I arrived at my new home, the entire family was there waiting to welcome me. I am now living at a neighborhood called Mandarin. My host dad is Mr. Michael Lindell, and my host mother is Mrs. Deborah Lindell. They have four children: the nineteen-year-old twins, Jennifer and Brant, an eleven-year-old boy, David, and little Sarah, who is seven. I am really lucky; my host family is WONDERFUL! The family is great.

Everyday when I arrive home, my host mom asks me how was my day in school. She is very sweet. She makes sure to let me know that I am like one of her children while I am in the States by giving me advice, hugs and love when I need. She is a great cook. She has knows how to make delicious pies. She taught me how to do Pecan Pie. Pecan Pie is my Brazilian mom’s favorite. I cannot wait to go home and cook Mrs. Lindell's contest winning recipe. Wait for me, people in Brazil. This pie is going to be a success! 

My host dad, like me, also enjoys very much going to the gym. One of the things we do together as a family is to work out. He took me another day to a spinning class, and now I am part of a volleyball team in the YMCA. One of the members of my host Rotary club, Alan Vinson, invited me to play in his team. It has been fun. I am excited about our first tournament.

I pick-up calls from girls for my eleven year old brother, and it's always fun to say x number of girls called you today. Sarah is always giving me hugs. She is extremely cute and funny. Brant is very cool. I always call him when I need help, and he is willing to help me out. Jennifer is very pretty and I love talking to her. I am sleeping in her bedroom.  She has her own place now that she is in college. I have to say that I love this family.

August was a great month. Everything and everyone is new. I am so excited about school. It is still warm. I got to meet the other exchange students. I am in the process of adaptation to real life in America.

On the 2^nd I went to the Warped Tour with Kate Kalter and her friends. I have never been to a Warped Tour before. It was quite an adventure. It was a whole day concert with many punk and rock bands. There were all sorts of people there. Some were covered with piercing, others had odd hair colors, but all jumped and made the sign for hard rock when the bands performed. There were people “surfing” on the crowd. There were mosh pits, in which people would run and bump into one another for fun. I would admit trying that if I could be certain my parents were not going to read this diary. It was great, and I found out that I really like a band from Jacksonville called Yellowcard.

My school began August 9^th. School is very different. I am studying at Mandarin High. It has four thousand students. I used to study in a private American school with four hundred fifty kids from pre-school to senior year in Salvador. There are so many kids my age at Mandarin. The first day of school I felt like one of those movie characters that are run over in the hallway, but now I know my way in the school and I am starting to make friends. On second day of school, I was in the main office when an upset mother slapped the secretary on the face. I was a little scared, but now I laugh about what happened. Can you imagine the scene? Now I am already used to the school, and my class routines. My favorite subjects in school are American Government and French. Although some are honors, I am being able to do well in my classes. A girl from my neighborhood and grade called Alexandra Hughes gives me ride to and from school everyday. It is awesome how one of my friends can drive. In Brazil, a driving license is only granted when you are eighteen years old or older. It is fun driving with Allie and listening American country music at the maximum volume. Allie invited me to be part of a club in which she is secretary called Junior Ladies. The Junior Ladies is a club developed to help the school community and for the girls to socialize. We are planning on customizing pink shirts, and wear them once a week. I also cannot wait to be part of the Interact club in my school. It is a community service club sponsored by Rotary. It is a pleasure to go to school here everyday.

This month we had our first orientation weekend where I finally had the opportunity to meet the other exchange students. When I was in my district in Brazil, I observed how the foreign exchange students shared a very strong relationship. It was no different here. Since the very first day, every one had a very good feeling for those other teenagers who had decided to embark in the same voyage to an unfamiliar country, culture and household. The first orientation was a magical moment. We were very excited to get to know one another, and to hear about the different countries. We were so excited that we got in trouble for going to bed after our curfew…oops. Our district youth exchange committee prepared activities to explain us the rules and expectations of the program, and to integrate the exchange students. (As if, we needed help to integrate ourselves). We did some interesting activities at the Montgomery Camp. My favorite was the rappel route. Even though I started to feel dizzy and scared of fainting from a considerable height, it was all worth it when I was pushed down attached to the rope. It felt like flying. By Sunday afternoon we were all friends, and we were very sorry that the camp was over, and we had to leave, but all of us exchange students have been in touch and going out together to the movies.

My host family had hosted an exchange student from Thailand two years ago. It was very interesting that one of my best exchange student friends is Elle. Elle is an exchange student from Thailand. She is one of the funniest people I have ever met. We always have fun together, even though we look and have such opposite cultures. I invited her to come to my house for a sleep over. We constantly check on one another and arrange to go out together.

The Rotary people are great. Mr. Larry Murr and Mr. Robert Overly are very nice counselors, but I have not needed to contact them for help. Everything is doing great!

September started with very sad news, my host father’s father, my host grandfather, died. I did not have a chance to know him really well, but for what I did I could see that he was a very cultured man with a great interest in the world. He had traveled much, including to Brazil. He gave me his card in case I needed anything. It was not an easy time for my host family. I tried distracting my little host sister from all the suffering, and helping out as I could. I attended the funeral. I noticed some differences, such as the testimony of friends and the serving of food in American funerals. I wish to register here that I am very sorry for the lost of my host grandfather.

When I decided to come to Florida, I knew I had the chance of having to face one hurricane, but not this many. It seems like my presence here attracted all of these hurricanes. One of my friends from school accuses me to be responsible, because there have never been so many hurricanes in a season such as this one. Charley, Frances, and Jeanne are some of the friends I made in America. During Frances, I spent four days with no electricity. It was quite fun. We had flashlights. My host siblings and I would play hide and seek in the dark. Of course, I was glad to have electricity by the fourth day. I hope we do not loose electricity in this one.

This month I did a speech about my experiences as an exchange student to a Rotaract group downtown. Elle and Luisa were also there. All seemed to have liked our speeches, and revealed much interest on our countries and culture. The Rotaract President and his wife invited us to go to the Jessica Simpson concert for the Super Bowl, but we did not make it on time. We ended up having a very nice dinner in a Tex-Mex restaurant.

This month I went to my first football game: Mandarin vs. Jackson. Mandarin lost, but I had fun. I learned that football games are a great way to socialize. You meet new people as you cheer.

This last Friday I planned to go to the movies with a friend from my French class, but when I arrived I did not find her. Soon I met other people from school. Different cliques invited me to hang out with them. I felt very popular, and glad to know that I had been making friends in these first month and a half at Mandarin. After the movie, I found my friend from m French class. We had dinner together.

This Saturday my host family and I went to the Imax Theater to watch the movie on Luis and Clark journey to the American west coast. Later on the day, my host dad told me he had signed up me for a race. We raced for the Baptist Cancer Center. My little sister also went. My host Dad really ran. I stayed with Sarah. She got a little tired so we horse back ride for a while. I really did some exercise. I love family days like this!

I really feel at home here, my host family is wonderful. I help them out with house chores. I am very happy to help as I can, because I know everyone in the family must do a little to help. I have helped them organize the food storage closet, the refrigerator, etc. I have also helped my little sister in her homework. I was very touched to hear from Mrs. Lindell that Sarah said that she does not want me to go back to Brazil.

This month unfortunately Livi was very sick. I just want to tell her never to let us worry like that again, and that I am really happy that she has recovered. Soon we will be able to go out together and have fun!

The first couple of days in which I realized that I was not in a long vacation, I wondered, “What am I doing here? I have a family, friends and school of my own.” But soon I came to understand that I am one of those lucky people called exchange students who have two lives. Today, I truly feel like a part of the Lindell family, a Mandarin High School Mustang, and a Floridian. I will enjoy my time here as much as I can, because I know that it will be very hard for me when the day to say good-bye arrives. Keep on reading my diaries. See you in the next one.

I love y’all,

Karine

February 27 Journal

WOW! This is the best American expression to summarize my foreign exchange for the months of October to the end of February. I just have to say… Wow, I have never experienced so many new things and learned so much! Wow, my feelings have never been more intense! Wow, time has never gone by so fast! Wow, I feel so alive!

I cannot complain; life has been pretty grand.

In October when I was supposed to be going down in the exchange student cycle of excitement, that is the exchange student emotional roller coaster, I was still super happy and content with my life here. I had a trip to Washington DC to look forward to. My first host dad, Mr. Lindell, was going to attend an international conference of Christian lawyers in the capital, and he, so generously, decided to take the whole family, including me, of course, along. We spent almost a week in D.C. The Lindells made sure to show me all of the important historical monuments. I was very excited. It was my first time in Washington. I had only known the White House and the Lincoln Memorial from the news and history classes. In our trip I was able to see them with my own eyes, and learn a lot about this amazing country, new people and myself.

It was also a week before elections, and D.C. was rolling. Democrats and Republicans were publicly expressing their choice for the next term’s presidency. I had the opportunity to be in that environment and learn a bit about American politics. In Brazil, I had superficially thought about the Democratic and Republican ideas for American foreign policy. Being in Washington D.C. and in the US made me aware of their domestic policies, and to better understand American politics as a whole. During the elections, my American family and friends constantly asked me about my political views and which party I would support if I was an American myself. Well, tough questions, and by reading the exchange student book back home, I learned that with Americans one does not discuss religion or politics. I will just leave it as a secret that I will never reveal. After all, my first American family members are Republicans and my second family members are Democrats. I’ll never tell…

Another interesting thing about this trip was that I was able to participate in the International Conference of Christian lawyers. There I talked to lawyers from France, South America and Africa. I even became a bit inclined to change my decision of going to medical school. The conference’s lawyers and getting to know Mr. Lindell made me realize that there are many righteous lawyers in the world.

In Washington D.C., I was able to bond even more with my first host family. One night, all of us went to the lobby to listen to alive jazz. I have great memories of dancing with the Lindells and having a lovely time.

When I came home from Washington I was feeling great and still very motivated to keep trying hard in school. In November, I became really sad for the first time. “No one is iron,” is an old Brazilian saying that means that all of us are not made of a solid metal resistant to whatever it may come our way. We are human beings with emotions and very soft and delicate hearts; and therefore, becoming very emotional at some point in my exchange year was more than natural and expected. My sister’s birthday is November 7th, and it was on that day that I had my little breakdown. At that point, it had already been more than five months since I had left home. I was missing my family immensely. I wanted very badly to be part of my sister’s birthday celebration. At the same time, I also knew that she was applying to be a foreign exchange student, and that made me realize that I wouldn’t be living with her for more than two years. Even though I loved my life here, I missed my home and my family more than I have ever felt before in my life. I will not lie; many tears did drop down my cheeks. But I had to face it, the Lindells were just so wonderful, and I would feel even worst if I hurt their feeling because I was crying. They were trying their best to make my exchange year a fairy tale. They helped me with whatever I needed, and made sure to take me to little family trips around Northeast Florida and South Georgia that I will always keep in my memory and treasure. And by the way, I have to confess you guys something, my exchange year has been a real life fairy tale with a bit of drama, heroes and a lot of fraternal and paternal type love. Since I always feel better when I wake up, I decided to go to sleep. I slept for 13 hours. No kidding. The 13 hours of sleep + listening to country music + praying helped me immensely, and soon I was back to my normal state.

By mid November I was very very very happy. It was my birthday!!! On the eighteenth, I missed school and received many flowers. I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Gulliford for the bouquet and card. I went out for dinner with my host family. We went out to a very cool restaurant with a live music. My host mother’s best friend, Jessica, gave me a very big and beautiful cake. The next day I celebrated my birthday again, but this time with my fellow exchange student friends at Hops. Pierre, the French exchange student and my very dear friend, and I shared a birthday party. His birthday is actually on the 20th. All of us enjoyed each other's company, and Pierre and I blew our candles after our international friends sang happy birthday. (I want to thank everyone for showing up, the presents and making my birthday in America memorable, especially Pierre’s host parents).

December was a blast. In the beginning of December, I was a bit stressed with all of my exams going on. I was studying a lot and eating some brownies to compensate for the energy my neurons were spending with all that studying. I ended up doing very well in my exams, and needing to go in a diet during winter break. But everything was ok, even though I was a bit apprehensive. I always read in exchange student’s journal that they feel down during the holidays. And I supposedly, not only would I be a little bit down and away from my own family, but also away from my first host family, who I had learned do love very dearly. Yes, I was moving to a second host family. A week before school was over I had the chance to meet them. The Fletchers seemed to be an excellent family too. They had a four year old boy called Cole, and two teenage boys, Michael, 16, and Andrew, 17. They also had a daughter Morgan who is 14, and who I would be sharing a room. By going out with them to one of Mike’s basketball games and dinner, I felt like Mr. Dave and Mrs. Charlie were very cool parents. My siblings were nice and fun, and that the entire family had a great sense of humor.

I was still kind of apprehensive to move before Christmas, but I thought to myself, “Come on, you are Karine Andrade and you moved from home to experience new things and meet new people.” I ended up moving in with the Fletchers on the 19th of December. They were very sweet and welcomed me with open arms and hearts. Morgen was the best roommate ever. She helped me unpack and constantly asked me if she could by any chance do something to make my transition easier. She was pretty excited of having one more girl in the house other than her step mom, and so was I to have a sister to have girl talks with before going to bed.

From the 20th to the 24th, I was able to meet the entire Fletcher family. It was fun going to Grandma and Grandpa Fletcher’s house and hanging out with Morgen and her cousins. We had sleepovers and baked thousands and thousands of Christmas cookies. Dave would ask me every now and then, “Do you like my family? Aren’t they great?” There was no way of not falling in love with that family too. I was very happy during Christmas. My homesickness was definitely not in my way. Everything was great. We went as a family to a Christmas Eve party and at five o’clock of the 25th Cole dashed into Morgen’s room and woke us up to say, “Santa has been here.” We went downstairs to find our stockings filled with gifts. Under the tree there were even more gifts to be opened. I was surprised with the number of gifts Americans buy for their family and friends. In a consumerist society, Christmas is indeed celebrated. I got a bunch of presents from my two host families. Things like a pink Gap sweater and silk scarf, movie passes, money from host grandparents, a puzzle, a snoopy calendar, silver earrings, Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, millions of cards, etc. I also received a box from my parents in Brazil with many Christmas presents. Thank you everybody!

The New Years Celebration was really fun. Imagine all of the exchange students together again in a sleep over. It is always fun. We always have fun when we are together. Jacksonville does not have the Rose Parade like California, but it has a parade in the last afternoon of the year. The Rotary was part of this parade, and we the exchange students joined in the fun each carrying his or her country’s flag. Then we went to the Landing. Jacksonville’s Landing is a place with several restaurants and bars near the river. There we danced to some band playing for the special occasion, New Years of course. For the countdown we were already in the living room of a very generous Rotarian family who hosted our New Years party and sleep over. In the name of all exchange students, I would like to thank Audrey and her parents for the hospitality. We danced all night with Luca, the fabulous Italian DJ.

School was back January 3rd. Can you believe that? Neither could I. But I can assure you I was there ready to go on with my junior year. In Brazil, it was summer and school would only start in the beginning of February after carnival. I just kept reminding myself that school here will end in May and in Brazil the semester will only be over a month later. In January, I was already adapted to my new host family. I now had new subjects in school such as Chemistry Honors, American History, and French III. The other subjects remained the same. I have now a new ride to school. Brittany is very nice and so is her best friend Eden. I now consider Eden and Brittany two of my good friends too. I love hanging out with them

February was the most exciting month of the year for Jacksonville. They were hosting the Super Bowl. I do not really get American football, but I sure enjoyed the party. The whole city was happy for the event. My host parents took me to NFL Experience. NFL Experience was an area downtown with many games and merchandise related to the football league. My host parents hosted a party for 35 people. Many of my brother’s and sister’s friends came to it, making the party even more fun. The party was very cool. Everybody liked it. In February I also decided to join the track team, but after a couple of weeks of intense training my left leg is hurting. I hope it gets better, because I was really enjoying that.

That’s all for now folks. I hope you enjoyed being a little bit part of my exchange year by reading my journal. Once again I would like to thank the people from my Brazilian district, Mr. David Ferrell and Mr. Clovis Ribeiro, and everyone from my district in America for helping me make my dream of being a foreign exchange student true.

For all of you people out there that are dreaming to be a foreign exchange student better learn the expression "wow" now since you will eventually being using it a lot pretty soon. For those of you who wish to live life with few wows, I can just say: sorry. Wows make life wonderful somehow.

July 9 Journal

My last entry.

One thing that was not easy for me to do this year was to keep up with my journal. There was so much to do, see and think about that I found hard to just keep it cool for a couple of hours and jot down my experiences. Everyday was filled with new opportunities of memorable adventures and I was just not willing to sit in front of the computer. Now, that I am back home and to my routine and had time to digest all I lived in America, I find the perfect chance to share with all of you a bit of my life.

The second semester of my exchange was very different than the first. I do not mean that it was better or worst, just different. By the second semester I felt like I should be completely adapted, but I was hit hard by homesickness. As a result, I had to come up with several strategies to overcome that. These strategies included: working out, listening to music, e-mailing my family, watching MTV and anything else that kept me busy.

Ok, let me tell you my story in a chronological order. After the Super Bowl on February, I was still living with the Fletchers and everything was going great. They invited me to join them in their Spring Break skiing trip. How could I say no to a skiing trip? I had never skied before, and that would be the best debut: to learn how to ski at Park City with my host family. The trip was awesome!!! I took classes and my host sister Morgen became my official guide down the slopes of Deer Valley. At the end of the week I was even able to do some blue slopes. We also had lots of fun going shopping at the town center and dinning at a very nice restaurant. We also went hunting for Easter eggs and got presents from our host parents whom my four year old host brother was fooled to think was the Easter bunny. The best thing of the trip though was that it made me completely part of the family. I felt even closer to my host family after the trip.

The week after I came back from the ski trip I moved to my third host family. I always knew I would have a third host family, but I was so attached to my second host family that it was hard to let go. It was the same feeling I had when I left the Lindell’s, my first host family. It is always hard to say goodbye and to realize that you will never have that same degree of parent, brother and sister hood with that family once you stop living with them. I know that none of my host families will ever see me as a stranger, but it is inevitable that we loose some of that intimacy of those that see one another everyday.

I did not feel very apprehensive about moving, because I had already met my next host dad, Larry, a member of the Mandarin Rotary Club and Monica, his wife. They were wonderful with me and made it all very easy.

For the first time I was an only child. Isn’t that cool? I loved it! Monica and Larry have two sons, but they are all grown man who does not live with their parents. So, I was the only “kid” around. I was sooooo spoiled, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Monica is the best cook in the world, and she could even make healthy food taste good. Larry always had a joke, and I love to laugh. They were great host parents and I love and admire them a lot.

I realized that the time to go home was near at the exchange students’ last Orientation in Gainesville. Even though we were all very very very sad to give each other the final hugs and goodbyes, all of us kind of understood that we should have as much fun as possible during that weekend in order to save it in our memory and hearts. During that weekend, we went in a boat trip in the Gulf of Mexico. I will never forget those cheeseburgers and the smiles on everyone’s faces.

The last week of my exchange was marked with lots of studying for finals. It was definitely the busiest week of my life. I packed more than I have ever packed. I cried more than I have ever cried. I gave more hugs than I have ever had. And I said I hope I see you soon more than I have ever said.

I see the end of my exchange year as the end of a circle, the conclusion of an adventure, the end of a successful school year, and the beginning of endless friendships.

Coming back home was very interesting too. I felt like I was going home to take over the life of another Karine completely different from the Karine I know now. When I saw my family at first all of them were really excited. My dad took pictures of the historical moment as my sister and mother hugged me. They hugged me as if they were testing if our hugs felt the same. It seemed like they wanted to check if that was the real Karine who they had hugged goodbyes to a year ago or some sort of a clone. The amazing thing to me was that they had not changed at all, and neither had our relationship. As a matter of fact, I believe that my experience as an exchange student only enhanced this relationship that I have always viewed as solid. After unpacking my heavy bags and waking up on my bed on the next morning, I realized that I was really home.

It was then time to restart my life in Brazil. Since I got home, I have gone out to several places with my friends. During my first week I felt like I was resuscitating after being dead for a year, but now I don’t feel like that anymore. I feel very active and present in the life of my friends. Yes, they forgot about me for a year, but I indeed made sure they reminded me once I was home.

One thing that many of those that knew me during my exchange might remember is my constant complaining of my weight. Well, this problem is now solved. The day after I got home I became a member of Salvador’s coolest gym. I have been dancing, jumping, lifting weights, doing sit ups and running everyday. Did you hear that Mr. Lindell? I am running. During my exchange, my first host dad introduced me to running, and I became a bit addicted to it. I have to this point lost seven kilograms since my arrival, that would be approximately fifteen pounds, and I feel ready to engage on my city’s next fashion week.

Once again I would like to thank very much everyone that made my exchange possible and was part of it: Mr. David Ferrell, Clovis, Al Kalter, Sue, Kate, Bill Gulliford, Harriet, Larry Murr, Monica, Mr. Lindell, Mrs. Lindell, Dave, Charlie, Sarah, Brent, Jennifer, David, Michael, Andrew, Cole, Morgen, Josh, Sam, Brittany, Eden, Jennifer L, Mr. Barker, Mrs. Barker, Alan Vincent, Doctor McKay, Doctor Mrs. McKay, all the members of the Mandarin Rotary Club and our district, all my teachers and classmates at Mandarin, Interact, French Club, Junior Girls,

and my exchange student friends that I will always have in my heart:
Elle
Carlo
Hanna
Christopher
Rafaela
Ema
Asya
Mark
Luca
Gokhan
Tom
Javier
Ruth
Rikki
Bruninho
Nick
Aya
Pierre
Stella
Miwa
Luisa
Vicky
Tibor
Livi

and all others (I am sure that I must have left someone out). Love you all.

My advice for future exchange students:

1. Live every day of your exchange as if it was your last
2. Love your host family as if it was your own (specially your host mom, because you will sure need a mother to hold your hand through this adventure)
3. Go to Church with your host family, even though you do not share the same religion, because there you can make friends, find emotional support and really learn how to respect other beliefs
4. Be in touch with the other exchange students, since they are going through the same experience as you are and are desperate for friends
5. Go to as many Rotary meetings as possible. They are fun and you will feel welcomed and at home. It is almost like having another host family.
6. Be yourself, but be willing to learn
7. And smile because you probably are lucky to be at this moment a Rotary exchange student

I am now hosting my second host sister Morgen, and my family and I are having a blast. On the 25th, I will be welcoming my new American sister Jessie to my home. It is now my pleasure to be a host. Next month, my younger sister is going to be a foreign exchange student to Vancouver. I feel privileged to see my sister start the most exciting and fantastic circle of her life.

Keep in touch!

Me, before going out with my friends	My speech to future Rotary exchange students in Salvador
Morgen and I leaving a cafe My mom and my sister Natalia		View from my balcony