Marcelo Naranjo

2007-08 Inbound from Ecuador

Hometown: Ambato, Ecuador

Sponsor: Ambato Rotary Club, District 4400, Ecuador

Host: Orange Park Sunrise Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Fleming Island High School

Marcelo's Bio

Hello! I am Marcelo Naranjo from Ecuador. I am 17 years old (almost 18 in September), I am from Ambato, a city that is not small but not big, 2 hours in car from Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

My city Is a very commercial place, also is called the "flowers and fruits city" because here you can find all types of fruits and beautiful flowers.

I enjoy all the sports, especially the ones that are with bikes. I love jumping with my bikes and going down the mountains getting dirty. I also like swimming to have a a healthful body, but I enjoy playing all the sports. But I'm not good playing soccer, that is a very famous sport in my country and in all South America.

Getting my exchange was a little hard because you have to fill out many papers and run to many doctors, but it is the best experience in my life because you meet many new places, you make many new friends of all around US and the world - now I have friends from Austria, India, Japan, Germany, and more.

I live in Orange Park Florida with a very good family. I am attending Fleming Island high School. I am in the team of cross country that is running all the days, about 6 miles or sometimes more. One thing that is very different here in the US is that all is bigger and their favorite food is pizza, hamburgers, and ice cream (but I like it).

One thing - try not to lose your accent because here the girls get crazy when they hear that you are an exchange student and when they hear how you talk!

September Journal

Hola!

Hi, this is my first journal. I hope you like it.

My first days here in the USA were crazy...because I arrived one week before the high school starts so all the days we where going to the doctor, and to the high school running to get all the papers and forms ready.

My first Sunday here in Florida was very good, we had a little party with my family, my counselor, my third host family and some Rotary members, it was very good because I met Gustav the son of my counselor, he is now an exchange student in Ecuador, he left one week after I arrived, but he introduced me his friends that they are very funny.

Sports!

I was not expecting this...here the sports are a very big thing for the people specially the football, all the games are very funny because you are with your friends, you can talk and enjoy eating peanuts, and after go with your friends to eat pizza and play video games (I was very bad in video games, especially guitar hero and halo 3, but now I am getting better). Also ... I practice cross country here in my high school, basically it is running many miles, and is very hard, my first day I was very tired, we went to the practice with Gustav, and we ran 3 miles, after that I was feeling like I was going to die, and I had many blisters in my feet, but after many weeks of training (and blisters) I am getting better.

School

The school here in USA is different from the school in my country, my first day of school was very good, I met many good people and friends all the day like 20 people (and I only remember 2 or 3 names), now many people in the high school know me (and many girls).

I like going to the meetings of my Rotary Club because they are very funny and interesting (and I miss my first 2 periods in the high school).

Homecoming week

This had been a very funny week because homecoming is about to dress with a theme all the days, all the days were crazy, watching people dressed like Michael Jackson and of KISS, then Thursday was the parade and the gold rush, it was very good, it's something new that I've never had in my country, so I enjoy all the activities of the high school, and finally the Saturday the homecoming dance, with Tie, I really enjoy dance.

I hope you enjoyed it.

See you next time,

Marcelo

October 18 Journal

Hello again!

I went to North Carolina to meet my host sister, she lives there because she studies in in the University of North Carolina Wilmington, it was a great weekend, she is very funny.

After 2 months here in the US I'm loving the waffles and the nutella (chocolate), and especially eating all the pizza and soda you can for seven dollars. Maybe you are thinking that after all that food I'm with many pounds more! But you are wrong, I came from Ecuador with 130 pounds and I continue with 130(running really works).

My birthday was September 26, I had a great day, now I have an alarm that starts running and making sounds so I have to wake up.

Daytona!

The weekend of October 12-14 I went to Daytona with all the exchange students of the district, I really love these weekends because I have lots of fun with all the students from all around the world.

Friday, we arrived to Daytona and I saw all my friends of all the world, and it was really good, after we went to the house we were going to stay all the weekend with 3 other exchange students and we went to the October fest, a place with rides, many lights, and many junk foods like funnel cake (but this junk food is great).

Saturday, we went to the Kennedy Space Center (NASA), it was amazing all the things I saw, unfortunately I can't show you because I forgot my camera in the house where we were staying (bad luck) but I really had a great day, especially in the simulator of the NASA. After we went to a BBQ in the house of a Rotary member, then we went with 3 exchange students to the Iron Horse, a place where you can see many motorcycles, and people with tattoos.

Sunday, we went to the Winter Park Art Festival, to be honest It was boring to see that art, but it all gets better with friends. We went back in train to the cars and went back home.

See you next time.

PS: the next time I tell you about Halloween

Marcelo

February 4 Journal

Hi great people reading my journals

It has been 3 awesome months since I wrote the last journal so I have a lot to tell you this time, is hard to describe all the incredible feelings that the exchange year makes you feel, most of them are very happy feelings,

When I arrived to the United States I was thinking I'm going to be here one year, is going to be like forever, but with all the fun you have making new friends, discovering places you never thought they exist, you realize that one year is not enough, is a year that goes so fast.

Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving was something new for me, it is something very important in the United States, and is also a day that you eat a lot, like turkey, potatoes, and other things, you enjoy it with friends or family.

We went to Disney World with all the exchange students, it was awesome because the exchange students are the best friends you have when you are an exchange student because they are having the same experience as you.

We went for 4 days to the amazing parks of Disney World where everything was better with friends, it was my first time in Disney World so it was something that you can't imagine that exist.

After all this time in the United States now I can understand everything that the teacher says and I can talk to everyone, so that makes your days in the high school a little interesting because you can be part of the class and not someone that is sitting there wasting time.

Christmas was good but it was different, here the people get crazy and starts buying a lot of things 1 month before so if you want to buy technology you have to buy with time, but is a very happy holiday because you get a lot of presents (especially when you live in a family that has KIDS), you can have some happy times with family and friends.

New year was good, we were in a parade in Jacksonville, with all the exchange students and with flags of our countries, it was good to see all the people screaming and saying hello to you, after the parade we went with everyone to the house of a member of Rotary to party and wait for the new year, the new year in Ecuador is very different, we party in the street all the night until you are so tired that you cant move, but it was a good time with all the friends you have from many countries.

I went with friends from my high school to a place that you can swim with manatees, it was awesome to swim with a huge animal, and have fun with all your friends.

January 24

It was the best weekend ever, we went with all the exchange students to the keys (south of Florida), to a place called Seacamp, it was a long trip in a bus (10 hours in the bus), we stopped in a place that have dolphins, it was something great, watch that beautiful animals make tricks, after we left and arrived to the Seacamp, there we met people from other states and some girls from Russia, the next 2 days we went snorkeling, it was an experience that changes your life because you can see that under the water there is a complete different world.

The next month I'm maybe going to a place that sells the biggest cheeseburgers in the world, and maybe going to the mountains snowboarding.

See you next time,

Marcelo