 Hey!
I’m Bianca Santos, I’m Brazilian and just turned 16 years
old. It feels very good to say that I’m an exchange student. This is a real
dream… I can’t even remember when I decided that I wanted to be on an
exchange program.
I was born in Salvador –Bahia, and I absolutely love it!
It’s a hot and really big city with lots of great beaches! My house is not
soooooo big, but there’s more than enough room for my parents, my little
brother, my cousin and I.
I come from a very big family and we do almost everything
together. Every Sunday, for example, my aunts, uncles, and us (people from
my house) go to my grandparent’s home for lunch. So, hanging or going out
with my family is one of the things that I like to do.
I also enjoy reading and watching movies. TV, movies,
that’s really something I love! I also try to spend as much time as I can
with my friends. Well, of course all this was in Brazil…
This year’s been pretty busy for me. I just moved to a new
school, got into High School, and now I’m in Florida!!!
Here in Florida, I also like movies, reading… And gladly I
still get to hang with my family, my new family, and that’s something I
really like. I can also say that I went out a few times with my host
brothers’ friends (which are kinda my friends now), and it was really fun.
I hope I can show a little bit of Brazil to people around
here… They have so much to offer me, I just hope I can give back as much as
I’m taking. This will for sure be a really fun year! I’m already loving it. |
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It was the second last week of July, I was leaving school and I
got a call from my mom. She was crying and saying that she made a mistake at the
agency and bought the tickets to USA for August 3rd (when we had everything
planned for August 9th). So there was I completely fricked! I only had 13 days
left in Brazil. I just wasn’t ready to go yet! Things to shop, places to go,
people to see! So I just stopped going to school so I could get everything ready
in time. I planned a very busy schedule for every single day of the last week. I
had to go shopping for clothes for me, gifts for my hosts, I didn’t even have a
bag to travel! Hahahahaha. Anyway, my boyfriend and I went all over the city
doing all kinds of things (by bus, of course!) and saying goodbye to all the
places I wouldn’t see for a year.
August the 1st (Friday) was my birthday. The party would
be on the next day, so…… My parents forgot my birthday. Yeah, that was bad.
I didn’t say anything just to see how long it would take for them to
remember it. I went to the school to say goodbye to my friends and to pick
up my boyfriend. We both went to my house, and my parents still didn’t
remember anything! So I went to my friend’s house, Amanda, (with my
boyfriend) and other 3 friends of mine were there cooking a cake and
brigadeiro (Brazilian candy) for my birthday! It was REALLY fun! It was a
really good birthday, after all. Finally, at the end of the day both of my
parents had remembered and were feeling very guilty, which was great, cause
now I could ask for more stuff! That night my father’s side of family
arrived at my home for the party on the next day, they live in another city.
The party was really nice! I had a great time. All my
friends and family were there, and it was just a very simple thing, just so
I could say goodbye to everybody. I couldn’t believe I was leaving on the
next day! I couldn’t believe my life was about to change for ever.
I woke up early on the next day. Finished packing, and
soon we were at the airport. There were so many people there to take me!
First my family and boyfriend (20 people), and then 10 of my friends arrived
at the airport! Even my old teacher was there. So, there were 30 people,
just to take ONE person! My friends, of course, had something planned for
me: They put me on the luggage car and threw all this colorful stuff on my
head, and took me all around the airport, dressed like that, screaming and
laughing. It was really funny! Then the time was up. I had to go. Everybody
started crying, and, for the first time, I cried too. As I walked toward the
gate, my friends yelled at me and when I turned back at them they had all
those posters with all kinds of sweet things written on them. I cried
soooooooooooooo hard! I didn’t think I could do that. I ran into the gate as
fast as I could, so I wouldn’t give up. I just wanted more time with them. I
still cried for a while on the other side of the gate.
Then, I realized that I should be on the plane minutes
ago, and the line just wasn’t moving. So they announced that my flight was
late. We only flied four hours later!!! That flight was until Sao Paulo, my
father was waiting for me there, he wanted to take me all the way to
Florida, but gladly Rotary said no! So he just got satisfied when he
required the accompany service. Thanks to that when I got to Miami I had to
stay in a room with cartoon paintings on the walls and toys all over the
floor… and MOUSES! Yeah… pretty boring! But I didn’t stay there for too
long. Anyway, hours later I was in Fort Myers.
My host family was waiting for me there with balloons and
posters to welcome me. I felt so good to see them! My host parents, two of
my host brothers and my counselor and Mrs. Cindy Doragh the district
chairperson and other people… After a few minutes taking care of papers at
the airport I went home with my new mom, and my new brothers.
I love my room!!!!!!!!!! I have my own computer and a TV!
Actually I have a whole floor, cause my ‘brother’ Stephan is going to
college and it’s gonna be just me in the floor. It was a great first day, I
was tired from the flight but it felt so good to be with them. I tried
peanut butter! And I watched my host brothers playing ping pong. Later my
host dad came home and we had a nice dinner. And after dinner, my host mom
got a giant cookie that said “Welcome and Happy Birthday Bianca”. It was
sooooo nice of them! And it tasted really good too. And that’s how my
adventure began.
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Bianca "Bia" Santos
