Tainá Magalhaes

2008-09 Inbound from Brazil

Hometown: Santa Cruz Cabrália, Bahia, Brazil

Sponsor: Santa Cruz Cabrália Rotary Club, District 4550, Brazil

Host: Port St. Lucie Sunset Rotary Club, District 6930, Florida, USA

School: Port St. Lucie High School, Port St. Lucie, FL

Bio

Tainá's Bio

Hi everybody!!! My name is Taina Magalhaes (Tai), 17, and I'm from Brazil. I'm from Bahia, that's a wonderful state in the Northeast of my country. I lived with my dad, my mom, and my sister, in a small town called St Cruz Cabralia, with 60,000 inhabitants. It's 10 minutes away from Porto Seguro - one of the most famous cities in my country.

In Bahia, we have the best (and biggest) Carnival of the world, the most beautiful beaches and a lot of good parties!! In Brazil, I really like to go out with friends or stay with my family anywhere. I love them!

I studied English for five years, and to be in United States is a great opportunity for me to improve my English and learn more about American culture. It's difficult to believe that now I'm an exchange student. It was always one of my dreams!

I arrived in Florida almost on August 3, and I'm very happy to be here :D Now, I'm living in Port St Lucie, that is a couple of hours from Miami. I'm a senior in Port St Lucie High School, a big school with more than 2,000 students. It's so different for me, because my school in Brazil has only 300 kids.

I already stayed with two different host families in this short time I'm here. My first host family was traveling, so my second family invited me to stay in their house for one week. It was a very good experience!

In United States, it's not easy to make friends. Everything is so different, and new for me. But I'm ready to face everything! I'm sure that this will be the best year of my life!!!

Thank you Rotary for giving me this amazing opportunity! I promise that I'll do my best.

October 18 Journal

Hello everybody,

I'm here in USA for almost two months and now I'm more accustomed with the differences between the Brazilian and the American culture.

My arrival here was something that I'll always remember. My host mom and dad were waiting for me in Miami Airport, and after an 8-hour flight, I met two of the nicest and special people.

I visited a lot of places with them. We went to the beach and I loved it. I saw a manatee the first time and a baby shark.

We have three little cute puppies, and now I've got a twin host brother and sister (Cassie and John). I'm so close to Cassie, and we are like real sisters. We can have fun doing everything, including washing the dishes. John is so different from me. I think that is because I never had a brother. But this is not a real problem, because he is such a nice boy, and we laugh a lot together.

The food for me is not a problem. My mom cooks wonderful and everyday I'm more open to try new things.

One of my best weekends was in Universal Studios. We were there celebrating Cassie's and John's 11th birthday with a lot of fun rides and good emotions. In the end of the day we had dinner in Hard Rock Cafe, and everybody there was singing Happy Birthday to my brother and sister.

In my first days of class, I thought that it was almost impossible to have friends in my school. But after some days, I saw that there are a lot of nice people there, including some teachers.

I'm so happy because I'm able to teach people here about my country, and at the same time, I'm having this amazing opportunity to learn a lot about United States.

Last month all exchange students in my district went to Kennedy Space Center, and it was so good see them again.

I went to my host Rotary club, and I felt so comfortable there. I'm glad to be here in my city, Port St Lucie.

For me this exchange is becoming better everyday. I've improved my English, and I'm starting to forget Portuguese. Actually, for me now it is easier thinking in English.

I feel completely at home and appreciate what my family is doing for me.

I'm looking forward to celebrate Thanksgiving, because is something that we don't have in Brazil. Abracos e ate mais, Taina