Rotary Orientation

So, not much has happened since my last post. I registered with the travel agency I'm getting my visa through and I had a short meeting with my Rotary representative, that's about it. However, this coming Saturday I will be going to Rotary Orientation. It will be at Skidmore College and I have to get up really early to get their on time. (Not so happy about that, but this WAS my idea...) Anyway, we will learn about the dos and don'ts of the exchange program (or relearn them if we already know them...) it should be interesting. I am looking forward to seeing the other future exchange students that I know (Keith and Melissa), and meeting the students that I don't. It should be interesting and hopefully fun.

Beijos!

Kiki

Winter Weekend Adventure

Oi!
On Friday, I went to Queensbury. The Glens Falls Rotary Club was hosting a Winter Weekend Adventure! There were sixteen students, including me. I was in a room with two other girls, Ana, from Mexico, and Melissa, who is going to Brazil. We had pizza and then we went to our hotel and had a pool party! It was really fun! The next morning we got on a bus and went to Lake Placid. We looked at many different Olympic venues, including the Oval and the Ski Jumps! We went to the top of the tallest ski jump!

The Top of the Tallest Ski Jump, Looking Down

Then Keith, who is going to France, Yoshi, who is from Japan, Melissa, Jasmin, who is from Denmark and I went dog sledding!

Jasmin, Melissa and I in the Dog Sled

Yoshi, Keith, Jasmin, Melissa and I

After dog sledding, we got back on the bus and headed to the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. The theme this year was Space Alien Invasion. It had several spaceships made out of ice!

Yoshi and I

Then we got back on the bus and headed back to Queensbury. After we had dinner we had ice cream by the pool and another pool party! We all stayed up really late but we had a lot of fun!

Everyone!

Today we woke up late and went to the Hyde Museum and took a tour! All in all it was an awesome weekend! I was sorry to have to leave but now I am really looking forward to my exchange year!

<3

Contact

Hi! Oi!
Not long after I found out that I was going to Brazil I discovered that I wasn't the only person going from my district. Another girl, Melissa, was going to! We didn't know where we were going in Brazil yet so we got in touch through Skype. (I love modern technology!)  I was really happy to know that someone else from this area was going and it wasn't going to be just me. Whew! Thank goodness! At least I know that someone is going through this at the same time as me. I was really relieved and so was she. I hope to actually meet her at the Winter Weekend Adventure that I may or may not be going to. I hope I am.

The Winter Weekend Adventure is being hosted by the Glens Falls Rotary Club and will involve going to the Winter Festival in Saranac Lake! It is going to be awesome! The exchange students that are here now will be there, along with the host brothers and sisters and future outbound students (like me)! I will meeting the kids from other countries, which is really cool.

Eu adoro voce!

How I got to the point I am at now.

I should probably explain how I started the whole exchange process. After my Brazilian Portuguese class got past the whole 'let's ship Kiki to another country for a year' and really started to look into the program we realized that there was no Rotary Club in my town. Even further research told us that the nearest club was in North Creek, in another district. After talking with the Rotary representative at the White Water Derby, the club agreed to 'adopt' me. They would be my sponsor club.

While I was going through the process I got in contact with two students who were doing their exchange year then. Sam and Emily were really encouraging and they told me that no matter how frustrating the process might be, I should stick with it. The application process was a real pain but I took their advice and here I am, going to Brazil!

I really am going to miss stuff from around here but I know that the experience I am going to have will be unparalleled in anything else.

Placement!

Tudo bom!

So, it started as a joke. I was the oldest kid in our Brazilian Portuguese class, the one who would be able to become an exchange student. The joke started as a 'let's ship Kiki off to Brazil for a year, ha ha ha.' But then we started looking into it and the possibility became more real. It was when we first contacted the Rotary Club in North Creek that I realized that I was most likely going to become an exchange student. We finished the application on time (barely) and handed it in. After the club interview and the district interview I was accepted as an exchange student. Then came the waiting, there is no guarantee that you will get your first choice but Brazil was an unusual first choice so I was almost sure I would get in. Key word there is almost. I was told that I would hear from Rotary around the holidays. Christmas came and then New Years, then finally today I got the email! And I was placed in Brazil. I have no idea where in Brazil, I won't hear that until much later but at least I know which country I'm going to.