Rotary Orientation Part II

So all of the rules have been told to the exchange students and now we can really start to get ready. Of all of the students, I am leaving the earliest, which is kind of scary but cool. I am really looking forward to my exchange year, if only because I have no idea what is coming in it.

I really hope that when I come back a) I can still speak English and b) am fluent in Brazilian Portuguese. I can't wait.

Kirsten

Final Countdown:
Days till arrival in Brazil: 61

São Luís

Bom dia! Tudo Bom?

I finally got the letter from Rotary saying where in Brazil I was going! I am going to a city in northern Brazil called São Luís. The state, Maranhão, is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Map of Brazil, São Luís is at the top right of Brazil

The city is two degrees south of the equator but it is awesome. I really can't wait to go to Brazil. It will be so amazing. Am I nervous? Of course I am! Will I be homesick? I expect I will be but the overall effect this will have upon my life far outweighs the bad stuff. I mean, regular life is full of ups and downs, so I assuming life in Brazil will be that way too.

Another thing I found out is that I will be arriving (not leaving home but arriving in Brazil) on the 26th of July! That is not that far away and I still have so much stuff I have to do. But I can get it done. I kind of have to.

Tchau!
Eu adoro voces.
Kiki

Power Point Presentation

One of the requirements for me to go to Brazil is I have to make a presentation to show my host family, club, district and any one else who wants to see it. I have already started it. It is going to include many different activities that you can do in the Adirondacks, including skiing, snowshoeing, white water rafting and hiking. It should be fun.

Tchau!

Rotary Orientation (What happened at Skidmore)

Ola!

If you read my last blog post you would know that on Saturday, I went to Skidmore College for Part 1 of Rotary Orientation. Rotary Orientation went well. (I don't sit well through lectures but thankfully the people who were giving the lectures understood that and cracked more than one joke.)

I saw a bunch of people at the event (Jasmin, Keith, Melissa, Kristina, Juan, Antonia, Yoshi, On, Nati, Miguel and John). I also met the exchange student from Brazil! Her name is Heloisa but everyone calls her Helo. We had a lot of fun. Right before dinner Antonia, On, Yoshi and I were having a cultural exchange. In other words we taught the other people to play Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot in our language. It was really fun.

During dinner, I sat with Juan and we both were laughing at this one demonstration that Rotary had after dinner. Apparently, Rotary is having an event that requires you to wear a toga and no one knew how to tie one. They demonstrated on this poor guy (they filmed it, too) using a twin bed sheet with him wearing a paper laurel.

The current and future exchange students

Beijos!
Kiki

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!