Raphael Costa and Arantza Cuellar, two of River Falls Rotary's Youth Exchange participants, talked with the club about their home countries.
Raphael Costa and Arantza Cuellar, two of River Falls Rotary's Youth Exchange participants, talked with the club about their home countries.
Raphael hails from Recife (PE), Brasil, and chose to come to the U.S., in part because it was a good chance to learn English, which will help him in future employment searches.
Raphael's new experiences here include learning about hockey and wood heat. He shared some facts and info about his home country, including the meaning of the flag and some national passtimes. Raphael has played soccer since he was just a small boy and also plays handball, basketball, volleyball and swims and runs.
Recife is the largest city in Brazil, with four million inhabitants. Raphael shared some photos from Carnaval, which is held the second week in February each year. With temps in the 70-90F range, Raphael has had some challenges adjusting to Wisconsin's weather.
Raphael will be hosting a desert and dance event in our regular club meeting room on January 13, from 1-3 p.m. We do need to sign up, which we can do with Elaine at the January 8 meeting, or by emailing her.
Arantza makes Mexico her home, where, she informed us, 287 languages are spoken. Spanish is the national language, and there are 67 indigenous languages. Arantza gave us a brief history of Mexico's progression to a republic representative government. She showed us beautiful photos of her country, including celebrations of the Day of the Dead and other street festivals, and talked about her favorite food -- tacos! She said that there are so many different varieties of tacos, but they do not resemble those found in the United States, and she playfully admonished our group for putting "yellow cheese" on our tacos.
Both students brought the club gifts and exchanged flags from their home country clubs. Welcome, Raphael and Arontza!