My Life in Brazil
Lucas, our Exchange Student, is no stranger to our club as each week he joins our meetings with weekly updates. Club members are all impressed with Lucas; he has achieved so much in such little time in Canada.
Lucas lives in Marilia, Brazil. He lives with his Mom and brother. Houses in Brazil are closed door, behind the garage, for security reasons.
24 years ago, Lucas’ Mom was an Exchange Student with the Rotary Club of Terrace, (D5040 – BC, Canada) and she is the main reason Lucas is an Exchange Student now. She is his inspiration. Mom works as a Foreign Trade Analyst.
Lucas is passionate about traveling. He traveled a lot when he was young playing baseball. He loves cooking, reading, technology, music and going to concerts.
His classes in Brazil start at 7 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. then he would walk home for 25 minutes. When he has classes in the afternoon, he would stay at school and have lunch downtown. Lucas was a volunteer teacher at school, in Math, Physics and Geography. His school was named as having the best school system in Brazil. The teachers and staff in Brazil are really close to the students, unlike here. There are 50 students to a class and Lucas was class Rep. and Project Manager in the whole high school. In Brazil the students cannot chose courses like here and they do not have to pay for University.
Rotary 4510 sponsored Lucas. There are 69 clubs in his district. .
Lucas was born in Sao Paulo, the “Land of Drizzle”. On Sundays they close the avenue for people to socialize. Brazil’s capital is called Brasilia. The population is 207.7 Mill, the 6th largest in the world. Brazil’s culture is:
- Portuguese colonization
- Indigenous and Africans
- Immigrants (Italian)
- German/Japanese
- Christian
The majority of people speak Portuguese. Their food include a national cocktail caipirinha made with sugar and lime, Churrasco, a Brazilian BBQ that uses a variety of meats, pork, sausage and chicken, and Pastel, their typical fast food made of cheese, meat and chicken.
Brazil is not all about soccer and carnival, it’s well known for their art by famous artist, Tasila do Amaral.
In Canada, Lucas has been to the CN Tower, Rotary District Conference, Invictus Games, and Fireworks in Toronto and has experienced his first snowstorm. Lucas thanked Rotary for this incredible experience and thanks to all host families, especially the Mocons.