Today marks a year I got back from Canada. Its been a year of assimilating all I've seen and lived in this beautiful country. It took a long time for me to put into words what this year meant to me and I still feel like I will never be able to express this year to the fullest, but this is a little bit of my experience (sorry for any English mistakes, its been a while).
When you're 16 (living under two very loving parents wings) there's not much you feel you did it yourself. Getting involved with rotary and my exchange was the first thing I actually did it myself every step of the way. I was not sure what to expect but I knew there was a lot of learning to come and a lot of work to do. I loved Prince George from the moment I got the email I was waiting for so long, but I never imagined how much I would learn from this place.
Dear Rotary club members and host family's,
Today marks a year I got back from Canada. Its been a year of assimilating all I've seen and lived in this beautiful country. It took a long time for me to put into words what this year meant to me and I still feel like I will never be able to express this year to the fullest, but this is a little bit of my experience (sorry for any English mistakes, its been a while).
When you're 16 (living under two very loving parents wings) there's not much you feel you did it yourself. Getting involved with rotary and my exchange was the first thing I actually did it myself every step of the way. I was not sure what to expect but I knew there was a lot of learning to come and a lot of work to do. I loved Prince George from the moment I got the email I was waiting for so long, but I never imagined how much I would learn from this place.
The first learning came from my 3 awesome host family's. Of course I was really nervous about this part. Finding out how a family works somewhere else is really a challenge at itself but doing it while you're missing yours was hard. But since day one you guys made me feel at home and in no time I was part of your family. I will always be grateful for all the understanding and patience I received. It takes a brave family to take someone they know nothing about into their house and into their family and the impact of this generosity will always be part of me. I truly miss all of you deeply and you will always be part of my family, hopefully we will see each other again soon.
My exchange was also the first time I was part of an active rotary club. It blows my mind to this day how much you all do for the community locally and globally. It really touched me and all the exchange students how hard you all worked so we could have the best year of our lives, not only rotarians in my own club (that took me to some really amazing experiences) but others from Smithers, Whistler, Vancouver and all around Bc had their houses open for us all along. Being able to see the projects that all district and my own club was working on have really being such an amazing and inspiring opportunity for me. You're all really appreciated around the world for the impact you had in our life's.
But the biggest learning probably came from Canadians in general. The amount of kindness I got to experience every single day from strangers in the mall to my teachers and friends is really something I will always remember. The world has a lot to learn with Canada and I know that all the exchange students that got to live this kind of love, tolerance and understanding between you all is working to improve their own countries. I hope we all brought something of our own home country to Canada as well and with this I know rotary is spreading a better understanding between all of us and making the world a better place.
Thank you for making this exchange possible for me and all generations to come. We will never be the same.
Love from Brazil,
Gabi Villas Boas.