Rotary Exchange Student - Celina's Guadagni's May report from Brazil
Posted by Marina Lamb
Here's Rotary Exchange student Celina Guadagni's MAY report from Brazil. Looks like she had an amazing month.
Hey everyone! Happy May! Since I didn’t write about my Amazon adventure, I thought I would start with that. And what an adventure it was. Hope everyone ... click on more to see the rest of her report.
had an enjoyable month!
My trip started off by me catching a flight by myself to the capital city in the Amazon called Manaus. The first day we met up with the rest of the group and got settled in! We went to a ceremonial “Bull Party” and the next day and enjoyed a city tour of Manaus. That night we had our first experience trekking the dark in the Amazon Rainforest and swimming in waterfalls in the pitch black! The Amazonian city is quite different to where I am living and a lot hotter of course. The next day it was time for the real adventure to begin. We drove a little ways where are boats were waiting for us. There was around 60 exchange students on the trip and we split into 3 groups for the 3 different boats! The 6 night journey on the boats began and I don’t think many of us realized that we were about to go on one of the best experiences of our life!
The first few days were great just traveling through the Rio Negro river and getting to know each other. Each day we had different activities. We visited 2 Local Native tribes of the Amazon and that was quite the experience. They have very little at these tribes but they were more than happy to show us their traditions. Their lives are very simple but they have such joy. It goes to show you don’t need much for happiness. They have their families, a strong culture, school and they seem enjoying every aspect of their lives. The next few days we enjoyed piranha fishing with our local Native guides, waterfalls, hanging out on the boat, and just simply enjoying our time. We even had a soccer game us Gringos against the local soccer team! It was so fun although of course our boys and girls team both lost. But I represented Canada and got us a goal! A highlight of my trip would have to be the last few days. We went on a survival trek with one of the most experienced local guide. He showed us some of the different trees and what each one could help your health. It was so interesting and he was so knowledgeable about the nature. I forgot to mention he wasn’t wearing shoes this whole trek. It was around 3 hours long through the rainforest with tons of dangerous things but he nevertheless he didn’t need them he said. About halfway through the trek he was talking about the forest and some deadly bugs there and he asked a question but for a moment I wasn’t paying attention and my friends suggested Celina you said you wanted to get married to an Indian didn’t you? Well I thought sure why not and little did I know what I was getting myself into. He then grabbed my hand and took be a little to the side to a tree filled with ants. I mean covered. I knew what was coming then. He grabbed my hand and his and put them both on the tree. I was really skeptical but he told me to trust him so that I did. My hand was covered in ants along with his and that was that. We were married. I also forgot to mention this man is around 60 years old with no teeth. He has a wife and kids but he likes to marry foreigners and to the ceremonial thing with them to show them. It was an awesome experience. Later in the trip on the last day he and I planted a tree together. What can I say it was love at first site.
One of the best days of the trip for me was the second last day where we saw and interacted with so many amazing animals. In the morning we went to a locally owned Dolphin Sanctuary where we swam with the Pink nosed dolphins of the Amazon. After that we went sloth hunting. We found a sloth after a while of searching at the top of this huge tree. Our tour guide climbed all the way to the top like a monkey barefoot of course and got the sloth and we were all able to take pictures with it. It was so amazing to see! Such a strange animal. During the day there was a baby monkey on the boat somehow one of the locals came on to show us. AND to top it all off that night we went alligator night spotting. We ended up finding a little one and even got pictures with her too! What a day that was to see and to hold some of those amazing animals. Truly a day I will never forget. As I mentioned earlier the last day we went to another local village and planted trees to help grow the Amazon. It’s amazing how much more I appreciate the nature, the Amazon and all the people helping to conserve it. It really is an amazing place.
You can imagine how close everyone on our boat got throughout the days. We spent lots of time together and experienced some amazing things. Forgot to mention we slept in hammocks every night on out boat except for the last night where we slept in the middle of the Rainforest as a little last night campout! I made some incredible friends from all over and will never ever forget this experience or the people I got so close too. I cannot describe the joy I had while on this trip and I am so happy to have experienced it.
After I returned home for the trip I enjoyed spending time with my host family, going to some Rotary events such as a huge Noite de Italiana (Italian night) where we enjoyed some traditional Italian food and dancing. I also enjoyed going to Sao Paulo with the other exchange students to see two famous art museums.
The art exhibited was so different I loved it. I also just got back from my district’s final conference. It was in another town in Brazil called Aguas de Lindoia where some of the cleanest water is and mountains too! It was so nice there. The air was clean and it was even a bit cold! The conference was just for the weekend. There were Rotarians there from all around the world even some who knew about Prince Rupert and have been there! It was so cool to talk to them. Us exchange students had a small presentation we presented to hundreds of Rotarians on Saturday where we showcased our flags and danced to Brazilian music. The last night of the conference there was a little party where we danced and just enjoyed some of our last times together! The last day was a very sad day. We had to say goodbye to the exchange students who we enjoyed our year with. This is one of the hardest parts of being an exchange student. You meet people who quickly become your family and your support group here. And then when your year is coming to an end you are forced to say goodbye to the people who have made your year most enjoyable. The people who understand everything you are going through and who’ve you made incredible memories with. Although we had to say goodbye my friends and I have already planned to see each other again. But the coolest thing now is that I have friends from all over the world who I can go visit. It’s happy and sad and exciting all at the same time! After the conference I stayed with my friend who lives in Aguas de Lindoia for a few days just to see the city and hang out! It was cool to walk around the city and explore.
I am back home in Campinas now and enjoying my time with my host family. The next few weeks are going to be very busy. My host sister who spent her exchange year in India is coming back next week and I am going to do my final presentation of my year next week as well for my Rotary Club.
May was a crazy, busy and enjoyable month that I will never forget. I can’t believe my exchange is coming to an end soon but I am so grateful for this experience! Until next month everyone enjoy your week!