Rotary Exchange Student Celina Guadagni's March report from Brazil
Posted by Marina Lamb
Good Afternoon Everyone! We are getting down to my last few monthly reports now. I had a very eventful and interesting March. Hope everyone enjoyed theirs too.
I hit a huge milestone at the beginning of March. I did my first presentation for my Rotary ... Click more to read the rest of Celina's report.
Club about Canada completely in Portuguese. You know it’s difficult enough doing presentations in English but to do it in front of 30 people’s first language in front of them is really nerve-racking! But thankfully I got through it and actually enjoyed it. My Rotary club was super supportive and gave me some help where I needed it. I have so much more respect for people who speak two languages and have to present in a different language. It wasn’t easy but I’m so glad I did it and it really boosted my confidence of speaking in public. Now any presentation in English will be a complete breeze! But overall the presentation went really well and I’m glad I got to show my Rotary club about our beautiful country Canada!
This month has been pretty normal. I have been going to school, relaxing and getting to know my new host family. I went to a Capoeira dance class for my first time which was very interesting! I learned the basics on how to properly perform it. I found out that is much more spiritual than I intended it to be. My teacher was constantly saying to me to relax and let my body be free. “Capoeira is freedom.” He had to remind me many times! He had to remind me always to look into my partners eyes because it is very important. A lot about respect and everyone being equal which I thought was really cool. At the end of the class I got to play all the instruments which I loved. I played the drum and all sorts of other instruments with very interesting names such as a baribau, reco-reco and caxixi. (Try pronouncing those ones!) I loved the class and glad I learned more about the spiritual dance.
This month I have been busy with Rotary as well. Two weeks ago I went to a special organized Rotary lunch at a sports club a little ways out of town. We played some musical Brazilian bingo, and there was an awesome one-man band that played too! The club was jam packed with tons of activities. The sports club was great and had some waterslides, pools, tree obstacle courses, soccer and even a long zip line that was super high and went through the whole club. My host mom and I ended up going zip lining after lunch! I’ve been before but I loved it and it was my host mom’s first time and she really enjoyed it too! It was a great Rotary day and I was glad to be apart of it and just hang out with some great people.
On Saturday, the other exchange students and I travelled about an hour to a town called Rio Claro to a historical coffee farm. This was another Rotex event and we enjoyed the day at the farm with a tour, lunch and later relaxed at the pool. We learned a lot about the Brazilian slaves who worked there and how coffee was made. One area of the farm that really hit me was the area in which some of the slave/farm workers had to sleep. It was so sad because it was dark, dirty and filled with bats and just to picture people having to sleep there just made you feel sick! Sometimes we forget about how poorly people were treated back in the day and it makes you appreciate things a lot. Sadly some parts of the world are still like that! But nevertheless we learned lots about the different coffee processes and saw some antique machines used right when the farm first opened. The farm was very interesting and had tons of history. But like always Rotex put on a great event and it was great to see all my exchange friends.
This week I have a short week of school and will be doing another Rotary project this Friday for Easter. My Rotary club and I will be heading to another sports club and organizing an Easter egg hunt for some great kids. I am excited to do that. Also this weekend my host family just informed me we are heading to the beach for the Easter Weekend. I definitely can’t complain about that!
Tomorrow I am heading to another Capoeira class and then after school my long weekend starts! At the end of April I will be headed on my Amazon trip so I am extremely excited for that.
Hard to believe I am coming to some of my last monthly reports but trying to enjoy every day left I have in Brazil. At the same time, I’m excited to come home and share all my great experiences with you all. Thanks again and have an awesome April.
This month has been pretty normal. I have been going to school, relaxing and getting to know my new host family. I went to a Capoeira dance class for my first time which was very interesting! I learned the basics on how to properly perform it. I found out that is much more spiritual than I intended it to be. My teacher was constantly saying to me to relax and let my body be free. “Capoeira is freedom.” He had to remind me many times! He had to remind me always to look into my partners eyes because it is very important. A lot about respect and everyone being equal which I thought was really cool. At the end of the class I got to play all the instruments which I loved. I played the drum and all sorts of other instruments with very interesting names such as a baribau, reco-reco and caxixi. (Try pronouncing those ones!) I loved the class and glad I learned more about the spiritual dance.
This month I have been busy with Rotary as well. Two weeks ago I went to a special organized Rotary lunch at a sports club a little ways out of town. We played some musical Brazilian bingo, and there was an awesome one-man band that played too! The club was jam packed with tons of activities. The sports club was great and had some waterslides, pools, tree obstacle courses, soccer and even a long zip line that was super high and went through the whole club. My host mom and I ended up going zip lining after lunch! I’ve been before but I loved it and it was my host mom’s first time and she really enjoyed it too! It was a great Rotary day and I was glad to be apart of it and just hang out with some great people.
On Saturday, the other exchange students and I travelled about an hour to a town called Rio Claro to a historical coffee farm. This was another Rotex event and we enjoyed the day at the farm with a tour, lunch and later relaxed at the pool. We learned a lot about the Brazilian slaves who worked there and how coffee was made. One area of the farm that really hit me was the area in which some of the slave/farm workers had to sleep. It was so sad because it was dark, dirty and filled with bats and just to picture people having to sleep there just made you feel sick! Sometimes we forget about how poorly people were treated back in the day and it makes you appreciate things a lot. Sadly some parts of the world are still like that! But nevertheless we learned lots about the different coffee processes and saw some antique machines used right when the farm first opened. The farm was very interesting and had tons of history. But like always Rotex put on a great event and it was great to see all my exchange friends.
This week I have a short week of school and will be doing another Rotary project this Friday for Easter. My Rotary club and I will be heading to another sports club and organizing an Easter egg hunt for some great kids. I am excited to do that. Also this weekend my host family just informed me we are heading to the beach for the Easter Weekend. I definitely can’t complain about that!
Tomorrow I am heading to another Capoeira class and then after school my long weekend starts! At the end of April I will be headed on my Amazon trip so I am extremely excited for that.
Hard to believe I am coming to some of my last monthly reports but trying to enjoy every day left I have in Brazil. At the same time, I’m excited to come home and share all my great experiences with you all. Thanks again and have an awesome April.