Steamboat Springs - Rotary Youth Exchange: Kestral Johnston

I cannot believe everything I have experienced in the past two months, let alone six months ago when my exchange started, or a year ago when I was just wondering what my exchange would have in store for me. This past year has been filled with so much excitement, adventure, anxiousness, and stress. Reflecting back I couldn’t have possibly imagined what this year has brought me, or what I will see in the year to come.

Rotex event

Teaching how to fold paper cranes

Atibaia Rotary Christmas event

The presents

Moving....

December was a very busy time here in southern hemisphere. Before Christmas, I got to participate in the two Rotary events for underprivileged children. For the first event, I went with the other exchange students to a nearby city called Amparo. There, we gave presents to the kids that lived in the area and played with them. One of the activities we did with them was fold paper cranes as a tribute to this year’s Rotary International president Sakuji Tanaka, whose symbol is the origami crane. An interesting twist that occurred is that no one knew how to fold papers cranes. Thus, I got to teach about 70 people at once how to fold paper. Quite an experience! The second event was held in a town nearby Atibaia. There, I also gave presents to underprivileged children as well. It reminded me of the Agua Prieta trip that I had participated in for the past two years. Que saudades! Projects like these remind you how fortunate you are. That smile on a child’s face when he or she opens a present is something you never forget.

Horses from all over the area come to walk dowtown

On the 26th of December I went downtown with my couselor to watch the Cavalhada. The Calvalhada is a parade of horses (and sometimes bulls) that lasts for about an 1:30 and has been a tradition in my city for 260 years! The best statement I have to say is that I will never see another horse parade exactly like this one.

Me on the beach during New Years

My new host mom and host aunt making esfihas

Right after Christmas, I changed host families. Now I have two new host sisters, 14 and 8 years old. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been an only child for my entire life, and even in my first host family, so this is pretty exciting. For New Years I traveled to Ubatuba with my new host family. Ubatuba is a beach town located in the south of Sao Paulo. I got to meet almost the entire family on my host mom’s side. That was neat, plus just getting to spend New Year’s on a beach in shorts and a t-shirt is a new experience in and of itself. Some of the traditions involved with a beach-side new year are: jumping 7 waves and making a wish at each wave, eating 12 pomegranate/grapes and then keeping the seeds in your wallet to bring you more money, throwing money into the ocean.