Bands

Festa Nacoes

Bands, Brazil, City, Exchange Students, Exchange year, Nation Fair, Rotary, Unites States

The highlight of March was a surprise visit from other exchange students in another rotary district coming to visit for our Nation Fair. That day was more special for the RYE outbounders 17/18, because it was good to see our friends we’ve missed from our Northeast Trip.

Nation Fair is to share our nationalities with the community. This also helps the outbounds choose which country they will choose next year. Every country is responsible for serving a traditional food and decorating each stand so it catches the strangers attention. As a representative, we are given stickers with our nation flag on it. When the outbounds come find us and ask about our nationality, we try to convince them to choose our country for the following information. When they fill up their booklets of stickers they turn it in and choose the top three places of their dreams. This event is open to everyone in the community, so it was a big deal when the city’s governor made an appearance. To keep the energy up all day long they have dances from all over the world perform to keep the audience entertained. This event takes all day because all the outbounds have to finish their book then the Rotarians make the final decisions so they head home knowing where they will go. We get the honor to announce which exchange student will be coming to our countries next year!

It is a long process to be chosen for this amazing opportunity, but as soon as you get there all the hard work pays off. With all the friendships you make across the world it turns out to be the year that changes your life for the good!

District Aniversario

Bands, Brazil, Exchange Students, Exchange year, Family

April 7th,

The annual birthday of my district turned out to be a huge deal…. hosted at one of the most famous restaurants in South America known for seating the most people at once. This dinner was fancy and fun to attend. It amazed me how many Rotarians showed up that are a part of a club with nothing to do with an exchange student. But it worked to our advantage! We were responsible for selling a certain amount of raffle tickets for the final surprise that turned out to be a new IPHONE 7!!!

After lots and lots of mingling…. they pulled out that lucky ticket that turned out to be one of the women we sold it to! What a small chance, we sold 50 out of 250 tickets and ours was drawn. Of course, we didn’t win the iPhone but the woman that did came and found us afterward with a huge smile on her face!

After a huge honoring ceremony to introduce all the different clubs that make up with district we sat down for dinner. The restaurant was famous for Italian food, but if you are not aware restaurants here have a different system. With a party like this the buffet would take to long and then the people at the end wouldnt get anything to eat so they organize it so every table gets a family size potion for 6-8 people and when you finish a plate the servers will replace it with a new one. After stuffing our stomachs we took plenty group pictures and danced on the dance floor all night!

Oktoberfest!

Bands, Brazil, Cool People, Exchange Students, Exchange year, Host family, Oktoberfest

This past weekend Daniela an exchange student from Slovakia and her host family invited me to road trip with them to Blumenau, Santa Catalina. It was a 3 and half hour drive from Curitiba, Parana. I have never been to Santa Catalina before, my impression was they had nicer beaches than in Parana and the weather is a lot hotter. If you are not familiar with Brazil’s states, Parana and Santa Catalina are two different states.

Oktoberfest back in Summit isn’t nearly as big as it is in Blumenau. In fact, the festival in Blumenau stands 2nd behind Germany for the biggest Oktoberfest. Everyone owns the typical German costumes and the band played German music in Portuguese all night. The night started out with a parade full of many different floats.

Oktoberfest is a huge local beer fest. But it is also all age festival… Beer is not the only way you can enjoy your time with friends and family. My favorite part of this weekend was getting to experience German culture in Brazil. The music got old pretty fast but learning how to dance was a blast. I know I probably looked stupid but I will never see any of the haters ever again. I know Oktoberfest is a typical thing for locals so the feeling that Germany is a part of this town is so cool. You could tell there were some houses and buildings built to look exactly like the ones in Germany. My friend Daniela and I got the feeling we visited Germany through a Brazilians perspective and now we want to experience Oktoberfest in real Germany.