It is so hard to put into words all that we have
experienced, all the places we have traveled, all the wonderful people we have
met and perhaps this is why I and the others have not written in our blog for
so long. GSE is an amazing experience on
so many dimensions and to try to reflect it back with pictures and words, just
doesn’t do it justice.
I am extremely thankful to all who have made this possible
for all of us. From the beginning
friendship between Durval (DG for 4550)
and Judy (DG for 5960) to the hundreds of connections and friendships we have
made here in Brasil. Obrigada and Thank You!
Being greeted with lots of hugs and kisses when first
meeting (and every encounter after that) certainly helps develop those instant
friendships. Please indulge me if when I
return and lean in for a hug and a kiss, one on each cheek…I think this is a
magical piece of the culture here. All
ages are not in the least bit reluctant to touch you while conversing, to stand
with their arm around your shoulders. I
love to watch adolescents, especially the boys, embracing their parents and
happily receiving their parents’ affection.
How can we adopt this community wide at home? I know for sure that I will miss this part of
Brasil a lot!
Language has been a barrier, I am
well aware of that, but the Brasilians always meet us more than half way….working
hard to recall the English they learned in school decades ago, learning other
ways to express what they are thinking or feeling and so often Rotary has made
sure we have had an interpreter. Perhaps
this has made me lazy and maybe I would have learned more language by now if I had
not had an interpreter. Our interpreters
have often been an eager young teen who is so excited to be asked to do this
for us and so he or she can practice their English. They have been amazing young people that are
so interested in us and wanting us to love their country (which we do very
much). Those friendships have been some
of the most precious…tears from both sides come when we have to say “tchau”. But, before we are even pulled out of the
driveway they have requested to be our friend on Facebook. It is not uncommon to find 20 or more
requests when we leave a city. I so appreciate
Facebook.
In Itabuna we found a Rotary club
very much embracing Rotary Youth Exchange…the YEO for the club was a man with a
passion for YE, much like my own. I know
we could see in each other a kindred spirit that we shared together. His club has 6 students going out next year
and from the looks of it, many more wanting to go out in the future. The day after we presented to their club,
with lots of young folks present, we were asked to speak to their Interact/
Rotaract/ Rotex club…there were about 50 young people in attendance. I thought it was a brilliant idea to combine
all of them together even though their ages spanned about 10 years, they were
all working on projects together and had a great organization. This is an obvious encourager of the younger
students to dream about their year abroad.
I only wish I could have stayed there longer to see more about their
program. They had a very blonde young
man from Michigan as their inbound student….loving his time there. I met one other inbound student, Michael from
Florida, staying in Barriers with Zaneela, also a passionate advocate of Youth
Exchange.
I have really connected to this
place…to the people and to all that Rotary stands for. Rotary is alive and well in Brasil and because
of that we have had privileges most travelers through this area would never
have. The Rotarians have generously
given of their time, providing us with food in abundance, shelter fit for a
queen and most of all their hearts. Our
suitcases are not any less full even though we have given our modest gifts away,
more have been received.
It is simply too hard to say how
thankful I am….
Saudade,
Vicki
