by Claire Montgomery
Morning: “We leave at 8pm!” – Virna 6:30pm, the same day: Virna gets back from wherever she was. I think she was getting her hair and nails done. “Are you ready?” “I thought we were leaving at 8pm.” “No, that’s when the party starts. We are leaving at 7:30pm to pick up Mamãe (her…
A fact about me that is relevant to the rest of this post: I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I LOVE Harry Potter. I obsess over Harry Potter. I spend a lot of time thinking about Harry Potter. In the summer of 2012, a website called Pottermore was launched in beta. In July…
When I was in second grade, my class had a unit about the Amazon Rainforest. I remember watching videos of monkeys, seeing pictures of all sorts of different animals like sloths and jaguars and alligators, learning about the different levels of the forest, and thinking, wow, that’s amazing. Never once did it cross my mind…
About a week or so ago, Veera (my Finnish exchange student friend and quasi host sister by virtue of us sharing a host mom), Virna (my first host mom), and I (me) went to the bakery for dinner where we encountered one of Virna’s many acquaintances. That in itself was not an unusual experience,…
To the exchange students who went on the South of Brazil trip, March 2016: This morning I cried and cried and cried. Last night it was tears of happiness when we were dancing and singing together and this morning it was tears of sadness when we were hugging goodbye. These past twelve days have been…
My second host mom’s son Luis is in Newton, Iowa for his exchange. He’s in the middle of his senior year, and as such, is eligible to go to Prom. He recently asked a girl to go with him, and she said yes. How did he ask? A sign and flowers. Nelly showed me…
Frequently Asked Questions from the people of Brazil Do you miss your family? Duh. And now that I’m thinking about it I miss them more. Do you like the United States or Brazil more? How do you want me to answer that without being insulting? What do you like more: American food or Brazilian…
Carnaval is absolutely insane. Words cannot do it justice, but I am going to do my best to try. I asked my host mom if Carnaval was to celebrate anything specific. She thought about it for a few seconds, and then told me that Carnaval was just Carnaval and they celebrate to celebrate. I did…