Summer of Service - Week 4 (last week in VA:()

This sure did pass by fast. I am here in Brazil, writing about my week four in Virginia. I will write on my week 5 about my work here in Brazil, because I really believe that my work in Virginia deserves a post of itselfJ So, I am sorry if this post is longer than what I would like it to be, but I would like to share with you guys a bit of the letter I sent out to people, inviting them to host students. I know it might be long, but it truly means a lot to me, because it was only because of this program that I am here today.

I ended up placing three kids, and though I thought it was little, Becky said she couldn’t thank me enough. It is so hard to get people interested in hosting, and three kids was a great help! I felt extremely accomplished, because I understood by doing so how hard her job is, and she does it because she loves what she does – it’s a volunteer job anyways.

I understand that people may have some concerns to host someone, because it’s a stranger that will be living with you, and your family. So yes, it is a big step and it is understandable. Though, it is quite sad, because not everyone is open-minded, which means they won’t be able to experience such an amazing thing that is to have someone from another country living with you (my host family said so:P)

Now I see (I had seen before, but the older I get, the better I see) how fortunate I was to have a host family like mine. They are the best people in the world. They don’t see me as their Brazilian student, or just as a person that lived there for the year. They see me as their third daughter and that is what I am for the whole family (including the Australian side of the family). I am not called the Brazilian student, by I am called “sister”, “daughter”, “niece”. They are my “safe haven” here in the United States and I am forever thankful to my parents, because they are the ones who had the idea in the first place.

So, this was the end of my work here in Virginia! I am so appreciative of the opportunity Becky has given me. I really learned so much from all of this. I always knew Becky’s job wasn’t easy, but by being there and helping her, I really did see it is so hard to be able to place a child, as well as oversee the student while they are studying abroad. I am so so thankful to have Becky in my life. You know, to some, she is a just a coordinator, someone who is there to help you if you mess something up with school or your family. To me, Becky was (when I was there) and still is so much more. She is truly someone so special to me, and I hold her dearly in my heart. Becky is present in many of my happiest memories; she would take me and my friend Camila to her beach houses, she would always invite us to do something fun, she really didn’t treat us as exchange students, but kind of as daughters, even though I didn’t live with her, and Camila didn’t either (Camila lived with Becky’s mom, though)

Becky shared some stories and I thought I should share a little bit with you guys. So, she is retired and she has been doing hosting and being a local coordinator for many, many years now. I didn’t believe, but the amount of responsibility she has is HUGE. Legit. She has many children she has to “oversee”, and boy, that’s so much! But she is such an incredible person, for example, when I went, my first host family “kicked me out” because they were tired of having someone in their house. I was “homeless” for 2 weeks. Becky went to pick me up – I didn’t even know her, except from exchanging emails – and she took me to her mother’s house – who is now my mema, hahaha. Two weeks later she found my AMAZING host family. But just for you guys to see how amazing this woman is, she later on took in my Brazilian friend (Camila, the one mentioned above), because her host family too didn’t want to have her – because her English wasn’t good and they didn’t have the patience to try with her. Becky took her into her own house for a couple of months and then my friend went on to live with Becky’s mother. They took us to the beach, they took us out, we had sleepover, we went trick or treating…. It was such an amazing, amazing year.

Mema and I:)

This service site really helped me see things that I couldn’t see before. I loved that I was able to work hands on with something that I had gone through and I feel so awesome about it! It is hard to explain, but it was a huge deal to me, because I know how it is to go through the whole experience, and being “behind the scenes” felt actually indescribable. It also helped me see that I might be interested in doing something like that in the future, or at least apply for an internship at CIEE.

So guys… maybe when you guys are older and married, HOST SOMEONE WAHOOO!!!! Who knows, maybe you guys will find someone that like me, will after an amazing experience, pursue their dreams abroad!

(my amazing family and I) - such an old picture, loll

Hope you’re having a great summer guys!

Ps.: like their facebook page!! Facebook.com/cieerva J

(very true statement)