भारत

Luiza

"The first host family I had was an unexpected thing from India because it was just my host mother – Indian families are always big and they often live together - who is a teacher in my school. Not a normal teacher, she is the most feared by everyone, including me, because she’s very strict even for the pattern of an Indian school, where we only use Sir and Mam to call the teachers. We always stand for them to show our respect, but they can punish or even hit the students and we have strict uniforms and rules. Despite all of this, she was very careful and kind to me, and we had a great time together. I’m still calling her Maa, the Hindi translation of mother. I went every morning with her to school by car, it was only 10 minutes away from our home, located in a residential planned neighbourhood, with 2 floors; the first with rooms (where I had my own bedroom) and a kitchen and the second one with a terrace and a small temple where she placed the holy book of the Sikhs, her religion. As she is retiring from school due to her age, I received a new host family, whom I’ve been living with since August 2nd. Here I have my host parents, two younger brothers, my paternal grandmother, one dog, five birds and a turtle. My dad drops me and my brothers at school everyday, as we study in the same one, and my mother picks us later. As it’s just 800m far from home, it would be possible to go by bicycle or even walking but the traffic rules are ignored and there’re no sidewalks, what makes the streets very dangerous. People are used to drive everywhere here, as there are no buses or subways in my city with 1,5 million people. But I’m in love with India and I’m really enjoying my experience here. Indian culture is awesome and the Indian people are so friendly that I don’t even miss Brazil that much."

 

Luiza's Family

Arriba

Tâmara

"I've  always wanted to be an exchange student, but thinking about staying more than a year away from home seemed like a huge challenge to me. Mexico actually wasn't my first choice, but after  I started to get in touch with my family, who lives there, I knew I wouldn't find a better place to go. My first impressions were kinda wrong; they turned out even better than expected. I have 2 sisters and a brother. Anabel, who is 17, went to Brazil before my departure. We only spent 2 weeks together; however, we are still in touch as she is like a real sister to me. The other one, Ariana, 13, is very funny and sweet. She is such a chatty box, and I love her so much. Martin is 18 and is already in college, doing an Architecture Design course. He always gives me a ride and cooks something. My parents are great, just like my real ones in Brazil. I love them, and I know they'll always be my second family. 

Tâmara's "Familia" in Mexico

As I'm staying here for a year, I'm missing hundreds of stuffs back in Brazil, but it's been easier than I thought. I've already got tons of friends in school, and they are pretty supportive, helping me get through ordinary things, specially missing home. Our exchange programme managed to keep all the Brazilians in the same school, as we felt more comfortable. The School, named Tecnológico de Monterrey, is in the city of Juarez, and has 14 Brazilians. Sometimes, I feel like I'm in the best place on Earth, even though the city ain't that much of a big deal. But no matter what, there is no place like home, and in a year from now, I'll be back"