Our Home Stay Assignment
One of the best opportunities that my study abroad gave me was the opportunity to have a family in another country. For each student during the trip, we are assigned a host family. For one weekend, we stay with the family, attend activities, participate in cultural events, get to know new people, and fully emerge ourselves in the lives of others who are different from us. This allows students to truly step out of their comfort zone, meet new people, and truly understand Brazilian culture.
I received my host parents almost by accident. Originally, I was given another set of people to go home with, but the night before our experience their little girl was hospitalized due to an illness. Luckily, our coordinator was able to find me another family who unfortunately was not paired with a student for our stay. They were beyond excited to host me, and I was super thankful that they allowed me into their lives on such short notice. We participated in all kinds of activities, including tons of site seeing adventures, and more trips around the city. Overall, the home stay was one of my favorite weekends of the whole trip, and I still cherish the relationship that I built with my host parents. In fact, we talk every couple of weeks to stay updated and current within each others’ lives. To read more about my experience, take a peek at some excerpts from my daily journal!
Journal Excerpt
January 21st, 2017 Piracicaba, SP
This morning we got up early to go meet Ellyse and her host family for breakfast and a trip to one of the many fruit markets in the city. We then went to a padaria or bakery to get cheesy bread balls and suco de abacaxi or pineapple juice. We then went back home to hang out for a while before heading to an old sugar mill on the banks of the Piracicaba River. We walked through the mill while I snapped a bunch of pictures of the old architecture, crossing over the now flooded river and then meandered along the side walk next to the river for a while. It was a great time walking with ‘dad’ and just talking about life back home and the differences in culture. Especially the crazy driving. I explained that in the U.S. we didn’t really use our horns that often, didn’t have as many round-a-bouts and definitely didn’t run every stop sign in the city. I laughed about these differences, but I realized that they said a lot about the culture in which I have grown up. We have a longer perspective of life, therefore it seems we are more careful while driving and seem to take things a little lighter, rather than be in the heat of the moment. I find that its reflection on how people in societies is rather interesting to study and observe.
We went back to the house for an afternoon of relaxing and watching American TV. Turns out that they love The Big Theory, Two and a Half Men, The Simpsons, and many other popular shows. We spent all afternoon watching them in English, while having Portuguese subtitles to help my parents better understand. I found it interesting that even though they don’t speak English except for once a year, they are able to follow what is happening on TV. Also, I find it interesting that people all across the world loves American TV and movies. I don’t always realize how good it is to be an American until I am halfway across the world. It reminds me to take the time to absorb the area around me and to stop taking everything for granted, life goes by so quick, I wouldn’t want to blink and miss it.
That evening, they took me out to a Brazilian country bar where they had Brazilian style barbecue on skewers. There was live music, I had no idea what he was singing, but it was good nevertheless. We went through like 6 liters of beer, well to be honest I lost track. We had a great evening of relaxing and hanging out, just enjoying each other’s company and reminiscing about the past and my home. When we were leaving the bar, the cashier asked if I was an American. We told them yes, and Carla explained to me that many people had never seen an American before, and they found it to be a real treat. I was honored, but also incredibly worried since I was the only American they had ever seen, clearly I’m not the best looking in the world, so I hope I didn’t give them a bad impression of what Americans look like.
Sunday, January 22, 2017 Piracicaba, SP
Today was our lazy day, we had breakfast and then hung out while watching more American TV. I accompanied Daniel as he went to the bank and ran a few errands around the city. Most of the day we were relaxing, but then decided to go see the mall in the afternoon. We first picked up Daniel’s sister before heading to the Piracicaba Mall for the afternoon. I was very surprised to see that they had an ice skating rink inside the mall. For a place that is hot year round, a cold weather sport was the last thing I would have imagined. But then again, if you lived in a hot place, I think that I would like to have something cool to do as a break from the heat. But, also it brought to mind the idea that everyone is always trying to be like the Americans and those in North America. I find it crazy that we have such a large influence on other people across the globe.
Another thing that this weekend reminded me was how independent I have become in the last few years. Whenever my mom or dad would try to serve me or do everything for me, I couldn’t help but get a little restless. I hated that I couldn’t do anything for myself, but I didn’t want to be rude by rejecting their kind gestures. It was definitely an experience to live with them and to fully understand how they work in society. I am going to miss my parents, Daniel and Carla, so much when I return to the states.
Monday, January 23, 2017 Piracicaba, SP
This morning was an early one, Daniel and I woke up at 5am to go to Diego’s house. Since both Daniel and Carla had to work and couldn’t take me with them, I went to spend the day with Ellyse and her mom, Carla. Carla is an English teacher, operating her own business to help educate others about the English language. We started the day by eating breakfast, and then went for an hour walk around a nearby neighborhood. The walk was refreshing, I was able to get my daily steps in while also working up a nice sweat. Once we got back, Carla showed us her “classroom” where we looked at her teaching methods, and then proceeded to teach her English slang words and phrases. In the afternoon, we were given time to study and catch up on our school work. I took advantage of this time to complete my homework for Professor Shirota, studied for the exam and then caught up on my journal. This time was greatly appreciated because with all of the excitement of the weekend I had fallen behind.
Overall, I really appreciated the home stay. At times it was super boring and there wasn’t much to do, but then again the experience was about seeing into their lives. Of course our lives will have their good times and bad, so the boredom I felt on occasion was to be expected. But the amount of culture I felt was great. The openness of society and of my family was amazing. I was so happy to have that experience with them, even though I felt it could have been better if they had more than 5 hours’ notice. I enjoyed my time with them, although my time with Maycon and his family would have been way different. With the last minute notice, I feel that it helped me to become more adaptable for the future. Typically I would have been resentful, but now I seemed to take it lightly and just went with a positive attitude. This transformation will be incredibly helpful in my future, and I will be forever grateful for this experience.