Pagosa Springs Rotary Club
Delightfully pleasant and charming, as always, Laura entertained one and all with recollections and observations from her year among us.
Many of her comments were inspired by her host families, and her gratitude for their kindnesses. It would take “hours” to pay fitting tribute to their generosity, Laura observed. Suffice to say that the lack of time for such details notwithstanding, her appreciation was plain. To note just one aspect, Laura observed she is an only child, so she was delighted for the experience of sharing her life with siblings while staying with two of her host families. And with another family, she enjoyed, as well, a different new experience: puppies.
Laura commented that before coming to the US, she had seen American high schools depicted in movies and TV shows. The depictions turned out to be pretty much true to life, she said!
Her most difficult class at Pagosa Springs High School was global sciences, especially as she had difficulty understanding the teacher at first. (However, she must have overcome the difficulty – Lisa Scott, head of Rotary’s Exchange Program, later disclosed that Laura had earned straight-A grades during the year.)
Laura noted some of the differences between schools in the US and Brazil. Among others, she mentioned that in Brazil, the students don’t change rooms throughout the day, and multiple grades share the same rooms.
But the differences that seemingly left the biggest impressions on Laura were the school dances in the US, which are absent from Brazilian school life, and high school sports programs, which have no parallel in Brazil.
In particular, Laura said she played soccer with the Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirates, and loved it. She had never had the opportunity before. When asked what she would tell her friends upon her return about living for a year in the US, Laura said “playing soccer,” an astonishing observation to this reporter, knowing that soccer aficionados uniformly count Brazil as one of the premiere countries for the game in the world.
The most surprising thing about life in the US to Laura, she said, was the ability to drive a car before age 18, so that students did not need to depend always on parents for transportation.
Among memorable new things she learned, were fishing, and making chocolate chip cookies. (While cookies are evidently a delicacy unknown in her country, Laura showed that Brazilians are still fully capable of making tasty treats, even if not exactly cookies, by distributing to all a delicious confection she had made for the occasion.)
Her favorite American food? “Hamburgers,” Laura exclaimed.
Laura said she really loved Colorado and Pagosa Springs. “You’re always doing things outside,” she commented. “It’s awesome!”