Members of the Rotary Club of Weyburn were given a final presentation by their exchange student for the past year, Giovanna Palhares, at a supper meeting on Thursday evening.
She gave an emotional talk after sharing a power-point presentation where she shared many photos of the many people she met in Weyburn and with fellow exchange students from around the world, and the many places in Western Canada she visited over the year, including trips to Churchill and Winnipeg, Man., Banff and Jasper, Regina and Moose Jaw, and many other places in between.
With her voice tremulous from her strong emotions, she said, “How could I describe something as indescribable as my exchange year? I will try, I promise! It was weird, crazy, awesome, funny, sad and so happy at different times.”
Quoting a statement she had heard elsewhere, Giovanna said of her exchange year, “‘It is a life, in one year.’ I wish it was something that everybody could do because it makes for huge growth … It is about having new opportunities, making new friendships, discovering yourself, and discovering how strong and brave you are.”
She went on to describe the many things she was able to learn as an exchange student, saying, “An exchange is to learn a new culture and to know new ways to do things. It is to open your mind and see how all of us are different, even living on the same planet. It is learning how to value the little details and cultivate new loves. It is about having a blazer full of remembrances and a heart with lots of souvenirs. It is to live unforgettable moments, as I lived,” she said.
Giovanna had some unique experiences from living in and travelling in Canada.
“I could never imagine, that someone, who had never seen snow before, could survive in -36 degrees, or that to see animals on the road was common. It is all memories that nobody can steal, and I will remember, every day of my life, the opportunities that I had in here, such as to watch the northern lights, to see polar bears, to hike a mountain, to ski, to watch a hockey game a thousand times, or even the most weird things as to come home from school in the afternoon and not at 1 p.m., or to eat bacon for breakfast, to have a New Year for the first time in the snow and not on the beach,” she said to laughter at some of her memories.
Some of the Canadian foods she has tried and loves, making her to say “ I want more”, include perogies, poutine, DQ ice cream, Tim Horton’s, maple syrup, French toast, pancakes, iced tea and caramel popcorn, adding to laughter, “and after, to cry at the kilos that I have gained.”
In regard to maple syrup, she noted one of her favourite snacks was to pour maple syrup over a plain piece of bread.
She also shared some of the financial lessons from her year in Canada, saying, “This year was like a university course of economics, where you have limited money, but you want to hang out with your friends, to travel and to buy everything and a little bit more.”
In Giovanna’s final thoughts, she shared how deeply this year has impacted her as a person as she now prepares to go back to her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, adding the hope that she will be able to come back here to visit some day.
“It’s impossible to explain, because there doesn’t exist a word to describe this year. I just have to thank all the people that made this possible, the Weyburn Rotary Club for the opportunity and their affection, the WCS for all the care and kindness, all my host families, to make me feel like a real daughter, and all my teachers for all their help and understanding.
“And thank you all my new friends that I will always remember. And of course thanks Canada, for more than just my memories, but now, Canada is part of my heart.”
