Isadora Bueno (third from left) was the special guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Osoyoos luncheon last Thursday afternoon. Bueno has come to Osoyoos as part of the Rotary Long-Term Youth Exchange Program. She will be living in town and going to school at Osoyoos Secondary School until next July. Bueno is shown with (from left) Marieze Tarr, whose family hosted Bueno when she first arrived in town, Rotary Club of Osoyoos president Dennis Smithers and youth exchange director John Robertson. Photo by Keith Lacey.
Isadora Bueno is enjoying her Canadian experience so much she’s already dreading the day she has to return to Brazil.
The outgoing and friendly teenager, who turned 16 at the end of August, has come to Osoyoos as part of the Rotary Club’s Long Term Youth Exchange Program. She arrived in town the last week in September and will be staying with three host families until she returns to Brazil at the end of July next summer.
Bueno was the special guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Osoyoos’ regular luncheon meeting last Thursday afternoon at the Best Western Inn.
After detailing to Rotary Club members how life is different for a teenager who grew up in Brazil compared to her new experiences in Canada over the past three months, Bueno said she is “loving every second” she has spent in Osoyoos and doesn’t look forward to leaving.
“The hardest part is going to be leaving this place,” said the friendly teenager. “I miss my Mom and Dad and my friends in Brazil, but I always knew I would be going back home. When I leave Canada, I don’t know if I’ll ever come back here, so that’s going to be very difficult.”
Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures. Currently, about 9,000 students are sponsored by Rotary clubs every year.
Typically, students are sent to another country for a year-long stay, generally living with multiple host families during the year and being expected to perform daily tasks within the household as well as attend school in the host country.
Short-term exchange programs are also quite common. These typically involve direct student exchanges between two families arranged through Rotary to coincide with major school holiday periods.
Bueno grew up in the Brazilian town of San Sebastian as the single child of Marina and Adriano – her mother is a veterinarian and her father is a teacher.
Like any other teenager travelling several thousand kilometres away from home, there have been some difficult adjustments for Bueno, including adapting to a new diet, different weather and culture shock.
She talked about those challenges during her presentation at the Rotary Club meeting.
In Brazil, her diet consisted mainly of red meat, rice and beans for dinner, she said.
“In Brazil, I would eat steak, rice and beans for dinner almost every day,” she said. “We eat a lot of different kinds of beans … here it is really different and one of the biggest differences I’ve found over here is the food.”
Being able to see the first snowflakes of her life 10 days ago was a thrill and something she will never forget, said Bueno.
Even though she has heard southern British Columbia has some of the mildest weather in the country, it has been a tough adjustment as Brazil has some of the hottest temperatures in the world, she said.
“I miss the beach so much,” she said laughing. “In my town today the temperature is almost 40 (Celsius). The seasons are opposite than what they are here in Canada. It gets close to 50 in the summer months and the coldest it gets down in the south is around zero. Where I live in the winter months it’s still about 11 degrees.”
Brazilian culture was founded on numerous immigrants from around the world travelling there after their leaders freed the slaves from Africa in the 19th century, Bueno explained.
“The different cultures mixed and made up Brazilian culture,” she said. “It’s a big reason Brazil is such a warm and friendly country because we all try and get along.”
The game of soccer is a “national passion” admired by virtually every single citizen, she said.
The fact Brazil is considered one of the very best soccer nations in the world over the past 50 years – the national team has captured five World Cups – is a great source of national pride, she said.
“We are really proud to be the best,” she said smiling.
The annual Carnival celebration each February attracts tourists from around the world and is a social event every Brazilian looks forward to with great anticipation, she said.
“It’s the biggest cultural festival in the world and it’s not just in Rio or Sao Paolo, but in every town and village,” she said.
While she missed her parents and friends, Bueno said she has thoroughly loved her Canadian experience so far.
She stayed with School District 53 chair Marieze Tarr and her husband Garnet during the first couple of months and is now staying with Lloyd and Kelly-Anne Matthews and their family. She will be staying with a third family beginning in the spring.
Being on her own for the first time has instilled self-confidence and independence, she said.
“I joined this program because I wanted to make a difference and I know I can be one of those people who can make a difference in the world,” she said.
Bueno said her English skills have improved dramatically since arriving in Osoyoos and she’s doing well in school.
“My marks are about the same as they were in Brazil so I think I’ve adjusted well,” she said.
She has enjoyed her first three months and volunteering to visit and read to seniors at Mariposa Gardens has been another highlight, she said.
A lot of the seniors there only speak Portuguese, her first language, and she looks forward to every visit to talk and read to them.
“They have been so nice to me,” she said. “When you read to them they really appreciate it and I love going there.”
Her only complaint, said Bueno, is she finds Canadians to be overly shy.
“You are really different,” she said laughing. “People are so nice and very polite, but they’re shy and a lot of them are afraid to come and talk to me because they know I’m from another country.”
John Robertson, director of the youth exchange program with the local Rotary Club, said staff and administration at Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) have been fantastic in working with Bueno and making her feel right at home.
Osoyoos high school graduate Tianna Smith is part of the 2012 program and is currently on a Rotary exchange program in Finland.
