Interact

 One of the best experience so far happened this weekend. EMIC it was called and it was for all the Interact and Rotaract's in Minas Gerais (my state). Rewind to about 2 weeks before the trip. On Facebook, my district has a group and thats how we all communicate. One boy brought up something about EMIC in Viçosa. I had no idea what it was, well neither did any of them. I tried to look into it and still didn't have a clue. I really wanted to go though, any chance I have to spend it with my Exchange Student friends I will gladly take it in a heartbeat. I wasn't really informed on any of the details about the trip, and if you know me, you know I wait to do things until the very last minute! (sorry mom ya things haven't changed) But anyways, saturday was the trip, and friday night before the trip I got in touch with my Exchange Student friend in a town close to me. I asked her if I could get a ride to Viçosa. It was hard to get in touch with the lady she was going with. She didn't answer her phone and it was getting down to the wire. I was getting nervous I wasn't going to be about to go. That friday night was tough. I went online right before I was going to bed, and saw my friend sent me a message on Facebook. She sent me a PDF of the invitation and what you needed to bring. It was about 11:00 pm and I brought it downstairs to show my mom. I needed a cushion to sleep on, an authorization from my club, and clothes for the parties each night. I still had no idea what it was, I thought it was just my district and it was something we had to go to, but I was totally wrong. So I packed my stuff, well some of the stuff I needed, the night before. My mom and dad were leaving the night before to go to the beach and if I didn't pull my act together in time I had to go with them. Not saying that the beach is a bad choice, I just really wanted to see my Exchange friends. I went to bed and the next morning my parents just decided to get me a taxi to go there. 3 hours in a taxi, and I arrived in Viçosa. The problem was; where to go. The person who I was supposed to call did not have any service, called him about 45 times and he didn't answer. Me and the taxi driver man, just sitting in Viçosa. Neither one of us knowing what to do, and not really speaking, because of the language barrier. Can you say AWKWARD. I then had an idea, I would call Juan, my district counselor and ask if he knew where to go. Thank God for Rotary business cards! I talked to him and finally found out where to go. I arrived at the place. It was a big warehouse looking building in the middle of nowhere on top of a hill. I thought to myself "I guess this is it huh?". I took my things out of the trunk and the taxi man left. Many kids walking by and some just hanging around. I was alone, awkwardly standing there. My blazer on (not to mention, the only one), my bags in my hand, and one very confused look on my face. The girl asked my what district I was from. I thought it was all my district but no, it was all the districts in my state. Interact is like a Rotary for teens, they put on 3 events a year, and this was one of them. The event my district organized. So I was standing there, alone. There was a group of kid at the "sign-in table" and thats where I was standing near. One boys finally started to talk to me. He spoke English. He asked where I was from and some basic questions. He asked if I came alone and I said yes. They were all very surprised, not sure why. They said I was brave...again, not sure what thats supposed to mean. So the conversation died down and I was still standing there. I get a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and it was Rogelio, a boy from Mexico, who is in my district. I whipped around and gave him a huge hug! I was so happy to find somebody I knew. We were talking and then more people started showing up. We both had no clue what to expect with this event. Vans would arrive and dish out a bunch of kids, and more would come right after, until the whole room was filled with kids. Some vans yelling chants about Interact and so much energy. Once my whole district showed up, it was so fun. We had so much free time, so we just talked a lot. I really liked it, just chilling out. Later that night we found more and more exchange students. Three more from Mexico, one boy from India, and a girl from France. All one big family. For those 4 days we were always together. Ana Flavia (Brazil), Natalia (Mexcio), Naime (Mexico), Rogelio (Mexico), Julio (Mexico),  Diego (Mexico), Ina (Philippines), Daniel (Mexico). You guys are my family. Before I left for the trip I was having a really hard time with homesickness, and I was not myself. But once I got home after this weekend with the other Exchange Students, I now am missing them, and feeling homesick from not being with them in Viçosa. Weird huh!
 Well I'll wrap this up by saying everyone there got very minimal sleep, at 6:30 the Veterans would run around the place going from room to room, banging on drums waking us up for food. The thing is, most of us just went to sleep at 5:00 AM so it was very rough. Our room was packed with people air mattresses and cushions, you could barely see the floor. It reminded me of camp, but it was so much fun!

A regular afternoon

Left to right: Daniel (Mexico), Rogelio (Mexico), Me (USA), Diego (Mexico)

All left to right: Diego (Mexico), Ina (Philippines), Me, Naime (Mexico), Rogelio (Mexico),  Miehra (France), Luis (Mexico), Natalia (Mexico), Amy (Mexico), Bharat (India), Julio (Mexico), Daniel (Mexico)

UniViçosa

Cheers

Meeting

Everyone!

The Warehouse. (AKA our home for 4 days)

One of the girls rooms (Where I stayed)

All the Exchange students again! + Juan and his daughter who went to Germany on Exchange