High School Experiential Learning Programs in Brazil

Our son participated in the reciprocal exchange over summer, meaning our family hosted a great French student Achille for 3 weeks in San Diego and then our son spent 3 weeks in France with Achille’s family. It was so awesome for our family learning so much about French culture and having fun showing off California. Then our son had the best summer he could have asked for - he saw so much of France, beach, lakes & Paris (even going to the Olympics!) with a fabulous French family. Charlie’s French was SO much better afterwards. It really was the experience of a lifetime and the friendship and connection with Achille’s family is something we will treasure.

When I was in Brazil I saw how AFS was involved and formed relationships with their students and it showed me that making relationships and having a community that loves you and supports you is very important, but also relationships need work and everything has to contribute.

My AFS experience gave me a love for my Brazilian family and friends, a better understanding of Brazilian culture, and the skills of how to adapt better to new/ difficult situations. AFS gave advise on how to handle just about every tough situation that could possibly have occurred.

The meetings with the other AFSers were very important. It kind of formed a little foreign exchange community where we could all talk about how our experiences were going and give each other advice.

During my time abroad I gained a lot of knowledge on myself and got to know more what it is I truly want out for the upcoming years in my life. It opened my mind to a lot of different situations, topics, and ideas that I would have never come to if it wasn't for AFS and this experience. I think that after becoming an AFSer and then becoming an AFS returnee you see the world completely different.