Paul DeMarco Reported on His Exchange to Brazil

Our guest speaker at the Aug 15 Rotary Luncheon was returning Outbound Exchange Student to Brazil, Paul DeMarco.  Paul spent his gap year in Recife, Brazil between his 2018 graduation from Tunkhannock Area High School and his upcoming attendance at Notre Dame University.
 
At his school in Recife, the students stay in the same room, but the teachers move rooms.  There were about 50 students per class and they went from 7:30 AM to 1 PM and were then done after that. His favorite part of school was the break where he got to go and pay soccer with his friends. He did play with the school basketball team, but sports were not a big thing there.  They only practiced 1 hr. per week. 
 
He did enjoy play time at the beach, surfing and going to concerts and Recife soccer matches.  He even got to go to training with the Recife soccer team and had photos with some of the team star players.
 
He helped serve breakfast to the homeless through a church down there and also helped with a poor village to whom the church provided clothes and stuff.
 
Rotary sponsored several service projects and 3 Rotary trips in which he got to partake.
  1. They did a trip to Iguaza Falls near the border with Argentina, and Paraguay. The Falls are much bigger than Niagara Falls.  They did a boat trip under the Falls.
  2. The students spent 10 days in the Amazonian rain forest on a boat on the river. They slept in hammocks and climbed trees. They visited Manaus city in the middle of the Amazon, which is a big rubber trading city.  They also went to see the pink dolphins in the river. He had the opportunity to hold an anaconda around his neck and went piranha fishing.
  3. They did a trip to Rio. They went to the beach on Ipanema and also to Carnival.

Paul DeMarco giving a talk on his exchange year in Brazil
 
After his presentation, Paul presented President Sandy Lane with a club banner from his host club in Brazil, the Recife Rotary Club in District 4500. Paul had given them a club banner from the Tunkhannock Rotary Club during his stay in Brazil.
 

Pres. Sandy Lane receiving a Recife Rotary Club banner from Paul DeMarco