For 16-year-old Manuela Cardoso da Silva, one of the biggest excitements about spending a school year in Kansas has nothing to do with the size of the state or the distance from her home.
It will be the Christmas trees.
In Curitiba, Brazil, where Manuela lives with her parents and two cats, Christmas arrives during summer. She has never had a Christmas tree at home. In Iola, she is looking forward to experiencing not just different Christmas customs, but Halloween, Thanksgiving, and other traditions that are unfamiliar in Brazil.
“I really want to know about other countries and cultures,” Manuela said.
MANUELA IS a junior at Iola High School and arrived shortly after Labor Day as a Rotary youth exchange student. She comes from Curitiba, the capital of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, a city of roughly 1.8 million people.
She described Curitiba as “a small version of São Paulo and quieter,” with plenty of things to do. The weather, however, has some similarities to Kansas.
“In the morning it’s cold, in the afternoon it’s warm, and at night it’s cold,” she said.
School and extracurricular activities have kept Manuela busy since arriving in Iola. She has been playing volleyball, doing homework and getting caught up with her classes since she arrived after the school year had already begun.
Volleyball itself has provided another cultural difference.
In Brazil, Manuela said, volleyball teams are divided primarily by age. In the U.S., players are often grouped according to ability, with teams made up of students of different ages.
She prefers the system here.
“I like it better because everyone has the chance to play and improve their ability,” she said.
In Brazil, she explained, players on reserve teams may not get as many opportunities to play and develop their skills.
Academically, biology has been one of Manuela’s favorite classes so far. “It’s not easy, but it’s fun,” she said.
SHE ALSO has discovered some differences in the way Americans and Brazilians eat.
Mexican food, for example, is much more common in Iola than in Curitiba. “Everyone here loves Mexican food,” she said with a laugh.
