Students from Italy and Portugal come to Redfield for foreign exchange experience

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Students from Italy and Portugal come to Redfield for foreign exchange experience

By Shiloh Appel

At  3a.m., 28 hours before the first day of school began, Martina Gabrieli, of Italy, and Ines Parreira da Silva, of Portugal, arrived at Angela Lodmel's home in Redfield, South Dakota.

After applying to be placed in an international home for a year through the ASSE international student exchange program, submitting a "resume," and being selected by Lodmel, the two students were finally ready to begin their new adventure in Redfield. Right away, both Ines and Martina began to notice the many differences between life in Redfield and life back home.

"The school is different. Here, every teacher is in the class and the students come and go, whereas in Italy we have the same class with the same classmates and the teachers come to our class," said Martina. "I went to school from 8 a.m. to 1p.m., and on Saturday in Italy."

"In Portugal it was the same [as Italy]. We have a classroom where the teachers just come and go," said Ines. "We would have school from 8 to 5. Here it is also much easier to do sports and school because it is everything in one place and everyone pushes you to be a part of sports and do what you like. In Portugal it is really difficult to do that. When class ends at 5, if you want to do sports, you need to go to the club and stay there and play. Some schools have basketball or volleyball, but it is during lunch hour and you have 30 minute practice two times a week. It is really different."

Having been in Redfield for two weeks now, the two high school seniors are just coming out of jet lag as there is a six and seven hour difference in time between the girls' hometowns and time in Redfield, South Dakota. Ines said they are beginning to recognize names and faces that were a blur the first week.

"It was really hard at first. I was waking up, they were having lunch [in Portugal]. I was having dinner, and it is like 3 a.m. there. It was crazy. I was really knocked out in jet lag," said Ines, who grew up in Lisbon, the capitol of Portugal and home to approximately 2.8 million people."I'm still meeting people here. It is a small community, small town, small school. On the first day, first week, everybody seemed new. But now I am getting used to the faces and realizing names. So, yeah, getting used to everything. That is one of the things that I like about being in a small town. I like it a lot."

As for food, the girls said that they do miss their food from home, but have also been able to try different things in the U.S.

"In Portugal we are healthier," said Ines."Because we are near the sea, we eat a lot of fish, so that is one of the things I am missing right now. I am also missing homemade soup. My mom would make chicken soup or vegetable soup. She loves trying out new things. But here you have much more of a variety of things. Some things never reach Portugal, so we don't have them there. You have a lot of fast food brands, more than Portugal. I have tried candy here. There are a lot of candies here that have not reached Portugal. I found out that I don't like Reeses. I thought I'm going to love it, but no, I don't like it."

"The only difference I can tell right now is the pasta," said Martina. "In Italy I used to eat pasta at lunch every day. And the breakfast, sometimes on Saturday or Sundays when we are at home I don't eat eggs or bacon. Also, some types of foods are different, like the fast food. We have only like four types of fast food in Italy."

Martina said that she was able to try Skittles for the first time and discovered that she likes them. She also likes Twisslers. She said both of these are not sold in Italy.

Communication has not been a big problem for the girls, as they both started English lessons in early elementary school.

"I studied English since the first year of Elementary, so I have some difficulties to make people understand me, but not to understand while people are talking," said Martina. "I thought it would be more difficult, but it is not."

"We start the English lessons since second grade and we can have them until High School because our High School is different. We have three years of High School, so 10th grade, 11th grade and 12th grade. So on the three years you can choose if you want to continue English or not. But until 9th grade you have to have English. So, as Martina said, I understood, and as everybody was telling me, even if I did not understand the words, I understood the context," said Ines. "But expressing myself and making myself clear is really hard, because I am still used to thinking in Portuguese. So some expressions make more sense in Portuguese, but if I translate, they don't make any sense. It is more about trying to find the right words to express myself and make myself clear to others. But everyone is really nice. What I have noticed from this community is that at school, people, teachers, everyone is really careful and try to make themselves clear for us so we can understand, and that is really good. It makes everything easier."

The girls both have many hobbies. Martina, hailing from a small town of 6,000 people, has a sister, a brother and a cat and enjoys drawing, reading classics and traveling.

"In Italy I have the opportunity to visit lots of cities and museums," said Martina. "I love going to museums. I also like listening to music and watching movies."

Martina said that she has enjoyed taking art in Redfield, as she has never had the opportunity to take an art class before. She said she also likes her English and Biology teachers in Redfield.

Ines has two sisters, one older and one younger, and also enjoys traveling. She has visited many cities in Portugal. Some of her other hobbies include listening to music of all genres, finding new bands and new songs, reading, sketching, hanging out with friends and going to the cinema.

Recently, the girls were able to go to the Brown County Fair and enjoyed a taste of American culture there.

"It was really cool," said Ines. "There was a firework show and it was the most beautiful fireworks show I have ever seen."

Both girls are in volleyball at Redfield High School and are excited about being involved in sports throughout the school year. Meanwhile, their host mother, Lodmel, said she is enjoying being the "embarrassing mom."