My sister's side

00:02 All right, so I'm here with my sister, Carlota

00:07 Hi.

00:10 And I'm team, and that is going to be like a schoolwork, so please, no question and so on. We like to be exchange students.

00:29 Well, first of all, hi, I'm Carlota my little sister. And what made me be an exchange student was the fact that my English was very poor back in the day, and I always thought it was an area that I could improve it. And what better way to do it is not in America. Right.

00:59 Okay. How did you feel that you already been called it?

01:07 Well, the first thing we did was Google the town because we had no idea what, where it was, because I was located in job in Missouri. And whenever we googled, the only thing that showed up was, what's it called? Tornado. Yeah, the tornado. And that was a little scary. But then when we got there, when I got there, it was totally fine, and it was a lovely town, and I enjoyed very much.

01:43 How was the last time in Portugal?

01:50 It was like six years ago, but, well, it was, it was good. It was good. I did nothing. I arrived from the south of Portugal, the Algarve, where we spent our summer vacation. And I arrived from there the night before. We slept, and at like six, I went. So it wasn't properly. I didn't know anything special or anything. I was just, like, begging because I went in the middle of summer vacation for Portugal. So it was around the 15 August. So, yeah.

02:33 Do you remember that we. I couldn't sleep.

02:42 Oh, yeah, that was funny. Mm hmm.

02:46 Yeah. What was your mind, like, processing everything that was going to happen? Like.

02:57 Well, the thing I thought, I thought the most about it was the fact when I was going to land at the airport in Joplin, and I was going to have to look for my family and say, like, hi, it's me. I think that was the thing that I thought about it the most. Hello.

03:25 And that, like, say something to you. Oh, okay. Did mom or dad, like, say something when you're, like, passing the dates?

03:36 Picture, picture. Nothing else.

03:40 Nothing else. Do you still remember, like, how do you feel, what you like, your thoughts on the plane was just like, oh, I have to land there and I have to say hi to my, to a random family or you have, like, some fears?

03:56 Well, to be honest, I was on a plane. It was a good thing I didn't win alone. I went with two more people on the exchange program that I knew until at least Philadelphia. So my first big fly was the overseas flight, and it was around 7 hours, and I had company. So I didn't really thought about it. I was like, oh, let's go on the adventure. But I don't really think about things like that, so I'm just gonna go like, okay, it is what it is.

04:35 I was like, different nights, and.

04:41 Oh, I fell asleep like a rock. It was like, 06:00 p.m. and I woke up at 04:00 a.m. because I was so jet lagged. I was so jet lagged. I was really jet lagged.

04:55 Did you struggle with neglect?

05:00 Oh, I had a full headache for a week because I thought, like, in my head, everyone was just making fun of me. Like, not making fun of me. The reason they were mocking me. No, not at all. Because they were really nice. But it was in the sense of that everyone was speaking to me in English instead of in Portuguese. It was like, why are they doing this to me? What's wrong with you all people? That was the only thing after that, I don't even. What?

05:34 Go ahead.

05:35 Oh, I was saying after that, I don't even remember. How was it, like.

05:45 Who do you say? Your difficulties.

05:55 Inspiring posts on Instagram.

06:00 Really, like, you. You have to leave your life.

06:07 Oh, sorry. Yeah, no, something like the sun. Sorry, I'm charging the computer. Just give this. Okay. Something like this. Shut. The sun shines every day, so every day is a new opportunity to make a better day.

06:34 Okay. In school.

06:43 Oh, the first day of school. So in my school, we had strict dress code, and then I didn't know in the first day because no one told me, but we couldn't use our phones, not even in a hallway. In Portugal, I'm used to only not be able to use my phone on in the class. So I was walking around from class to class, and it was on my phone, and I happened to walk by, by the principal's office, and he literally screamed at me, like, what are you doing with your phone, young lady? And I could barely speak English. I was like, sorry, sorry. Didn't know. Didn't know. Uh, so, yeah, it was not. It was.

07:29 It was.

07:29 It was funny. It was funny.

07:33 Um, you're, like, the most. While you were there.

07:42 Oh. I couldn't single one person out, but if I had to, it would be just for one specific reason, because a lot of people impact me, so I couldn't please just one out. But I had a swim coach that he was like, he. I never thought a team, that sport that was individual could be such a team sport at the same time. So I thought it was really inspiring because of that because he made it individual sport, being a team sport, and it was really fun and enjoyable.

08:16 Do you have any breakdown.

08:22 Like, in the beginning, like two weeks into it, I was like, oh, no. For like, three days. Three days. It was fine. I don't know. I was just tired. I had no friends yet I missed home. It was just everything. I was like, what's wrong with people? So, yeah.

08:51 Funniest memory you have.

08:56 Oh, again, I couldn't single one out. I had a lot of fun. It was really fun. I don't know. I have no idea.

09:09 While you're in USA, what did you miss the most? From Portugal.

09:16 All my family, of course. Oh, no. For real. Ocean.

09:32 While you were there, like, you thought, oh, my God, I'm gonna go back.

09:42 Only in those three days. I think after that it was like, okay, okay, seven days. It was just like, three more months to go. Nine more months ago, somebody is just like, only five more months. What's wrong with this? It's a. It's a nice roller coaster. Did you get the.

10:08 Way you imagine your future change? Can you hear?

10:16 Well, I had no idea what I was going to do in my future. For example, in college, but I kind of left still with no idea, but it's with some options, and I ended up doing nothing. So nothing of those options. So maybe indirectly, but directly, not really.

10:42 How was, like, besides the phone like, moment, how was your.

10:52 It was crazy. So we have red days and white days. So first I had no idea what was that? And I had to learn that. And then they gave me a wrong locker because I was a senior, and they gave me junior locker, and then I had to switch, go to the council. The school was huge, so I was in room, uh, 109, and I had to go to room a thousand. And I be like, wrong with school. And we had only four minutes to switch classes, so it was like running around, and then it was just crazy busy, crazy busy. Then I had practice after, and, yeah.

11:38 I bet if you, like, look to the. How many steps you did in the whole day, in the first day of school, be like, I don't know, like 5 miles.

11:49 It'd be insane. Yeah, I have no idea. It was so extra. And then I would just stop and go, like, to a teacher that was in a corner, I was like, hey, where is this class? I have no idea. Where's this class? They were like, oh, is it a corridor to the left? To the right? And I was like, okay, thank you.

12:09 How did you feel when you get back to Portugal?

12:19 Well, the day I got back, I was so jet lagged that I was crying at six asking my mom to go to bed, and mom was like, don't go. You have to fight the jet lag. And I was like, I can't, I can't. I spent 23 hours of flying. I can't do this anymore. So. Yeah.

12:42 Wait, you remember because. Because, uh, dad didn't let you drive the car?

12:52 No.

12:53 Oh, my God. Yeah. You were like, ask, why would I.

12:57 Drive the car if I had no license to it? I don't know.

13:01 You were like, oh, but, uh. But Kurt let me drive the car. And I was like, yeah, just let me. You're so, like, in the practice where.

13:22 I don't know what. I don't know why? Because I didn't had an license, and Kurt never let me drive the car. I never drove it. So that's. I don't know if you hallucinated that or what it was. You were pretty young.

13:41 We are in the mechanic and you're. Oh, can I drop a car?

13:45 We didn't. We didn't went. We didn't went to the mechanic. They. You guys picked me up. No, after.

13:53 And then they have, like, a little car, this one. Kids, literally.

14:03 Oh, I don't know what would that happen, but sure. Next.

14:10 Do you like something before you get back to work? My back.

14:15 Huh?

14:19 On the night before, before you went back to Portugal.

14:23 Oh, like a party or something?

14:26 Yeah.

14:29 Well, to be honest, all my friends did graduation parties, so that was like a week or two weeks before I left, so we all hang out there. And then I did, like, individual hangouts with my best friends. Like, oh, saying bye to one, saying bye to one, say bye to another one. And basically, the week before I came, the people were always over in my house, so we all hang out and went to the drive in and nothing special. We just hang out more often. That week.

15:05 Did you miss, like.

15:12 Yeah, it was good. It was great life. Oh, I don't miss it. And, like, I wish I could go back. No, it's like, it's done. It was good. Next, because I don't know what you were saying.

15:38 I was saying that, but, like, how different was the life in USA?

15:45 Well, it was different. First of all, in Portugal, I always did a lot of sports, as you know, and then I stopped doing it when I was in 9th grade, and then I didn't do anything else until my senior year in high school. So basically, I restarted practicing every day and a lot of hours a day and competing every week. And I. Yeah. And that point of view, it was. It was good because I love sports and competing, and I had my time very full. That's something that I like. I don't like dead time, so, yeah. And all the weekends, we were very busy, too, as a family. We always had the plan or something to do, so, yeah, that's something that I appreciate in a lifestyle, so, yep, that's how different it was.

16:42 Cool. What do you miss the most? If you say your host family, I'm gonna be mad.

16:57 Oh, no. I was thinking about food. I was all the way in food, like, chiefly Sonic. I was a slushie from Sonic. A lemon berry slushie from Sonic. That's my jam right there. You were needed. Sonic is my personality, if I have to describe it. Sonic.

17:29 How do you think you change after that experience?

17:35 I lost that. I don't know. I just grew up. I don't know. I've never spent that much time without my family. And that makes you grow up and you become more independent and you become more proactive in life. You want to do things, they get things done, and. Yeah. Just growing up a little more grown up than I was. Yep.

18:13 Do you feel like, like, your mentality grow, girl?

18:26 Yeah. Because first, like, experiencing different cultures makes. Makes you think in different ways, put things in a different perspective. While people there stayed in Portugal for a full year, it kind of seemed like they didn't grow a lot. Like, they were kind of the same. Like, literally, I was out for nine months and nothing has changed. I did this whole amount of things, and nothing has changed. Back home, it was like I pressed pause at home, you know, like, at home with my friends, I'm saying back home in Portugal. And so, yeah, that was. That was kind of it.

19:12 Did you struggle when you. When you went back to Portugal?

19:19 Not really. Not struggling? Well, I struggle in the sense that everyone was in school and I was at home already, like, looking at the sky. So during the day, I had no friends, and when I had friends, they were either studying or. Or had to study or were in school. So, yeah, that was kind of weird not to be in the same level of your. As your friends.

19:50 Do you have any advice for me?

20:02 Great. Be good in sports, make friends, and party hard. I'm joking. I'm joking. And have fun.

20:19 Football game. I forgot about that one.

20:23 It was bad. I hated it.

20:26 Why?

20:27 I had no friends. What was the fun?

20:30 I would.

20:31 8Th grader. I hate. I went. Well, it was fun. I went to be the 8th grader. Abby and I went. My host sister and her friends. And I had been there for, like, three days because mine was, like, three days into school and. Yeah, but it was fun. Like, it was fun, but I didn't think was going on. I just hang out with kids, so. Yeah.

21:07 Ask me anything.

21:10 Tell me what? Tell me more. I thought this was a Q and A. I thought you were just making the questions. But am I supposed to flip the book?

21:27 No, I'm just asking if you want to ask me something.

21:31 Are you having fun? Are you enjoying it?

21:34 I. Okay, so I think so.

21:46 How long was it?

21:51 It's still going, so stop talking. Well, thank you for doing my homework.

21:58 You're welcome. Always. Here. Bye.