VOL. XIII, NO. 8
FEBRUARY 25, 1972

AYE Students Tell Opinions Of Maine, American Life
Hello, Rosemary Cabral, Heloisa Correa de Lara, Marcos Justus, and Ricardo Pessoa Ferraz.

Rosemary, Heloisa, and Ricardo are from Sao Paulo, a state in Brazil, but Mareos is from the state of Parana, Brazil. The four are staying with people who are attending Maine West.

The AYE program is very different from AFS and in no way should it be confused. For example, to be an AYE student there are no tests required, only the desire to learn and to be taken into a home in another country. The living quarters are free, but the transportation to the country and the recreation are paid by the traveler.

One might expect that the weather change would take some getting used to from the 70 degree temperatures one is used to, but each of the exchange students had his own view of what took getting accustomed to in this country.

For the most part their first impression of the country was that it seemed like home; the warm climate of Miami, where they first landed, and the fellow Brazilians on the plane. The only one who didn't know for sure about her first thoughts of America was Rosemary; she stated, "My contacts hurt and I couldn't see."

During the time they have lived here their views of the states have changed. The changes came in all forms from fashion, climate, schools, and extra-curricular activities.
 Heloisa stated, "The clothes here are very old-fashioned. The clothes here were of 10 years ago in Brazil and the school rules, I do not like. I do not like the rule that you must stay in a class if you don't like the class. In Brazil we don't have this rule."

The rules of this school also presented a problem to Marcos who stated, "I don't like that you can't smoke and if you want to you can't leave the campus. I also don't like that you have to have passes wherever you go."

For the most part they all like Maine and the students, but they feel their fellow students are over friendly.

The four noticed a change in the night activities too. It was decided that the Americans wait for the weekends to do things and do nothing on the week nights.

Ricardo pointed out that "In Brazil I belong to four clubs I can go to and do what ever I want. I can play tennis and soccer and various other sports. Here there is nothing for me to do."

Rosemary added, "I miss going to the parties and the night clubs. I also used to go to the clubs. Here I mostly shop."

The four have about the same ideas on America and wish to try about the same things before they leave. They would like to try skiing and maybe a little more shopping and to learn as much as possible before their short stay is up.