FEBRUARY 23, 1968
'Everything Is Different'
Olavo Ribeiro, the brown-eyed junior from Rio de Janeiro, plans to attend Maine West until June. "Then I will return to my home." Olavo is sponsored by the Youth for Understanding program.
Home to Olavo includes the sandy beaches at the Atlantic Ocean where he spends most of his time. Skin diving is a sport he really enjoys. He also likes soccer, judo, and water skiing.
Olavo has four sisters and two brothers.
"I like Maine West very much," admitted Olavo. "It is as big as the school I went to in Rio de Janerio. But Des Plaines! It is too cold!'
Being accustomed to the warm weather back home, the 15-year-old Brazillian is finding it hard to cope with the wintry weather in Illinois. "In Brazil it is 70 degrees in the winter and around 95 degrees in the summer," he explained.
Olavo's schedule at Maine includes English III, history, French III, and geometry. He enjoys math, English, and French equally.
According to this lively exchange student, the Brazilian teens enjoy movies, parties, clubs, and the beach. "Every-one is tan down there because of the sun."
"What spare time!" exclaimed Olavo, when questioned about his free time. He is residing at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver and daughters Kathie '69 and Barbara '71.
After high school Olavo is planning to go to a Catholic university, where he will study engineering.
He expressed his joy at being chosen as a foreign exchange student but added that it was quite a process.
"There were a lot of papers to complete and English courses to pass. I also had to review Brazilian history so I would know the answers if anyone asked me about it!"
Meat and fried potatoes are among Olavo's favorite foods.