Mateus has returned to warm Brazil. He reports: I see my exchange program as a compound of things. The best memory is just being at Lead Hill, being with those people and feeling the country atmosphere.
I got really happy when my airplane landed because all my friends were there. They surprised me because my mom didn't tell me that they were coming. I changed a lot. My life will never be the same, i learned things that now i cannot live without. Knowledge of new cultures always changes us, naturally. I can see this change in simple things, sometimes in conversations with friends. i have way more maturity and my posture changed.
Mateus will finish his schooling next semester then head for the university to study mechanic engineering.
He enjoyed living with the Halbmaiers--Kevin and Diana--and his host brother Jermu. Mateus says people in the US are really nice, but it is surprising the distance that people keep between themselves and others.