By Julia Caulfield
Arthur Silveira (courtesy of Joanna Kanow)
Arthur Silveira is from a small town, at least by Brazil standards.
“It has 200,000 people living there, so it’s kind of a different experience being here, with 2,000,” Silveira says.
His town is in the southeast part of Brazil. It’s called Sete Lagoas.
He says, “it’s like, seven lakes, because of the lakes we have in town.”
But for about the next eight months, Silveira is living and going to high school in Telluride. He’s an exchange student, part of the Rotary Club’s exchange program.
“We exchange students usually in their sophomore or junior years,” says Patricia Kiernan, Youth Exchange Officer for the Rotary Club in Telluride. She says through the program, young people become “ambassadors of globalization”.
“They get to get a hands on experience living in these countries. Not just hearing the news or hearing the bad things. They’re living there, they’re seeing that everyone is actually pretty much the same. Food may be different, traditions may be different, but people are the same,” Kiernan says.
But how did Silveira get here? He says he wanted to come to the U.S., but he didn’t fully have a choice in coming to Colorado. According to Silveira, in Brazil students get to pick when state they want to go to, but by the time it was his turn, there was only one option left.
“When it came to me there was only the option to come to Colorado, so that’s why I’m here. But I think even if I had other options, I think Colorado is one of the best states here. Especially for people from other places. I think it’s the best one,” he says.
And when it comes to getting to Telluride, Silveira says that was completely out of his hands. But he says he’s glad to be here.
Silveira says, “I know some people who went to bigger cities and they have problems, like people don’t really like them because they come from other countries. Some people are not very supportive like here, because here, everyone is friendly and knows each other, it’s a small community. So everyone is nice to each other. I think it’s the best part of the town.
Over the course of the year, Silveira will live with several families in town. For his first few months, Silveira is living with Joanna Kanow and family.
Kanow says her family wanted to be a host family in part of pay forward experiences they’ve had while traveling.
“We travel a lot as a family, and it’s those experiences where someone lets you in to their home in a foreign country that are the most memorable experiences when you travel,” Kanow says.
She adds hosting Silveira has helped her see Telluride with a fresh perspective.
Kanow says, “it makes everything in a small town that we’ve lived in for a long time even more refreshing. Now, you get to see someone seeing snow for the first time, you get to climb him up his first mountain for the first time, we took him camping for the first time. Anywhere we take him, pretty much, is a new experience and it makes me realize how much I take for granted, or what I’m not looking at through new eyes.”
Since he got here a few months ago, Silveira says he’s already had a “very American” experience. He got to celebrate Halloween, he’s playing on the high school soccer team. He’s plans to take up skiing, and he’ll celebrate Christmas with snow for the first time.
But he says he’s also excited to help Americans see Brazil in a different light.
“Get rid of that stereotype that people have about Brazil only being violent, and full of criminals everywhere. It’s not like that,” Silveira says.
Silveira also recognizes that not everyone has the opportunity to have an experience like his, and he encourages anyone who’s able to participate.
“For anyone who’s interested in doing exchange, it’s the best experience you can get in your life, and it’s not something that everyone can do, so it’s a very good experience in your future,” Silveira says.
As for where a young person may want to go? Silveira has a suggestion.
He says, “Brazil is one of the best countries that you can go, because it’s a very different culture, and it’s much better than you think. It’s not like the stereotype you have.”
Silveira will be living in Telluride through the end of this school year. And while he’s here, there are two students from Telluride living overseas with the Rotary program. One in the Czech Republic, the other in Brazil, coincidentally just outside where Silveira is from.