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My Gaucho Host Families |
By Leslie Barratt

I have always enjoyed living in other countries, especially living with host families and getting to see the culture from the inside. For that reason, I love the way our Partnership with Rio Grande do Sul works: people stay with host families, and even when their trip is short, they can see a bit of the culture from inside its homes.

My visit in 2004 was not short; it was six weeks long. I was there to work with Instituto Cultural on their teacher development, but Partners-RS agreed to provide my lodging. I also asked if I could visit each of the Partner cities so that I could give lectures there and help promote Partner projects as well. With such a long stay in Porto Alegre, Partners-RS decided to move me to a different host family each week, but since I traveled to a different Partners city each weekend, it was a bit like a sampling of host families. I stayed with nine host families, including five in Porto Alegre. The process worked very well for me because I was able to get a sense of what is typical and what is not, and I had a chance to spend a few precious days rather than hours with some of my Gaucho friends.

I arrived in Porto Alegre on November 18 and spent my first few days with Vanda Piuma, who helped me a great deal. She spoke with me almost only in Portuguese. She encouraged me to get around Porto Alegre by myself. She took my sketchy plans for beach visits in December and turned them into concrete reservations, and she was a wonderful friend. While I was with Vanda, I also was able to spend time with Mirna, a teacher at Cultural, who took me for a wonderful walk at the nearby Botanical Gardens.

When I moved over to the Lomando family, I felt I was moving home because I have stayed with Marlene, Sergio, Eduardo, and Guilerime several times before. I had my old room, which Guileirme gets to use when I am not there. Even Whisky, the toy poodle knew me and was my personal protector when I was there. I helped Eduardo learn to make cookies, and he helped me learn some Italian. Sergio spoiled me with his wonderful papaya and yogurt breakfast, and Marlene worked hard to plan out the rest of my stay, including my weekend travels to Partners cities. Even Whisky let me accompany him to his bath/hairdresser.

Everyone needs to leave home eventually, and I left the Lomandos on Pedro Weingartner Street to stay with Louise Helena in her lovely old, rambling house on Don Pedro II Street. I got to know her daughter, Priscilla, a Youth Ambassador from several years ago, and her son, Andrei, who visited Indiana as a Youth Ambassador in 2005. I also spent time comparing knitting with her mother-in-law and talking with her husband, who was finishing up his teaching for the semester.

My days with the Boldrinis were wonderful too. This was the first family I stayed with that I didn't know beforehand. Gleci Boldrini was wonderful about driving around with me, and then after my husband Will and my son Gordon arrived for vacation, with all of us and all our luggage (sometimes just with our luggage!). Her daughters were very kind and began trying out their English once my family arrived. The Boldrini family also opened their summer house at Torres to us even before they got there.

Finally, Will, Gordon, and I stayed with Diogo Antunes in the apartment owned by his mother, Angela. It was great spending some time with Diogo again and watching him study for his Vestibular, which he passed after we left. It was also fun to watch his turtle, who was very clever about getting out of its home.

My weekend visits to Partner cities enabled me to stay with families outside of Porto Alegre. In Alegrete, I stayed with Lucas Aita's family, where, as usual, I ate more than I ever eat anywhere else. His mother, Cleonise, is a fabulous cook, and she has the freshest ingredients right off their farm. My only regret in Alegrete is that I didn't see Lucas, who was taking Vestibular exams in Pelotas. The fact that he passed has made this less disappointing. In Alegrete, I also saw Lisete Barreto and visited the Viva Vila Project.

In Ijui, I stayed with Vivian Meister, a dentist, her husband, and her 10-month-old baby in an enormous apartment above her dental offices. I gave a lecture at Yazigi and spoke with students and faculty at UNIJUI. Partner member, Rosanne Stucky and I visited an interesting project she is involved with for poor families on the outskirts of town, which contrasted sharply with my visit to the opening of the swimming pool for the summer at the country club.

Although my lecture schedule at Cultural kept getting more added to it, I managed to spend a couple of days in Bento Goncalves giving lectures at Window, operated by Partner member, Beatrice Glauche. Two highlights of Bento were the tour of the Casas das Pedras (including the Casa da Erve Mate) and a tour of Aurora winery.

In the course of six weeks, I was able to make only a short trip to Gravatai and have short visits with Carmem Englert, Clarissa Ciarelli, Ines Milke and her family, and Joice Cunha. I never was able to connect with Vera Lia, although we spoke on the phone. Partner member, Cecilia Luz took me on a tour of the projects she works with in Porto Alegre: Casa das Crian(as, a preschool for at-risk children in their neighborhood and an adjoining center for the elderly and another project across town for adults with severe mental handicaps. During my stay, the annual Partners dinner was held, where I spent a few minutes with many Partners friends, including Cristina Perna, Jussara Ziles, and most importantly, Dante Campana in what must have been his last public appearance, as he passed away three weeks later. I sat next to him as he delivered a short, impromptu speech on the founding of Partners RS-Indiana. I wish now that someone had tape recorded it.

My work at Cultural takes me to Brazil much more often than most Hoosiers get to go, but Partners allows me to stay with friends. What is typical? Everyone wants to protect me and make things easy for me, and I often have to argue for the chance to walk across town or take a bus or taxi. Everyone also tries to make my stay as perfect as possible, attending to my every need and want, whether it is a towel for the bathroom or a pair of chuteras (soccer shoes) I wanted as a present for my son. Unlike most of our Brazilian visitors to Indiana, I am committed to traveling 'light' in terms of luggage (i.e. allowing myself only carry-on bags), but I came back very heavy in terms of the abrahos and beijos (hugs and kisses) from all of our Gaucho companheiros.