Hola Bermuda, Soy Taniesha Brangman escribiendo desde Venezuela. Solo quiero dar las gracias al Rotary Club de Bermuda por darme esta oportunidad.

Hi Bermuda, It?s Taniesha writing from Anaco, Venezuela. I only want to give my thanks to the Bermuda Rotary Club for giving me this opportunity.

I think the most significant difference between my life here and back home is that, here I have it a bit easier. Besides for the language barrier, my life is pretty simple.

The kids here really have no worries outside of school. Everything is basically handed to them right on up until they finish college, they don?t have to work, and others don?t know the first thing about housework, their main priority is to just pass their classes in school.

They look at me weird when I tell them that I actually had to work. Also a lot of the women our housewives, if not they have a nanny. I wasn?t used to having someone come and clean the house, I was like what happened to the Saturday morning chores.

My first host family was really nice. I actually just changed families about three weeks ago. I wasn?t initially supposed to, but change is good, and it gives me the opportunity to view Venezuela differently, because the two families operate differently.

My first host family consisted of the mother, father, and a 23 year old sister, and a 26 year old brother who recently married, I also had a 17 year old sister, but she is in New Jersey on exchange.

I liked this family very much, I enjoyed the Saturday BBQs at my aunt?s house, or just going to hang out with my cousins.

My father was Italian so we ate a lot of pasta, I even got the opportunity to meet some of his family that lived in Italy. That was really nice, especially when they invited me to visit them in Italy. We never went out to dinner because my mother believed strongly in home cooked meals, so you can scratch out the take out, but we did camp in the mountains, luckily it was just in the backyard of a house, if not I would have had to bath in the river like they initially planned.

I also got to visit ?La Cuava de Guacharros?, this is a very famous cave here in Venezuela. It?s this huge dark cave, the tour lasts about an hour and a half, you enter with about 12 people and a tour guide who has the only light source.

I remember on the way back using the cell phone?s light to find the pathway out, we were all so dirty by the end of that.

They also took me over the bridge which is built over the famous Rio Orinoco, I wanted to see this river so bad, I think it was only because I had to learn a song in school for Christmas. But I liked this family, I am not sad for leaving, because I still see them, my town is too small not to.

My new family consist of, the mother, father, 11 and 15 year old sisters, and a 19 year old sister that lives in Valencia to study in university, oh and I can?t forget Inneys, she is the nanny, she is so nice and her cooking is buenisimo (really good)!

I have to say that I never miss a meal here. Since I haven?t lived with them long I cant really say too much, but they are really nice people.

I met some of the other family this past weekend, it was a family gathering on their farm, it was fun, minus the part were the sun was killing me, and when the bull tried to butt my arm. But so far I can safely say that my time here will be good.

The language barrier now isn?t that bad, I can pretty much understand everything, and I can have a conversation, but when I first got here I didn?t have a clue what these people were saying.

I didn?t take any extra lessons, I was supposed to, but it never happened. I thought I would have learned more by attending school, but it was actually by talking with friends, having general conversations that I learnt most of what I know.

Of source you learn the bad words first, my first week in school they basically sat me down making sure that I knew them, now I can say I know more than just those words.

Starting school was the easiest, just being the exchange student made me an instant celebrity, things have of course calmed down, thankfully. I am another student now, but I still have conversations with just about everyone.

My friends have been a big help with my Spanish, I do have some that speak English, but not much, it?s easier to just speak in Spanish.

The food here is really good. I don?t really have a favourite. I did when I first got here, it was fried plantains, but when they found out they starting making it to much, so I got tired of them, but I still like them.

I also enjoy a nice empanada (beef patty), or an area con mantequilla (butter). But along with the things I like, I have those things that I just couldn?t acquire a taste for.

Such as, blood, they do up cows blood in sort of a sausage, and also cow intestines. But I ate cow stomach done up in a sauce and served with rice, that was really good.

I still am able to find a few luxury items, but I don?t buy them often.

I would say to future exchange students, good luck. I say that because it?s not something that everyone can survive.

Yes the experience is priceless, one not to be forgotten, but being away from your family and friends for a year makes the journey tough. One of the girls in my district here went home, she said she couldn?t take it here.

So they really should think about it first, not to scare them but they need to realise what it entails.

I was homesick when I first got out here, that?s kind of hard to believe now. But within my first two weeks, I was ready to throw in the towel.

I could not find one good reason for me to stay here at that time. I called home to my mother begging her to let me come home, I was so mad at her and my stepfather after that.

They simply wished me good luck, told me I am not coming home and hung the phone up in my ear. But I have to say a thanks to them, because if they would have just let me come home, I wouldn?t have had the great times that I have had.

I am so glad that I stayed, I have had so much fun, besides for learning another language I have made some nice life long friendships, its going to be sad when it comes time for me to leave.

In Bermuda I attended The Berkeley Institute. Here in Anaco I attend Unidad Educativa Miguel de Cervantes.

The life is good, besides for the fat that it starts at seven in the morning. I study ten classes, which consist of Math, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, English, Castellano (literature), P.E., Science of the Earth, Geography, and Pre-military. My best grades are in math, but my favourite class I would have to say is pre-military, I like the drills and the marching we have to do.

I wasn?t afraid when I left, just nervous because I didn?t know what to expect. I did research on the country, but that is nothing compared to actually seeing it for yourself.

It is hot here, from the time I got here until now it has been hot. Right now it is getting hotter because summer is rolling in. Sometimes it gets really bad, the sun sets dead trees along the highway on fire, not to mention burning me.