A few familiar faces joined the Weyburn Rotary Club’s virtual meeting on Thursday, as four former exchange students joined via Zoom, and shared about their lives since they were in Weyburn for their exchange year.
The students included Liza Biard of Lorient, France, Javier Antonio of Grand Bourgeois, Argentina, and Felipe Novachinski, who lives in Curitiba, Brazil, along with Giovanna Palhares, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who had appeared in an earlier meeting.
During her turn to update the Rotary members, Liza noted it was 8:40 p.m. where she was, and her mom came in with her supper.
She said she is in preparation to take tests for entering a post-secondary school.
She added she hasn’t yet decided whether to specialize in English literature or politics.
“The lockdown is over, for less than a month, and I’m slowly returning to live in this condition,” said Liza of her life in northwestern France during COVID-19.
“Right now I’m learning how to drive. It’s very stressful, I don’t really like it,” she added with a chuckle.
Javier said he has been employed for the last few months in Argentina, after working for a company that did finances in the U.S. and Canada.
“Here in Argentina, we are still under quarantine,” he said. “I haven’t been out for the last few months.”
Felipe wore a Saskatchewan Roughriders hoodie for his appearance, earning applause from many of the attendees, and said he is currently working as a music producer. He graduated from college last year, and began doing his music “just before this craziness”.
Asked what instruments he plays, he held up a portable keyboard and said he plays a little bit of everything, and invited people to check him out on social media.
“I miss Canada a lot,” he added.
In her previous appearance, Giovanna noted she is almost finished her final exams for her final year of university, but needs to do a practicum as she is training to be a dentist. She indicated she may have to come back in August to do the practicum at the university, to complete her program.
She had her father join in the meeting, and a fellow Rotary member from Sao Paulo, Leandro Lacenda and his wife, who are planning to come to Canada once it’s possible again.
The students were also informed that Weyburn Rotary member Doug Loden will be the next club president, taking over in July. He had been the club’s counsellor for most of the students for the past number of years.
“I’m very happy to know that,” commented Giovanna.
“We really enjoyed seeing you all. We miss you,” said current club president and meeting host, Nancy Styles.
