In preparation for our 30-year reunion, I’m digging through memories of my exchange year. We wrote letters back then. The power of letters is their staying power. You have to be intentional in writing them, reading them, and then digging them out of the attic years later.
Renee and I wrote letters when we first started dating (and during my second exchange year in Chile). Those letters formed a foundation for our early relationship. On our wedding night, she gifted me a book with all of them, complete with snippets of poetry, images, and pictures. The book brings a feeling of permanence even while painting a picture of a different me (and her) and how we’ve changed over the past 2 decades.
I have a resolution to write more letters this year. Enjoy the pen and paper and surprise my friends with a stamped envelope and some thoughts. Writing letters is a way to slow down and be more intentional to the folk I care for in life.
My old letters and journals from Brazil run the spectrum. They can read as adventure logs, reflections on living, and dialogues with my future self (a peculiar habit I forgot I had…and a delight as I read them today).
A letter to my Rotary Club stands out as it summarized many of the core adventures from the year. It’s fun to read it now, especially looking backward. A fun share as the next weeks kick-off.
March 8, 1995
To my sponsoring Rotary Club in Holland:
Greetings from Brasil!
About two weeks ago I hopped onto a bus that was bound for Igarapé-Açu, a town in the interior, to teach and help translate a sex education class. I was accompanied by an American woman from Missouri who had no knowledge of Portuguese. She was here on a partnership program, an exchange program where the state of Missouri corresponds with the state of Pará in Brazil. Someone had given her my name, apparently assuming I could speak Portuguese well enough to teach sex ed! I didn’t do too badly, thankfully. Actually, it was interesting. We went to meetings held by prostitutes and learn about what they used for protection and about a day care center for children infected with HIV/AIDS or children of parents with HIV/AIDS. We also met with two Germans who were fighting the international prostitution ring.
For nearly seven months I’ve been living in the city of Belém, located near the mouth of the Amazon in northern Brazil. It’s a hot and beautiful place surrounded by rainforest. I’ve also been able to do a fair amount of traveling, both in the Amazon and out.
In January, I took a tour of northeast Brazil with 140 exchange students. That was a special treat, as I was the only exchange student in northern Brazil. It had been a romantic trip: reflecting on some of the culture of Brazil; moon-lit walks on low tide beaches; Mexico pulling out his guitar and all of us singing Beatles songs in a bus station. We danced the beautifully paced lombada with people from around the world. There was the wonderful, yet dangerous, city of Rio de Janeiro with its mountains that spring out of the sea. And the grand churches, some 400 years old, were awesome.
The best part is forming friendships. It’s nice to think that I have friends from all over the world.
It’s been a year of learning. There’s been some tough times. I had a good friend die during Carnival. Culture shock was a big obstacle for my first month or so. But it’s all been for the good.
In a recent letter to a friend’s parents, who are reluctant to let him go on exchange, I wrote: “How many teenagers get to spend a year of their lives in the Amazon? This year has brought experiences beyond value, lessons I’ll never forget. My involvement with the youth exchange program has been of the best things to ever happen to me.”
Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
Sincerely,
Zach Vander Veen
