Want to Host? Lions Club Youth Exchange Has Students

Two host families brought their exchange students–one Brazilian and one Italian–to meet Milpitas' Mayoral couple last night at city hall.

Jose and Susan Esteves greeted the students, host families and representatives of the Milpitas Executive Lions Club in the city council chambers.

It topped off two weeks of events for teens Débora Silva of Caraguatatuba, Brazil, and Alice Ferro of Asola, Italy. They watched the new Harry Potter movie, shopped at the Great Mall and visited Great America.

Altogether, there are 33 students, mostly from Europe, in northern and southern California as part of the Lions Youth Exchange. On Saturday, Silva and Ferro head off to Lions Camp at Teresita Pines in the Angeles National Forest for a week before being placed with host families in southern California. 

In exchange, there are two American siblings from Cupertino who are currently abroad in Switzerland and Italy. Next year, there should be five, according to Marie Pham of Milpitas, chairperson of the Lions youth exchange for district 4-C6. Last year, there were six from Milpitas/San Jose.

When the Lions sponsor a youth to go abroad, "it means they are representing us as an ambassador," said Pham. The Lions Club covers a third of the travel expenses, and offers scholarships.

Pham has a group of coming later this summer. But she's already gearing up to find host families for the holiday break, when students from Australia will arrive a week before Christmas.

"I like to choose families who I know," she said, as a responsibility for ensuring the safety of the visiting youth. And planning ahead of time gives her the opportunity to meet the families interested in hosting.

Pham's daughter Sabrina León goes to school with Shelby Tindall, and that's how the Tindall family hosted for the first time.

Christina Tindall of Berryessa said she was surprised to see Brazil included in the list of countries. She requested Débora Silva, 16, who is close in age with her son Lucas, 16, and daughter Shelby, 14. 

"I thought it would be good for my children to learn about their heritage," she said. Tindall, who grew up in the states, has a Brazilian mother and a Portugese father. Her children are Brazilian, Portugese, Japanese and Irish.

While the families have taken them to different types of restaurants–Vietnamese, Filipino, Japanese, Mexican–Silva said one difference between Brazilian and American eating customs is the café-da-tarde or a meal literally called the "afternoon-breakfast."

"In Brazil, we have two breakfasts," said Silva. 

Part of new food experiences for Silva included S'mores while camping with the Tindall family at Yosemite. And Alice Ferro tried corn on the cob for the first time.

Sharing new foods did go both ways on this trip.

After visiting the mayor at city hall, Alice Ferro volunteered making pasta for dinner, the authentic Italian way, at Pham's home where she is staying.