Huntsville residents get top marks for their general friendliness and political smarts, according to Maria Jose Miquel. The Rotary exchange student has been living in Huntsville since August and while admittedly winter isn’t her favourite season, she said she loves the idyllic small town feel Huntsville has to offer in any season.
She likes that she feels safe walking down Huntsville’s streets on her own, that people feel OK about leaving valuables such as their cell phones in their cars and that residents seem to be in tune and interested in what their elected representatives are up to.
We sat down at a local coffee shop on Sunday. The temperature outside was hovering around -18 degrees Celsius, while in Miquel’s hometown of Talagante, Chile it was the opposite at about 19 degrees Celsius. But Miquel was dressed for the cold; she said she bought her winter coat here because it’s much cheaper, given that the coldest winter temperatures where she lives do not generally fall below 4 degrees Celsius. Talagante is located approximately 40 minutes from Chile’s Santiago city centre and its population in 2012 was roughly equivalent to that of Barrie’s.
“There’s a lot more cars,” said the quiet-spoken Miquel of the place she’s from. Although at 17 she has already graduated from high school in Chile, she’s staying active with her academics by taking courses at Huntsville High School. HHS is bigger than her high school, the dress code is more relaxed as students don’t have to wear uniforms like they do in her school and there’s a lot more movement, said Miquel, referring to having to rotate for classes instead of staying put in one classroom and having your teachers come to you. She said she’s made friends at HHS and has found everyone to be very helpful and friendly. Sure there are some snobs, like in any other high school, but she says the friends she has made are pretty cool and she’s hopeful some will visit her when she returns to Chile in July.
Miquel, who says she was nervous about leaving her home and coming to Canada for the year on her own, has warned her friends back home that they’ll find her different when she returns. Travelling to a new country for a year and staying with various host families – about five by the time the year is done – has made her more independent, a little less shy and broadened her horizon. “I think if I’m travelling already at my age, I will never stop travelling around the world.” So far, she said she’s realized that people are really not all that different.
In Chile, people tend to be very welcoming to visitors from countries that are generally viewed as having a higher socioeconomic status such as countries in Europe or North America, but visitors from poorer South American countries such as Peru or Bolivia don’t exactly get the red carpet treatment. “I don’t like that about Chile,” said Miquel. Travel has given her a new perspective on the issue. She said she was used to hearing derogatory comments about visitors and immigrants to her own country and she didn’t really give it a lot of thought until she came to Huntsville. “I see news from Chile about racist people and I just get really mad, more than before. Now I’m used to nice people that tolerate other people.” She thinks everyone should have an opportunity to travel and experience being a foreigner in another land.
Miquel is the baby of the family with an older brother who is 24 and sister who is 22. Her parents are both dentists but that’s not the path she wants to take. She’s interested in studying sociology. When she returns to Chile she will take the customary university entry exam, which will determine which universities she can apply to. She said her parents were pretty nervous about her trip because they didn’t know how she’d respond to being away from home, but they’re much more at ease now. They’re also thankful to the Huntsville Rotary Club for taking care of her and they communicate often with its members. “Now they are relaxed because they know that I’m fine,” she said.
While here, Miquel has gone kayaking and skiing. She said she was nervous about both but feels empowered by her new adventures. She really enjoyed skiing, despite her many falls, and will convince her friends to go skiing with her in the Andes when she returns to Chile. She’s also excited about a Rotary trip in June that will take her to Toronto for a second time and then to Niagara, Montreal and Prince Edward Island with various stops along the way. She will then return to Huntsville for about a week before hopefully meeting her parents in New York for some sightseeing before returning to Chile.
She found out about the Rotary exchange program through a neighbour whose two daughters had also attended an exchange program in the United States. She said the program has also encouraged her to hone in on her cooking skills so she can share some of Chile’s typical dishes with her host families. The most popular so far has been a pastry dish called Calzones Rotos. Literal translation: Ripped Underwear. Those looking for a culinary adventure can find the recipe here.
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