From Huntsville to Grand Mama's House

When I applied to the SUSI Social Entrepreneurship Institute, I had no idea about how big this experience would be. This weekend we had the opportunity to go to Huntsville, Alabama and to be hosted by American families, getting, even more, closer to the American culture.

The day started early: the U.S. Space & Rocket Center was waiting for us. As a Portuguese, I do appreciate that some countries are trying to discover the mysteries of our universe, however, it's not a topic we used to discuss frequently, and going to Huntsville stirred my curiosity about the opportunities of the space exploration. Also, it enabled great moments with the group. More than two weeks have gone and it is extremely important to have these moments without classes or projects to foster a wonderful environment during all this experience.

At the end of the day, the Koehn Family came to bring Drita and I to their own house. I believe that this activity is one of the best assets of this program because we all have our questions about the past, the present, and the future of the other countries and this time allowed us to ask those questions, sharing our own cultural perspectives, and acquiring new ones. Also, this family was so warmly when welcoming us, cooking delicious food and being so kind with us.

Together we went to the summer church of the family of our "grand mama" Sally and to the Signal Point. We listened to all the stories about their 33 years in Brazil as missionaries in an Amazon tribe and, together, we lived the typical Sunday of this family, with a lunch for the whole family and some other host families. Thank you for all this amazing weekend!

Our time here is close to an end and now every day our mission is to enjoy it as much as possible!