Hello, host family! My name is Alice, I am a Brazilian girl and I am going to stay a semester studying in the USA. I live with my parents and my older sister, who I have a great relationship with, and my two dogs, Bidu and Sansão. Here in Brazil I have many friends from school because I have been going to the same school my entire life, however, I am quite shy in places where I do not know anyone and I hope to work on that while I am there with you. I value my closest friendships because I find them to be extremely meaningful to me, for example, my three friends that I met in third grade, I know I can tell them anything and they will listen and I would do anything for them. I absolutely love hanging out with my friends. It can be anywhere: at the mall, at a meeting, at a park, at school, at someone’s house. I feel well when I am around people that I like and that I know like me back. I have always been an artistic person, so one thing that is crucial to me is art. I appreciate every art expression: movies, literature, illustrations, music and I cannot live without it. I always have some music playing, I am regularly reading a book, I always want to watch a movie and I do not deny going to an art gallery. I see art as the foundation of the human being, because the type of art that people create and that they consume reveals a big part of the person’s thoughts and view of the world. I had always been drawing and painting, but, unfortunately, I have reduced the amount of time that I do that because I have too many works from school to do. I started guitar lessons last year and I really love to play, even though I am not the absolute best musician. Makeup and clothing are also something that I like. I feel well when I have my makeup on and a good-looking outfit, so I would say I am a pretty vain person, but not to the point where I would get late for school because I would be getting all dolled up, especially because I do not have the patience doing that every single day. It has been two years since I became a vegetarian, so I do not eat meat. It happened after I watched a movie called Okja from Netflix and it had changed my whole perspective about the meat that I was eating. At first, my mother disapproved my choice but then she got used to it; now I have a balanced diet. Every time I comment on that, people get interested to know more, and I think it is really nice. Even though I love to go to the beach, I do not function very well in places with higher temperatures. I get dizzy and can do nothing the whole day and it affects my humor as well. I am not the most athletic person, as I do not like to play any sports, especially the ones where I have to join a team, like soccer or basketball, but I have been going to the gym near my house since the end of last year, and, surprisingly, I enjoy doing the work outs. Some other physical activities that I am pleased to do are: cycling and walking on the treadmill, but I am willing to try out new things, since that is one of the points on going on this program. I am a very dedicated student, so I am always studying and worrying about my grades and sometimes I forget about living my life outside school. That is also something that I want to work on this time in the US: try not to take myself so seriously. I hope we get along and that we have a great time together, creating memories and exchanging experiences with one another. I am looking forward to meet you! Warm regards, Alice