Contributed photo/Nate BodenstabHOULTON — The Houlton Rotary Club met for its luncheon meeting on Oct. 31 with Rotarian Ellen Schneider sponsoring the guest speakers Rebecca Mooers and Annessa Wilde, youth exchange students.
Mooers spoke first and shared her “experience of a lifetime” and her gratitude to the club for choosing her. Mooers hosted Zooey from France. Zooey was amazed by the portions at Grammy’s compared to how food is served in France.
The trees along Route 95 amazed her as did a port-o-potty at a Journey concert. The highlight of her trip was visiting Washington, DC and the White House, something she bragged about back home when she hosted Mooers in France. She did not brag about American food as she called it fake, especially when no bread was offered at a restaurant in Acadia. Over a Thanksgiving dinner prepared in July for the exchange students all Zooey liked was the mashed potatoes.
Hiking at Baxter State Park was not a favorite and the ballgame at Fenway Park was confusing, but the two weeks at the beach and tubing was for her fantastic. Mooers understood the food issue when she got to go to France with Zooey. Fresh bread at all meals and fresh squeezed orange juice at breakfast, long dinners at four hours in length with many courses and smaller portions highlighted the cultural food differences to Mooers. A new event in Mooers’ life was learning to surf.
Zooey’s family took them to an island and Mooers learned to use a surfboard and enjoyed lunch and games and life on the beach with even a sunset beach party. Mooers got to visit five castles in two days, Tin Tin’s House, and went to Bordeaux for shopping. She thanked Rotary for the best summer of her life.
Annessa Wilde hosted an Italian exchange student and her visit overlapped with Rebecca Mooers exchange student so they shared the Journey concert and the summer Thanksgiving event. Her new Italian friend learned English quite well over the exchange and tested back at home to becoming much more proficient in the language.
They enjoyed a visit to Boston’s Quincy Market and the Freedom Trail. Mac and cheese became a new favorite food along with poutine. Wilde took her exchange student to the Old Port in Portland, LL Beans and the Wholly Donut as well as an amusement park in New Hampshire.
Hiking in Baxter with Mooers and Zooey was not too successful but the Fourth of July in Houlton with the fireworks and Midnight Madness was very successful.
The Italian itinerary for Wilde began in Tuscany with a visit to the beach. Wilde loved the Tuscan scenery. A visit to Florence was a highlight for Wilde for all of the gothic architecture, cathedrals, Brunelleschi’s Duomo and Michelangelo’s David.
They also toured Sienna. And a surprise visit to Milan for a Beyonce concert. Wilde also experience a gondola ride in Venice and appreciated glass blowing by a local artisan. Since she flew out of Rome, Wilde was able to visit the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Arch of Titus and coordinated a visit with Mooers’ sister Emily, who was also in Rome.
Wilde said she attended a Rotary meeting in Rome that took place in the evening and dress clothes were required. Her favorite food became Gelato and she enjoyed the espresso bars with croissants and cannoli. Pizza was served as a medium size and for one person to eat at one sitting. Meals could take hours with five courses in a family meal and pasta served twice a day. Florentine steaks were served very rare but she found them delicious especially at $60 a plate.
Driving speeds were scary for Wilde as she realized the average speed was around 115 miles per hour on the highway. Wilde thanked the Houlton Rotary Club for a wonderful learning experience and mentioned that her exchange student plans to visit her again next summer as they have become good friends.
