He's here!!!!

We picked up Matheus today in Charlotte after an orientation session at a hotel near the airport. He is such a cutie! He came up and gave us a hug and we immediately started chatting and getting to know each other. His English is VERY GOOD!! We got to meet many of the other exchange students also...including the other young man that was in our final choices.... Jerome...from Hong Kong. He is staying with a family from Spartenburg, SC....I think. He seems like a nice kid....everyone there seemed very nice. We talked with a family who were hosting for the first time....they had a son and daughter....they were so cute as they were SOO excited waiting for their students to arrive.

They had a map where they had put black dots for each student showing where all the exchange students are placed. Here is the one for NC and SC showing all the students.

and here is a close up of our area showing the students placed in Hickory/Lenoir area.

After we left the hotel we went to Cracker Barrel to eat...he had never been there before...he asked about getting free refills for sodas as he says this is not done in Brazil. He shared about his flight and family. He lives in a gated community there in Brazil and he has 2 older brothers, Lucas and Daniel. They seem like a very close family but he is a very confident and independent young man. I admire him for making this trip as it takes great courage and strength to spend a year away from his family at this age.

When we got home....we gave him the tour and had a small surprise for him.....a small cake....it turns out that he doesn't really eat cake.....he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth....he is the son of a dentist...ha. He is going to be a GREAT influence on us. He was very appreciative and sweet. He is used to living in a much bigger and more extravagant home so I was concerned that he may be disappointed in our humble abode.....but he seemed very happy. He really didn't bring much stuff with him so he is going to have plenty of space with the new desk and the cabinet in his room and the bathroom closet. He seems like a really great kid and I am SOO looking forward to having him in our family this coming year!!

This is SOOO exciting!!! Pray for us...all three of us...and Hershey too.