Everybody meet Andrea and give him a big welcome to Brooklyn, Iowa, USA! Anybody that knows me knows that I don't know any strangers because after 5 minutes after I meet them, they aren't a stranger anymore! This was definitely the case when it came to meeting Andrea.
I was supposed to be working on editing photos when I got a little delayed because I got to be one of few people who welcomed Andrea to our small community once he made it safely here from ITALY. Now I am sure we were an overwhelming day for him. Not only do we not speak Italian, let's add in Iowa nice welcoming in the time of coronavirus. As Iowans don't know how to show love if it doesn't include giving Andrea a meal (food he has never eaten before), we all want to shake Andrea's hand or give a hug as a welcome to our community. Thankfully, Andrea handled it all with grace, and he still even talks to me!
Andrea’s older brother, did an exchange program before and after hearing about his brothers experience in Wisconsin decided he wanted a similar experience. Andrea and our community were lucky as he got to join us in IOWA!! Obviously, this is super exciting for me, as I love getting to make a new acquaintance and learn from them. On the other hand, Andrea was a little nervous and wasn't expecting our small town of Brooklyn to be such a wonderful experience compared to the big city he was from. Little did he know he was going to be like a celebrity here!
So when the Grahams (his host family) asked if I would take some photos of him for the yearbook, I advised that we could easily do that! Now taking photos of seniors in front of corn in Iowa isn't anything new for us. Taking photos of Andrea in a tailored suit (that was brought all the way from Italy) in front of corn is new!! So I obviously thought that we needed to teach Andrea how to shuck an ear of corn.
I am sure that this will be one of the many memories that Andrea will get to make this year! We are already planning a snowball fight and winter adventures!