Born in São Paulo, Brazil, senior Igor Guerra Perez is new to living in the United States.

Over 5,000 miles from home, Perez is living the life of a foreign exchange student.

For his exchange student program, he requested to live in Florida, but instead was assigned to Flint.

“I wanted to live somewhere warmer with less crime,” Perez said. “I ended up getting assigned here, though.”

He has been living in Flint since the beginning of the second semester, which was when he started his senior year courses, planning to finish them up the first semester of the 2016-2017 school year.

Perez is a laid-back individual with a love for the outdoors, especially in Brazil.

And with hobbies that involve going outside, he is not accustomed to Michigan’s colder climate.

“In Brazil, it is a lot warmer, so it is nice to spend time outside,” Perez said. “I enjoy skateboarding, playing soccer, and shopping. I also love spending time in the water by wakeboarding, jet-skiing, and boating.”

Although Perez can speak English, his language of choice is Portuguese.

In Brazil, Portuguese is the language he speaks at home, school, and with his friends.

According to Perez, it has been hard for him to adjust to speaking English all of the time.

“I am just so use to speaking Portuguese all of the time, so it is weird to now speak English all day, everyday,” Perez said.

He may be from a different part of the world, but his personality is not very different from average teenagers in the United States.

Perez is comical, smart, and an overall genuine person, according to some of his friends, like senior Kate Weycker.

“I am glad I was able to meet Igor this year,” Weycker said. “He is a good friend and fun to be around.”

And just like many other students, he enjoys working out, playing video games, watching TV, and hanging out with friends.

Perez’s life in Brazil is different than his life here, though.

“Back home there was always something fun going on,” Perez said. “I had to follow fewer rules there and had a busier schedule. Here, I spend a lot more time at home.”

In São Paulo, the school system is also different.

Here, students go to different rooms for different classes. There, students stay put while different teachers from different subjects come to them instead.

“I like how school is ran in the United States better,” Perez said.  “It is refreshing to be able to move around throughout the school day.”

Perez also explained how the houses in Brazil are much closer together.

Everything there is compact, unlike how spread out most places are here.

According to Perez, the Brazilian government is also facing some major issues.

“The Brazilian congress recently voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, so the politics suck right now,” Perez said. “We (Brazilians) hope that it will eventually get better now, though.”

Perez said that he misses his family and friends.

According to him, Luciana, his mother; Gustavo, his father; and Henrique, his brother, miss him, too.

“They miss me and I miss them a lot, too,” Perez said. “I am very close to them, so this distance has been difficult, but it has also been fun.”

Although he misses his family back home, Perez has grown very close to his host family.

He lives with Mr. and Mrs. Joshua and Juanita Cooper’s family.

“I have three siblings and a set of great parents here,” Guerra said. “They are very great people.”

But no matter who and what is in the United States, Guerra’s home will always be in Brazil.

“I have grown up there,” Guerra said. “My friends and family are there, and all of the activities I love to do are there.”