CET Brazil

CET Academic Programs has a partnership with Tulane University to provide a summer intensive Portuguese experience over the course of six weeks. I took two classes (for three credits each); one intensive Portuguese class and one class about current Brazilian social issues. Both classes were conducted entirely in Portuguese, which really helped to improve my language skills just on an immersion basis. Both classes also had planned excursions to different museums and sights around the city (São Paulo) that were both relevant to the coursework and interesting . Both the program staff and the instructors were incredibly helpful and clearly cared a lot about the students. The program housing, with either a homestay option or the option to live with a Brazilian roommate, also helped to improve Portuguese. São Paulo, meanwhile, is a very interesting city, with a lot to do and see.

Sao Paulo is a bustling, metropolitan city that really feels like the New York of South America. Although the city can be overwhelming with its traffic, commutes, and pollution, the city has so many places and events to visit that a semester will simply not be enough time for one to visit the myriad of places. Sao Paulo is a city rich in culture, art, and fashion, and I loved exploring the city with CET and with friends.
Moreover, my semester in Brazil was a learning experience that went beyond the classes I took at PUC--I had the amazing oppportunity to experience the sociopolitical activism in Brazil through the friends made. From attending protests, to following the occupations of public schools from high schools, to talking to teachers about their opinions on the public education system of Brazil, I loved learning about the current events and politics in the country through the friendships I made with my roommates and close friends I am still in touch with. Brazil has amazed my with the tenacity of social and political activism from its citizens. Beyond my amazing study abroad experince, my immersion in Brazil has given me so many new friends that I cannot wait to see again when I visit Brazil again. I know I am going back!

Prior to my semester abroad, anytime someone mentioned Brazil my mind conjured stereotypical images. Beaches, bikinis, caipirinhas, dancing in the streets. What I wasn't picturing was a world-class city teeming with a wide range of cultural life and international companies and ex-pats from all corners of the globe. But this is what Sao Paulo is like. It's a giant, bustling, highly international city whose limits and skyscrapers stretch far off into the distance, farther than the eye can see. My semester here was incredibly fun, but also challenging. I really enjoyed the flexibility of the classes, which enabled me to travel around the continent as I had hoped. Although I was underwhelmed by the quality of the local university, the real reason I came to Sao Paulo was to learn Portuguese, something that I successfully accomplished thanks to the strength of CET’s Portuguese language program in-country. I made great friends with local Brazilians, especially thanks to my local roommates who were more than willing to help me with Portuguese and show me around the city. I attended cool cultural and international events, such as the Economist’s Brazil Summit, and did my fair share of dancing in the street. I’d go back again in a heartbeat!

I truly find myself lucky to have been able to spend five months embracing this incredible journey, traveling and studying in Brazil.The one thing I reminded myself as I was browsing through abroad programs, was that I wanted to be pushed outside of my comfort zone and be thrown into situations where I truly had to rely on my own instincts and experiences. I'm a strong believer that this CET program provided me with the right platform to do so. Being able to go abroad to a country without previously studying its native language is quite hard to find in abroad programs, especially countries where English is not commonly practiced.

São Paulo definitely has its similarities to New York City: a big city with lots of people, urban culture and its own style. There were many times where I did not feel like I was even in Brazil because of the population, high-rise buildings and similar fashion senses. But traveling around Brazil, I really gained a better understanding of Brazilian lifestyle depending on the area you live. Being able to travel to the North of Brazil to places like Rio de Janerio and Salvador, Bahia I saw that it was just like the "West Coast vs. East Coast" rivalry. The North is a beach-y and laid back lifestyle, you see more of the Afro-Brazilian culture as you travel to places like Bahia. But as you travel more South like Guarujá and São Paulo City you get more of new face-paced metropolitan feel. Both parts of Brazil are so unique and embedded with culture in their own ways and honestly shows how diverse Brazil is and how you can find whatever you are looking for.

One of the biggest reasons why the CET Brazil program is different than most programs is because I was truly "studying" abroad. Most students want to leave their host universities for a semester of fun in new place. And while I had the time of my life abroad, a major reason why I enjoyed it so much was because what I was learning in my classes or the discussions I was having with my roommates about Brazilian culture was shown in my day to day life. I understood inequality gaps within different regions of Brazilian from my classes and was able to see first hand how this effects society by visiting and traveling to different cities. A lot of my discussions with my roommates, friends or even my host family for the weekend we spent in Itapevi, SP were more than just interesting and enjoyable but rather meaningful in the sense that I could bring back the same topics to my classes or in class assignments.

My advice to anyone going abroad is to go with the flow and take in everything as it comes. You cannot predict how your experience abroad will turn out, so do not letting expectations and other people'e experiences take away from yours. At the end of the day, your experience abroad is what you make of it. My experience abroad would not have been as incredible without the help and support of CET from before I even landed in Brazil to when I was physically on-ground.

The CET program allowed me to explore one of my dream destinations. As a non-speaking Portuguese student, previous programs at my school required a Spanish or Portuguese pre-requisite to study abroad in Brazil, which is why I did not consider studying abroad before. I had a wonderful experience with the program as staff members were very helpful and available at all times to help me navigate some of the challenges in Brazil.
One of my favorite experiences was being able to travel to different cities around Brazil. Before coming here, I had no idea how diverse the country is. Every city has its own culture and uniqueness, which makes travelling around special. Travelling to different cities really helped me understand Brazil and look at the country in a different way. By spending Carnavale in Rio de Janeiro, I was able to witness the big parade and attend different blocos and truly immersed myself in the culture. By traveling to Salvador, I was able to better see the inequality that plagues the country and experienced the Afro-Brazilian culture. By traveling to Florianopolis, I was able to meet different travelers at the hostel and exchange stories about our journeys. By travelling to Belo Horizente, I was able to take part in an interactive art exhibit that I would never see in the states and ate some of Brazil’s best foods.
Another part of the program that I really enjoyed were the classes and how they correlated with the visits. For example, in my Current Social Issues in Brazil, we were able to learn about Quilombos. During our visit to Paraty, we were able to visit a Quilombo and eat lunch there. The reason why I liked this is because I was able to experience the Quilombo and the people first hand. During the discussion, we were able to hear more about their perspectives and their experience as residents of a Quilombo that we didn’t get from class. We also visited an indigenous tribe, which was great because I have never done that before. Again we got to speak to the residents and asked them questions like how do they define wealth? Do they believe in inter-marriage? How do they see outsiders (white Brazilians)? These are all questions that are really great to ask someone first hand because it is difficult to research online. I think going beyond classroom discussion and textbooks to the human experience helped me learn a great deal about these topics.
Lastly, one of my favorite things about Brazil are the people. Brazilians are so friendly, welcoming, and inviting. Everywhere I went from the grocery store to the corner store, I was always welcomed with open arms. Sao Paulo is not a very touristy city, so Brazilians are always fascinated to encounter a foreigner and I feel like they really want to get to know me. Whenever I went to churrascos, families always made me feel welcome and were not afraid to be open with me about their personal business. This really allowed me to connect with a lot of Brazilians. Coming from a society that values privacy, this new culture was really refreshing for me.
The journey to Brazil was a memorable one. I still haven’t done everything I wanted to do because the country has so much to offer. But thanks to CET, I was able to conquer one of my dream destinations, learn Portuguese, and experience things about Brazil that only a person truly living the reality can understand.