Summer 2016 in São Paulo

Going into my summer in São Paulo, I couldn't help but think about the fact that I wasn't going to be in Rio. Visiting Rio 5 years ago was what motivated be to start studying Portuguese, and I wasn't sure how I felt about not being in the city that I had fallen in love with. However, after spending 6 weeks in São Paulo I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. São Paulo, compared to Rio, is a much better city to live in (in my opinion): it's safer, cleaner, not filled with tourists, and it has much better food/culture/music/museum options. Yes, it's a massive city, but it's a massive city filled with tons to discover, and I never found myself bored with São Paulo at all--it's really a fantastic place to live and study in.

Talking more about the program specifically, I have to say that I was quite impressed with the quality of the program. The program staff were all incredible and would go out of their way to help any student with anything from a restaurant recommendation to a health problem. The housing was great as well, and I think my experience in São Paulo was greatly enhanced just by living in an apartment with Brazilian roommates close to my own age (many friends, however, seemed to enjoy their homestays). The classes (Portuguese and Current Social Issues in Brazil) were intense but very well structured, and I was quite surprised at how much I actually learned in six short weeks. Lastly, one of the aspects of the program that most impressed me was all the excursions organized (and funded!) by CET staff. On these excursions, we were all able to explore more of São Paulo (and farther--the weekend trip to Paraty was definitely a highlight) while learning more about Brazil. They not only supplemented what we were learning in class, but they also gave us a taste of Brazilian life (and they were always fun). I'd highly recommend this program to anyone who is interested in Portuguese/Brazil and has already taken at least one semester of Portuguese--I had an incredible time and can't wait for the next time I'm in Brazil.