CET Brazil

Studying abroad in Brazil with CET was such an unforgettable experience. CET really emphasizes immersion which they do primarily by placing students in apartments with Brazilian roommates. I lived with both American students and Brazilian students and made amazing bonds with them. Living with Brazilians really helped strengthen my Portuguese, in that I was able to learn more informal language, was introduced to Brazilian popular culture, and music. My Brazilian roommates also invited me to their families' homes where I got to see other neighborhoods and suburbs of São Paulo, and experience Brazilian home life.

Academic-wise, CET offers a broad set of courses. I took a required Portuguese course, in which the professor was adamant about providing support for those of us who took direct enroll classes. This professor gave us activities and writing assignments similar to those that we would expect in direct enroll courses. I took one direct enroll course in Economics at PUC São Paulo and was surprised and relieved at how quickly I made friends in that class. Students at PUC are generally nice and I'd encourage future CET students to direct enroll as it will be an opportunity for you to make friends outside of CET and truly experience the Brazilian university education system.

I'm so grateful that CET does this program in São Paulo. I definitely enjoy urban spaces more so São Paulo was perfect for me! There was always an opportunity for me to go to various events throughout the city, explore different neighborhoods, and public transportation was pretty convenient and easy to navigate! In terms of safety, I didn't run into any danger; like any place, just be mindful of your surroundings and possessions. Try to speak Portuguese as much as possible--you're in Brazil after all!

CET does a great job in immersing students in the diversity of culture in Brazil. We did a one week trip to Salvador to learn more about Afro-Brazilian culture, a weekend trip to Paraty where we were able to interact with a caiçara community, and for the Poverty and Inequality class we also spent a weekend in community with an indigenous community in an urban village. I really valued these immersive trips as they broadened my view of Brazil beyond the hustle and bustle of São Paulo.

There are opportunities for students to volunteer while on this program and the program coordinators were very open to reaching out to your organization of interest on your behalf. I ended up volunteering at a tech services company founded and run by queer Afro-Brazilian women and it was one of the most impactful parts of my experience in São Paulo because I was able to be in community with and connect with other black women over technology.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience in Brazil and would definitely go back! The bonds I built with other study abroad students, my Brazilian roommates, and Brazilian locals are priceless. Your study abroad experience definitely is what you make of it-- don't feel like you have to stick with the social circles of CET students. Don't be afraid to branch out and make friends with students at PUC, or people you meet at events throughout the city!

My overall experience in Brazil through CET was extraordinary. Although I already learned and knew quite a lot about Brazil, its culture, its society and also the Portuguese language prior to my trip in Spring 2018, the CET/PUC courses that I took, the different activities I took part in, as well as the trips that I made, both through CET and independently have really helped me gain great wealth of knowledge about the country and the people, as well as better my conversational skills. I have also made a lot of friends throughout my program, especially with those outside of the CET Brazil program. Since my return to the United States, I feel more Brazilian. In other words, I can say that Brazil is in me. I would highly recommend this program.

I had the experience of a lifetime studying in São Paulo, Brazil. The program is designed so that you live off, but near campus with Brazilian students who attend PUC. At PUC, depending on your Portuguese fluency, you will either direct enroll in two courses of your choice or take two courses previously designated by CET. Additionally, at CET's hub, you will take an immersive Portuguese language course and Poverty and Inequality. The CET staff is incredibly involved, fun, and supportive. The staff plan excursions and trips that complement what is being learned in class and fuel the program's fun. Altogether, these elements coalesced into one of the most beautiful and unforgettable experiences of my life. I came from a non-traditional background: my parents are immigrants and I am a first generation student. Study abroad felt like a stretch and leaving what was comfortable was scary, but perhaps more than any other program could have, CET Brazil really touched my soul. I am Afro-Latino and at its heart, Brazil is too. This made adjusting to many of the changes easy because they felt distantly familiar. I immediately connected with my roommate, other Brazilian students, and the CET staff because their hospitality and warmth felt like my family's. From Day 1, the staff was on board to answer all our concerns and questions. My roommates were always willing to take us around and within a week the students on the program had already planned our own excursion. We became a family quickly and I'm still in touch with almost all of the students and staff involved. The professors were similar, particularly the ones for Portuguese and Poverty and Inequality. They were very involved and present and interested in our personal lives. This was instrumental in making the work truly immersive because the coursework was tweaked to fit our experiences in Brazil more meaningful. With these two classes, there were tons of excursions - such as one to an indigenous village and a week-long trip to Bahia, which I really enjoyed, because I got to learn about a unique region of Brazil that is very different from São Paulo. All the courses contextualized what we saw day-to-day, particularly socially (i.e. race, sexuality and gender issue) very well. Finally, there are many fun things to do in São Paulo regarding food and nightlife. Compared to the US, going out is cheap...like $1 Uber cheap. So, I highly recommend this program and actually cannot wait to go back to Brazil and perhaps even pursue a master's degree or job there. Too often we get wrapped up in what America can offer us, but the reality is the whole world is your oyster and you should take advantage of all the traveling you can do because you never know what you'll learn or who you'll meet.

As a computer science major, I was very hesitant about enrolling in a program about social issues - something I thought would not add much value to my professional life. Getting to Brazil I could see the staggering inequality as we flew by the seemingly endless horizon of buildings and right over the more disorganized favelas. This scene went along with the reoccurring theme of poverty seen throughout the semester. Visiting multiple NGOs, studying the details, and even just talking to people on the streets and local bakeries, I realized that this experience was definitely beneficial for my computer science career. More specifically, I got inspired to create applications and volunteer in ways geared to help those in need. Doing research for my CET class on the effect of smartphones on the poor, I got exposed to apps that have tremendously helped people in low income areas such as those mapping the streets in the streets in favelas, unrecognized by widely used apps such as Google Maps.

However, don't be worried about this theme of poverty. Although we got up close with it and learned about the effects, it was always in an extremely safe way. I never felt unsafe at any point during my time in worse off areas. We were always accompanied by leaders from the community which advised the community to leave us alone as we were just bringing attention to the issues affecting them. Apart from this, the area that we are housed in is extremely safe and clean. Despite this, you still have to be aware of your surroundings - just like in any other country.

Although the academic and professional aspect was impactful, by far the thing that will stay with me the most is the relationships I created with the locals, especially the Brazilians I lived with and the staff at CET. They were extremely helpful, friendly, and welcoming. Right away we all got super comfortable with each other and helped one another with Portuguese and English. They are truly people I can rely on and am sure I will stay in touch with them for the rest of my life. Some of my fondest memories of the semester are simply hanging out with my roommates just exchanging words, cracking jokes, and laughing at each other. If you truly want a cultural immersion, this is the right program for you - the Brazilian roommates will make sure you meet more locals, eat local foods, see unknown sights, and master the language.

To any future students: 1) be prepared to broaden your perspectives and learn about multiple cultures as you will be exposed to multiple religions, micro communities, and traditions unique to Brazil. 2) Don't be shy about your Portuguese! Everybody here is very understanding and welcoming of foreigners. 3) Make sure you save up some money to travel within Brazil - there are hundreds of incredible beaches you will never get to see anywhere else (Check out Ilha Grande if you can).

All in all, I came in with just 2 bags full of clothes and left with genuine friendships, a fluent grasp of a language, unforgettable experiences, and the warmness of the Brazilian culture. I highly recommend this program to anybody considering it :)

This past semester, I studied in the CET program in São Paulo, Brazil. This was my second time out of the United States but the first time living in another country.

Location: São Paulo is a vibrant and colorful city that offers tons of opportunities for fun and education. One thing I appreciated was that I didn't feel out of place in Brazil because of the familiarity of a large city – the only difference being that people speak Portuguese. I will say that if you don't have the initiative to go out and do things and interact then São Paulo can be boring. That being said, I suggest going to Ibirapuera Park (Parque Ibirapuera), its a large park that allows you to escape the city.

Housing: CET provides housing in apartments in the Perdizes sector of São Paulo. The location of the housing is important because it is really close to the CET offices and one of the PUC (host university) campuses. The area is gated and safe, but it is important to note that this area is extremely privileged. If you are a person of color, you will likely not resonate with the area but not unwelcoming. In addition, because CET places us in apartments, they also pair us with Brazilian roommates who also attend PUC. I think this is the greatest benefit to the program because I'm able to learn from peers at anytime and I don't feel a great difference from other college life.

Program: The CET program works in the way that they offer two mandatory classes that you take outside of the host university and the other three depend on your language level. As for me, my university required that all my courses be taken in Portuguese and that my three remaining classes needed to be taken at PUC. In the beginning I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle this requirement but ultimately it isn't more work than I receive in the US. The Portuguese language that I take is lenient yet comes with a lot of work. We give multiple presentations within the semester and grammar work – in my opinion, while there is a high quantity of work, the more I am forced to speak at a college level I feel as though I am improving at a greater speed than ever before. As for the courses at PUC, they reflect what I would expect from college classes, I think the only difference is that final grades are completely dependent on a couple tests or a final paper with no other influences.

In addition, the program involves multiple excursions to places within in São Paulo and to other cities in Brazil. In the trip to Salvador, Bahia they combined a week of beaches, islands, and cultural exposure which was pretty amazing. I can honestly say now that I have visited some private islands.

Another thing that stems from how the program is set up are the people you interact with. The other people that make up my program are all Americans and they are usually the only people I interact with regularly. I highly recommend trying to make friends with other people at the university so you can have the best experience of living in Brazil. Because this can be difficult, I'm grateful for the Brazilian roommates that are always willing to be friendly.

Ultimately, Brazil is amazing, and I greatly enjoyed my time here!
(A little tip, if you have already decided to come to São Paulo, some things to remember so you won't be missing them: hot sauce, Reese's (thought Paçocas are pretty good), and any special hair products you may need.

To say that this changed my life would not be enough to encapsulate what this experience meant to me. My semester in Brazil was time well spent and will forever have a special place in my heart. I was challenged intellectually and emotionally because I chose to throw myself into Sao Paulo, Brazil head first. The food, people, culture and studies all made me reconsider everything that I had ever known about Brazil, myself and my own country. There is no place better to go if you want to have the time of your life. Brazil will take you, break you for your own educational growth and then put you back together as someone well versed in the best that Brazil has including coxinhas and cafe com leite. You will only enjoy this too much!

My time in Sao Paulo was the exact study abroad experience I was looking for. Every aspect of the program exceeded my expectations and I could not be happier when I look back at my abroad experience. CET's unique class options, along with the direct enrollment option at Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo (PUC), made for a very engaging classroom experience. Not only was I able to meet Brazilian's in my PUC courses, but I was also able to form relationships with my professor's, who truly demonstrated their passion for the subjects they were teaching. Outside of the classroom, CET made sure to pack the program with trips and excursions. While some were within Sao Paulo, other trips took us out of the city and into completely different cities like Salvador da Bahia and Paraty (where we got to feed monkeys!). The change of setting was great and always provided for a good time. What I considered really special about CET was the commitment of Sergio, the Academic Director and Sulia, the Resident Director to the program and to us, the students! From the pizza parties for everyone to get to know each other, to the final goodbye dinner, they were always there to facilitate our time abroad I knew that if I ever needed anything I could go to the CET office and either of them would be happy to help! Sergio, who was also my Portuguese professor, did an amazing job in making Portuguese very enjoyable to study, through his unique teaching style. CET did an incredible job in organizing their Sao Paulo program and I'm forever thankful for that!

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.