Today, our group will have to endure a long, ten-hour flight to Rio (it's pronounced Hio in Portuguese) before arriving at about 9:30am tomorrow. We have spent the past week learning about Brazilian culture, business, history, and some useful Portuguese phrases to prepare us for this new environment. Dr. Horowitz (our faculty leader) also places a strong emphasis on safety and has been teaching the group ways to blend in amongst the locals. While getting ready for the trip, the most time-consuming task for everyone has been finding a cell phone that will work in Brazil. Dr. Horowitz encourages having one for safety reasons. In order to have an international phone, a US phone must be "unblocked", a process which has taken some of my classmates over a week. In the end though, we were all able to get a cell phone!
Although I have been abroad twice before (both times to Europe), I am thrilled to have the opportunity to immerse myself in the Brazilian way of life! I am also excited to take classes at IBMEC, a top business university in Rio and interact with the other students. In all honesty, however, the level of poverty that exists in Brazil will be the most interesting and sad to witness about life in this foreign country. After taking Dr. Horowitz's Economic Development class last fall and learning about the economics behind extreme poverty, I believe that actually seeing this type of poverty that one hardly sees in the United States will be the most eye-opening experience of all.
I look forward to sharing my experiences with you and until then, tchau!
(Fun fact: it is considered impolite to talk about the rivalry between the Brazilian and Argentinian soccer teams while having a conversation with a Brazilian!)
