Summer Study Abroad in Brazil

This summer I hopped on a plane and entered what would become quite an adventure of a study abroad in Brazil. Since I was little I have always wanted to visit the Amazon rainforest, so when I saw the poster advertising this program I knew I had to go. On our trip we spent five days in Sorocaba, a rural city near Sao Paolo. There we took lectures from professors at UFSCar about Brazilian ecosystems, stayed with host families, and spent our free time with students at the university. Then the real adventure began. We flew up to the rainforest city of Manaus, and explored for a few days. We then departed by boat for our forest lodge, where we swam in a branch of the Amazon River, hiked in the remote jungle, and spotted river dolphins and monkeys. The best part of all was catching a piranha with a stick and line fishing pole, and eating it that night for dinner. The worst part was losing my brand new phone in the river.

It was a challenge to go to an area of the world that I was so unfamiliar with and deal with normal but difficult parts of life without access to the comforts that I am used to. I caught a flu before we left for the lodge and had to buy medicine I had never heard of, eat food that my body wasn’t used to, and sleep in an uncomfortable environment. All of these little things made the trip more difficult, and even overwhelming at times, but allowed me to learn a lot about my capabilities and limits. Studying abroad is a great way to not only explore new places, but also to learn how to travel successfully and push through struggles. If you have the opportunity, take it!