Last weeks rose cafe included a discussion about some of the sites and interesting facts of Brazil. House guest Andre Simores was an interesting hour where he discussed many simple facts about brazil ranging from education standards to places to visit. I personally don’t know much about Brazil. As a Bolivian woman, I go to South America quite often to visit family and friends. While I have accustomed myself with most of South America, Brazil still seems like a foreign land to me. I have never been to Brazil and the presence of Portuguese seems a daunting barrier. I have heard about the highs and lows of Brazil, from the amazing tourist opportunities such as the beaches, landmarks, and cities, but also the lows such as high rates of poverty and crime. We had also discussed the difference in education between Brazil and the United States. Simores discussed that the two countries were similar in types of higher education, and that public universities in Brazil were some of the best universities offered. But difference arose in primary and secondary school, where the public system was viewed as lacking. If families could afford it, they would try by any means to send their children to a private school. Going to a private school for primary and secondary school was one of the best ways to ensure a child would be able to attend a good university. These are very interesting disparities between the two countries Brazil is an interesting place I would definitely want to visit and hopefully will be able to at some point in time.