I was particularly intrigued with Brazil and its history and culture after watching City of God a few weeks ago during one of Flora’s Friday Films, and it was to my pleasure that Professor Andre Simores, an animal science and economics professor at the Mato Grosso do Sul State University, came to speak at last week’s Rose Cafe about just that.

As an equatorial country, Brazil is known to be hot and humid; however, because the country is so large, there are many varying ecosystems within Brazil. Professor Simores elaborated more about the different climates in these various ecosystems. He spoke about the Cerrado, a tropical savannah region, the Pampas, which are fertile lowlands, the Pantanal, which are wetlands, the Amazonia, the rainforest region, and Caatinga, the drylands.

He also spoke about some interesting cultural differences between Brazil and the U.S. One topic that intrigued me was the Brazilian school system. Brazil has tuition-free public universities, which is amazing to a U.S. private-goer myself. However, the good high schools are private, and you must go to a good high school in order to get into a good college. This is the reverse of the U.S., where many of the high schools are public, but you must pay tuition to go to a private college. It makes me wonder what the pros and repercussions of each system are. Perhaps the American system is set up so we have more room for error–if we fool around when we are younger, this doesn’t stop us from going to a decent college However, it seems like Brazilians have a lot more to lose if they don’t get into a good high school.

It was interesting to hear about cultural differences such as this one at the talk last Wednesday–I am sure there are countless more. I wish Professor Simores the best during his stay here in the U.S., and I hope he enjoys living here on Cornell’s lovely campus.