Last Wednesday, Andre Simores, a professor at Mato Grosso do Sul State University, came to give a brief talk about his life and experiences in Brazil. He specifically targeted points of interests such as the famed Rio de Janeiro and spoke about the local landscapes and cultures of cities of Brazil that he has visited in the past. Since most of my exposure with Brazil comes from the Olympics, it was eye-opening to listen to different experiences of someone who has been there for most of their life.

The first difference that Professor Simores pointed about between Brazil and Ithaca is certainly the weather. Since Brazil is near the equator it barely gets cold there while we recently had a snow storm that gave us a cozy snow day. But besides the expected weather difference, I was surprised when Professor Simores pointed out a cultural difference. In Brazil, people typically eat a dinner-type of meal (rice, beans, meats, etc.) during lunch time while resorting to breads, milks, and cheeses for dinners. He had said that he did not expect there to be a full course meal for dinner and I thought this was interesting since I would certainly be hungry if I only ate breads and cheeses for dinner.

In addition, beyond listing some small cultural differences, Professor Simores introduced to us a lot of the different landscapes that decorate the land of Brazil. For instance, there’s the Amazon Rainforest, which is a popular for tourists and researchers since there are vast number of species and organisms that inhabit the woods. There’s also the Pantanal, which is the world’s largest tropical wetland area. In fact, this destination has been here for so long that the horses here have evolved to the point where they can navigate through the wetlands easily!

But besides talking about the points of interests in Brazil, Professor Simores also talked about the education system in Brazil. And much like how tutoring is in the United States, people who have the resources to get an early advantage (which, in Brazil, is done through private high schools) are typically the ones to go to better universities. This is certainly a problem that is plaguing Brazil since there’s a definite line between the rich and the poor. Professor Simores attributes this to a lot of government corruption. And while he thinks that it’s going to take some time to fix, Brazil is certainly moving forward and starting to rebuild their economy for a better future.