Graduate Study Abroad for Credit: Living and Studying in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
I just completed a trip to Salvador da Bahia in Brazil through Stephen F. Austin State University. The program was eye-opening and I really learned a lot about myself and how I want to develop my career and study abroad agenda in the future. Firstly, I am a graduate student in a PhD program in Romance Languages. My university does not offer Portuguese, but I began my studies with Portuguese during my undergraduate studies at Cornell University and desired to continue. While searching for a program, I desired to continue to study Portuguese, but could not find a program that offered graduate level coursework. At the graduate level, I had previously studied Portuguese at the University of Central Florida where I also received a graduate certificate in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. I had also been a participant in the Portuguese Summer Program in 2013 where I took a graduate Portuguese class. However, Stephen F. Austin State University offered graduate credit for their Portuguese program abroad and I applied and was accepted.
For my itinerary, I decided to stay an extra week after Stephen F. Austin's program was over where I met up with a former colleague in Rio and we rented an apartment from AirBNB.
I began my trip, flying from Indianapolis, IN to Charlotte, NC and had a layover before I boarded the plane to Rio de Janeiro and later Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. I arrived in Salvador at night and met up with the Stephen F. Austin State University's group. We stayed in a hotel, had an orientation by the director of ACBEU and in the morning, we awoke to breakfast and to meet our host families.
I was paired with another graduate student from Mexico and Texas, Ana. Our host mom was a teacher, and a mother of two grown children. She lived in an apartment building near downtown Salvador. What was most interesting to me was that the apartments still retain a maid entrance and a main entrance. As a middle class woman, she had a black maid who cooked for us.
I had class everyday for the advanced/superior Portuguese speakers. Our teacher had been to the US before and we talked about culture and expectations. We walked to class everyday.
For my itinerary, I decided to stay an extra week after Stephen F. Austin's program was over where I met up with a former colleague in Rio and we rented an apartment from AirBNB.
I began my trip, flying from Indianapolis, IN to Charlotte, NC and had a layover before I boarded the plane to Rio de Janeiro and later Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. I arrived in Salvador at night and met up with the Stephen F. Austin State University's group. We stayed in a hotel, had an orientation by the director of ACBEU and in the morning, we awoke to breakfast and to meet our host families.
I was paired with another graduate student from Mexico and Texas, Ana. Our host mom was a teacher, and a mother of two grown children. She lived in an apartment building near downtown Salvador. What was most interesting to me was that the apartments still retain a maid entrance and a main entrance. As a middle class woman, she had a black maid who cooked for us.
I had class everyday for the advanced/superior Portuguese speakers. Our teacher had been to the US before and we talked about culture and expectations. We walked to class everyday.
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