Student Profiles

Kyle Santiago, Middlebury College, Niterói

Looking back, my experience in Niterói is one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience. I became more independent, learned a lot about myself and my values, and I formed friendships that I know will last a lifetime. I genuinely enjoyed every day of my study abroad and would do it again if I could. 

At UFF, I took two courses alongside regularly enrolled students and two others with fellowexchange students. This combination offered a great balance of challenging academic work, befriending Cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro), and opportunities to develop different aspects of my Portuguese. The courses taught me a lot about the history and culture of Rio, which helped me feel a strong sense of place during my time there. Living with a host family was one of the most effective ways to improve my Portuguese because we’d speak about so many different topics. We’d speak daily, and I was able to hear how Brazilians, particularly Cariocas, really speak in everyday life.

My internship at Projeto Grael, a non-profit that introduces underrepresented children and young adults to the sport of sailing, was truly fun and deeply rewarding. I worked with kids aged 9 to 16, and many of them looked up to us Middlebury students because we were in college and studying abroad – something they dreamed of doing, too.

Outside of academics and my internship, I played sports and immersed myself in the local culture. I took futevôlei (footvolley) lessons four times a week at Icaraí Beach, hiked Pedra Bonita, Corcovado, Costão do Itacoatiara, and watched many Flamengo F.C. soccer games at local pubs with friends I made through futevôlei.

Nadia Hare, Middlebury College, Florianópolis

Describing my time in Floripa as adventurous would be an understatement. From my host uncles taking my friends and I on a 9-hour Lagoniha do Leste hike within the first week to driving on a 3-day bus ride with the Indigenous student delegation on our way to Acampamento Terra Livre in Brasilia during late April, there was hardly a dull moment. 

One of my favorite aspects from my time was the mosaic of people and communities I got to experience life with. From my internship with MICOLAB, a feminist and politically engaged mycology research lab at UFSC, I met some of the coolest undergrad and PhD researchers during lab meetings, lunches at the RU, and field work at Lagoa do Peri. I also had so much fun with friends from Stiga, a feminist and queer skateboarding collective based in Floripa that would frequently skate at Trinda. Finally, I got pretty involved with Indigenous student community (Movimento Maloca UFSC) at UFSC after meeting Laura Parintintin, one of the lead student organizers in my Afro Brazilian class. I was in awe at their successes of securing an Indigenous student’s dorm on campus, mobilizing around equitable access to higher education for Indigenous and Quilombola students on the national stage in Brasilia, and being part of local environmental justice movements at Saco dos Limoes. 

Some recommendations for future students include: go to Angela’s weekly sopa (she cooks/organizes a food kitchen every Thursday), check out the cutest capybaras at the Jardim Botânico, listen to some of the best live music at Bugio Trinidade, and finally, go to all of the beaches and do all of the hikes if you can, with my favorite being Praia de Naufragados and having caldo de cana with açai after. 

Sophia Young, Tulane University, Niterói

My semester abroad in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro was full of unexpected adventures, immense cultural and linguistic acquisition, and personal academic and emotional growth. I was faced with many challenges, from adjusting to culture shock, dealing with a prolonged student strike, and even being robbed on the street. However, the unforgettable cultural experiences I had, the lifelong friendships I made, and the confidence and independence I gained made it all worth it. I was directly enrolled at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, where I studied humanities with a focus on Brazilian literature. Though my time in the classroom was limited, my studies gave me insight into Brazil’s colonial history and the modern colonial legacies that linger to this day, the relationship between police and violence in the favelas, and how MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) was used as a form of resistance throughout the dictatorship. Additionally, I interned with Barco Escola, a community-based organization that teaches science in an accessible manner to underprivileged students. These experiences exposed me to the racial and economic inequalities in modern Brasil, taught me a ton of culture, and allowed me to practice my Portuguese in both professional and social settings. 

The highlights of my semester abroad include the nature, the food, and the travel! Rio de Janeiro is incredibly beautiful, and nature is accessible both within the city and surrounding it. My recommendations include visiting the Cachoeiras de Macacu for a waterfall hike, hiking up one of the many morros for sunrise, catching the sunset at Parque da Cidade, and relaxing at Itacoatiara beach. While you’re taking in sun, be sure to connect with the community by playing a game of altinha with locals or getting a nice cold sacolé from a beach vendor. In terms of travel, my highlights include Salvador, where you can eat phenomenal moqueca and acarajé, Arraial do Cabo, Quilombo São José da Serra, Cataratas do Iguaçu, and São Paulo. Check out some of these places to see what future travel could look like for you! 

Brasil is a welcoming, lively country full of culture and adventures, and I highly recommend Middlebury’s program in Niterói. With access to incredible nature, heaps of culture, and some of the friendliest people in the world, you’ll never have a dull moment in Niterói!

Lu Ordman, Scripps College, Florianópolis 

My experience abroad was particularly unique as I spent part of it in Florianópolis at the beginning of the pandemic and then went back to the U.S. in March 2020 to complete the rest of the semester online. Although short lived, my time in Floripa was extremely impactful. I found UFSC to be a campus full of politically active and engaged students putting on interesting events and involved in activities that were pushing the boundaries of what I had previously had access to in terms of epistemologies from the Global South and Decolonial Studies. I was especially impacted by Karine de Souza Silva’s class on International Relations from a decolonial lens, something that I had never seen offered before in my university and luckily it was one of the classes that we were able to continue online. Beyond coursework I was involved in capoeira on campus and was beginning to get involved in dance and hiking in the area as well.  

Although it was hard to leave Florianópolis due to the pandemic, the program’s director designed a semester of specialized classes taught by professors from all over Brazil that was tailored to my and the other students’ interests. From reading Professor Angela Gomes’ dissertation on ethnobotany, who later visited our class and showed us various plants in her garden, to creating a collaborative video project on the military dictatorship with another student, I had an enriching remote experience despite the difficult circumstances of the pandemic. Although we were not in the physical space of Brazil we dove deeply into these materials, conversations, and projects and I left with a profound knowledge base that has prepared me for all that I have done in Brazil since. I could not recommend this program more!

Elena Bell, Tufts University, Niterói

What I loved most about studying abroad in Niterói, Brazil, with Middlebury was being the only non-Brazilian student in all the classes I took. I loved that two or three days would go by without speaking English, and I am thankful for the way I learned how to think outside of my own worldview/perspective. Learning about systems of economic and social oppression from Brazilian professors and classmates helped me contextualize and better understand related but different systems in my own country, and empowered me to think outside the narrow mindset that is so easy to fall into being from the United States. Most Brazilians know the names of at least three states in the United States (California! Texas! New York!…) and a dozen or so American actors and actresses, whereas most Americans assume Spanish is spoken in Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world. The small size of Middlebury’s amazing Niterói program allowed me to soak up as much of Brazil and Portuguese as my brain could retain, and sharing its importance back in the United States has been the long-term impact of my study abroad experience. I am excited to go back to Brazil with Fulbright in March to further promote empathy between the western hemisphere’s two most populous countries.

Colin Larsen, Middlebury College, Florianópolis

The year I have spent in Florianópolis, Brazil has presented me with a unique series of challenges and experiences that have allowed me to not only to considerably improve my language skills and cultural understanding, but to also make connections with Brazilians and become more personally independent. The lack of infrastructure and prevalence of bureaucracy can make many of the simplest tasks difficult in Brazil, and learning to deal with and overcome these hurdles has increased my resilience and problem-solving ability. It also creates a much different environment than what one would experience studying abroad in Western or Northern Europe, so those who wish to step further from the familiar would be satisfied with what they would find here. I spent a fair amount of time training with a local rugby team and learning the martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, both of which allowed to meet very genuine, friendly, and driven individuals who were kind enough to share some of their culture with me. Activities that go beyond the classroom like these are numerous, and they, more than anything else, have made my time here worthwhile.