Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Want to know what Brazilians are really pissed about?

Yesterday the Brazilian soccer team lost 7 x 1 to Germany. It was an unprecedented loss not only in the Brazilian soccer history but in the entire World Cup history. Yes it saddens some, but this is NOT what pisses most of us out.

Since the beginning of the World Cup I've read many comments of my international friends. Seems like everyone has an opinion about Brazil but most of them don't have a clue about what really happens here. Truth be told, the remarks annoyed me a little a bit but then I realized it's not their fault, they don't know what the Brazilian people has to put up with so I decided to write this post to enlighten some of you.

As some many remember there was A LOT of protesting going on during July 2013 - the entire "It's not about the 20 cents" campaign. It may come as a surprise but a great part of the population didn't want the World Cup to happen here. Wanna know why? Because we need investments in different areas of our country. Our health system, public education, safety and so on. And we already knew what was going to happen. Most of the money would end up in the politicians' pockets and not much would be done - why do you think this World Cup cost more than the last THREE World Cups combined?

And not much got done. Of course stadiums were built and redone but at exorbitant costs. The Amazônia Stadium - which after the World Cup will only be attended by an average of 500 spectators - had a 604 million reais (a little over 300 million dollars) investment. It is outrageous!

Do you want to know what pisses me off even more? The infamous "jeitinho brasileiro" - the Brazilian way of doing stuff. It goes like this: if you talk to the right person and pay them the right amount of money you can fix anything; nothing is taken seriously, and major issues are fixed with band-aid solutions.

Let me illustrate it to you. The Brazilian healthcare is public. There are many capable professionals but what is really missing is structure. I know of doctors who work in small towns who have to buy medicine with their own money to treat their patients because there aren't available where they work. Hospitals that don't have working X-rays and that don't have the most basic lab exams. How did our "beloved" president fix it? She brought numerous doctors from Cuba! And check this out: they did not need to validate their medical diploma! It was said they would have to take a test, the Revalida, but in the end they did not take it. I'm not against IMGs (International Medical Graduates) but in every country you need to prove you have the necessary knowledge and you need to spend time learning how your new country's health system works. I feel bad for the Cuban doctors because they are getting paid scrap and the Cuban government is the one who is actually receiving all the money.

The problem is way more complicated. I don't even understand half of it. And you know why? Because Brazilian politics are not made to be understood. We have an extremely corrupt system that gets which ever candidate they want elected. They steal trillions and trillions and there's no consequence! The few politicians who were persecuted last year are already out of jail. What a wonderful country!

I don't want to go on much longer. But whenever you see Brazilians pissed out the government or trying to overthrow it, it is not because our team lost. It is because we actually live in a dictatorship where an honest politician who tried to speak out got murdered or shut up in different ways. It is because the government has some of the most absurd laws. And even though the taxes are so high, almost nothing gets done for our community. It goes straight into politician's pocket. Brazil is not the world's 5th economy and not much of what is on the international news is the truth about our reality. I really hope someday our country has the decent government it deserves.

Monday, March 17, 2014

MY NEXT ADVENTURE

For those of you who don't know me I am a former exchange student and future international student at Bishop's University (Québec, Canada). 

I was a part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. I left my hometown in Brazil on August 2012 headed to my first adventure in Albany, New York. It was a great year no doubt. I was able to improve my English skills, to make some incredible friendships, to learn more about myself and my country and to change my view on the USA dramatically (honestly if you're not American just like me don't judge the US based on its government attitudes - most of Americans look down on the same stuff we do).

Now I am headed to my second great adventure: going to college abroad. This time, it is going to be a four-year minimum experience. It is going to be so different from my previous one. I am definitely excited! There are a few things that I learned on my exchange that will probably be helpful - like joining a gym on day one! Seriously gaining exchange weight is terrible and now that I lost almost all of it I am determined not to let the same happen in college. 

 Even though  Bishop's University is an anglophone institution I'll still be living in Québec in a predominantly French speaking city - I'm not all that confident with my two-year training in French. That I'm sure will be a huge difference (since I was already fluent when I went to the US). Mais je suis très contente que je pourrai améliorer mon français! But I'm really happy I'll be able to improve my French - which needs a lot of improvement by the way.

Picking a university to attend overseas is not an easy task. Most of my American friends visited colleges on their Junior year or on the beginning of their Senior year. I wasn't able to visit the colleges I applied to (with the exception of McGill University) which turns making a decision into a much tougher task. To make this decision I had to rely solely on the university websites, on things people wrote online (Wikipedia, blogs and discussion forums) and on pictures from Google and Instagram. Thankfully because of my exchange I could talk to some Rotary Exchange students who live in Québec and ask questions. 

So far I heard back from Bishop's University and Concordia University. McGill which was my initial dream school hasn't replied me yet. Despite this, I made the decision of attending Bishop's University. It is a liberal arts school - no we don't have to study arts - which means it is a university with smaller classrooms focusing on undergraduate education. It is very science oriented which since I'll be a Neuroscience and Pre-Med major is crucial. The fact that there's a close teacher-student relationship and that undergraduate students participate on research appeled to me. Gaiters (Bishop's students) also have a really strong school spirit which actually became very important to me after my exchange - GO FALCONS! And lastly there is this phrase on Bishop's website that got stuck in my head and really spoke to me: "Nobody ends up at Bishop's by mistake". I was sold and there's no turning back!

Were you an exchange student or are you a foreign student at a university? Please leave a comment below and tell me about your adventure!

MINHA PRÓXIMA AVENTURA

Para aqueles que não me conhecem eu fui uma intercambista e sou uma futura estudante internacional na Universidade Bishop's (Québec, Canadá).

Eu fiz parte do programa de intercâmbio do Rotary. Eu deixei minha cidade natal no Brasil em agosto de 2012 em rumo à minha primeira aventura em Albany, Nova Iorque. Foi um ano maravilhoso sem dúvidas. Eu pude melhorar meu inglês, fazer algumas amizades incríveis, aprender mais sobre mim mesma e meu país, e mudar drasticamente minha opnião sobre os Estados Unidos (honestamente, se você não é americano, assim como eu, não julgue os EUA baseado nas ações do governo - a maioria dos americanos são contra as mesmas coisas do que a gente).

Agora estou à caminho da minha segunda grande aventura: fazer faculdade fora. Dessa vez, vai ser uma experiência de no mínimo quatro anos. Vai ser tão diferente da minha primeira. Eu estou definitivamente animada! Tem algumas coisas que eu aprendi no meu intercâmbio que provavelmente vão ser úteis. - como entrar na academia no primeiro dia! Sério mesmo ganhar peso de intercâmbio é terrível e agora que já perdi grande parte dele estou determinada a não deixar a mesma coisa acontecer durante a universidade.

Apesar da Universidade Bishop's ser uma instituição anglófona (que fala em inglês) eu vou morar no Québec em uma cidade que fala predominantemente francês - eu não estou tão confiante como os meus dois anos de estudos de francês. Isso eu tenho certeza será uma diferença enorme (uma vez que já era fluente em inglês quando fui aos EUA). Mais je suis très contente que je pourrai améliorer mon français! Mas estou muito contente que poderei melhorar meu francês - que precisa de muita melhora.

Escolher qual universidade estudar no exterior não é uma tarefa fácil. A maior parte dos meu amigos americanos visitaram faculdades durante o final do terceiro e começo do quarto ano do ensino médio (o ensino médio americano dura quatro anos e os alunos mandam seus documentos para as universidades durante penúltimo semestre). Eu não pude visitar as universidades para quais mandei meus documentos (com exceção da Universidade McGill) o que faz tomar essa decisão uma tarefa muito mais difícil. Para tomá-la tive que confiar somente nos sites das universidas, nas coisas que as pessoas escreveram na internet (Wikipedia, blogs e fóruns de discussão) e nas fotos do Google e doInstagram. Ainda bem que por causa do meu intercâmbio pude contatar outros intercambistas do Rotary que moram no Québec e fazer perguntas.

Até agora fui aceita na Universidade Bishop's e na Universidade Concordia. McGill que era a minha "universidade sonho de consumo" inicial ainda não me respondeu. Apesar disso, tomei a decisão de estudar na Universidade Bishop's. Ela é uma universidade de artes liberais - não, nós não temos que estudar arte - o que significa que ela é uma universidade com salas menores focando na "educação de bacharelado" (Nos EUA e Canadá, primeiro as pessoas se formam e pegam um diploma de bacharelado - o famoso undergraduate. Depois elas podem se inscrever em um curso de graduação como Medicina e Direito - graduate school. Vou fazer um post depois explicando melhor o sistema de estudo!). A Universidade Bishop's é muito focada na área de ciências o que é crucial já que vou estudar Neurociência (que nem a Amy do "The Big Bang Theory"!) e Pré-Medicina. O fato que há uma relação próxima entre alunos e professores e que os alunos do bacharelado participam de pesquisas científicas realmente chamou minha atenção. Gaiters ou Crocodilos (os estudantes da Bishop's) tem também um espírito escolar muito forte o que se tornou muito importante para mim depois do meu intercâmbio - VAI FALCÕES! E por último, há essa frase no site da Bishop's que ficou grudada na minha cabeça e com a qual pude me relacionar: "Ninguém acaba na Bishop's por um erro". Eu já tinha sido convencida e não há como me fazer mudar de opinião!

Você já foi um intercambista ou um estudante internacional em uma universidade? Por favor deixe um comentário abaixo e me conte sobre sua aventura!