Week 2 - Fortaleza

We just finished our first week of school. The hotel does not have wifi and most of our classes have online materials we need so we have to stay at UNIFOR for a couple extra hours each day which sucks. We study at in the Law building with all of the graduate law students so we all look like idiots taking over the building. 

On the first day after Brazil Economics we had a campus tour. The campus is awesome, there is a lot of art and green space but with the green space come bugs. We all were eaten alive the first couple of days. While on the tour there was an emu walking around campus. It freaked some people out. The director of international programs at UNIFOR warned us not to get close or it will attack and bite. The days are hot so during the tour we slowly began to fade out. 

The Law Building We Study In

UNIFOR Student Union - Where We Eat

Marketing is going to a difficult class because it is all key terms with some application. We cover a little more than a chapter a day so keeping up with notes and LearnSmart Assignments is a struggle. We have an exam next monday (Class 6) covering the first unit. 

Business Communications is a lot better down here than it was back in Arizona during saturday classes. I have a mid-B right now and she said if you have at least an 80% you have a good chance at an A. She is a tough grader though so we will see how well I do. Most of the assignments are team oriented so that will help. 

In our first Brazil Economics class the professor just rambled on about the evolution of Brazil's economy. Professor Claudio is a UNIFOR professor that is hired on by Eller to teach us about the Brazilian culture. This class seems pretty easy but we cover so much material each day I feel like it is going to be difficult. 

We study a lot both at school and at the hotel. UNIFOR offered some fish bowl study rooms but whenever we walk in, the law students leave. It is a really cool experience getting to know your professors on such a personal level and living with all of my classmates. 

A typical day schedule looks like this:

8:15-9:00AM - The Bus Leaves For UNIFOR

9:15-11:00AM - Marketing 361

11:15-1:00PM - Business Communication/Brazil Economics

3:30PM - Bus Leaves for Tulip Inn

Because we stay at UNIFOR all day we have to eat at their cafeteria. 

The food at UNIFOR is pretty good. The first day we had some gnarly pizza pockets which I will never eat again. Mia and Tyler (the TA's) found a nice buffet bar that is priced per kilo. It is pretty good however I will literally be eating the same thing everyday for the next 56 days: Watermelon, Chicken, White Rice, French Fries. 

On Friday we had our first business tour - Casaju Cashews. The tour was really cool to see how they create and manufacture the cashews. The plant was pretty large and it is the third largest factory for cashews behind Vietnam and India. We arrived an hour late so we had to shorten the tour; we only saw the production line. 

This weekend is going to be pretty boring because we have a big week ahead of us.