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Abroad / Internships
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Written by Emily Coleman '11
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 Overall, my study abroad experience in Brazil was amazing, adventuresome, eye-opening and truly life-changing. My rural home stay with the Ribeirinho community on the Amazon River was my favorite experience while abroad. There I lived with a rural river family for 4 days. I worked in the manioc fields for 6 hours a day in the burning tropical heat and humidity: harvesting, shucking and clearing land. When I wasn't working in the fields, I washed clothes in the river, cooked food or what I found most interesting, simply sat in hammocks passing the time together. At the end of the day, all the members of the community would emerge from their rural homes to battle it out on the soccer field until dark. That was one of the most intense and lively experiences of my trip! The community takes their soccer very seriously. Despite my severe lack any foot-eye coordination I was still able to play with the community and have a great time! The most eye-opening aspect of my experience was the difference in infrastructure. To bathe, go to the bathroom, wash clothes or drink water the community looked to the river and the forest to fulfill all their needs.
Neither of my Ribeirinho home stay parents could read nor write. My sister, who attended school 2 hours each day, only reads and writes on a basic level. However, these Amazonian communities are extremely skilled in sustainably harvesting crops, living off the land, building anything they need and what most impressed me; everyone could wield a "mean machete!" The difference in education between this community and the United States made me realize how blessed I am to have such a quality education and so many opportunities.
On a whole, this rural home stay and study abroad was the most rewarding and life-changing experience that I've had. I was completely outside my comfort zone the entire time, worked so hard, ate different foods and had to speak solely Portuguese. Since I was able to live this way and deeply understand another way of life I've reached an entirely new level of toughness and perseverance. Plus, I have a new outlook on my education. I must take advantage of every opportunity I have, work as hard as I can and learn as much as I can because I have been blessed with opportunities and resources that many people in the world might not ever have.
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