Meghan Stoyanoff

Meghan Stoyanoff spent five weeks in Florianopolis, Brazil. While abroad, she attended a local university, Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, where she studied global economics and Portuguese. In her economics class, she learned about current, global topics in economics including European crisis, capitalism, and the rising global interest in the advancement of renewable and sustainable energy. The Portuguese class gave her the opportunity to learn a new language that she had never studied. Staying with a Brazilian family gave her the opportunity to learn as much of the language as possible and to become immersed in the culture. To get more in touch with the Brazilian lifestyle, she took part in a Samba dancing workshop and a Capoeira class. Meghan also had the opportunity go visit a local home that houses both elderly and orphaned children. When she visited, she interacted with the residents during their daily coffee break. During her stay in Brazil, Meghan felt that she had a real experience of daily Brazilian life. On the weekends, she took advantage of the opportunities to travel to various local places of interest such as the many beaches of Florianopolis.