Brazil XP

I remember there was a time when I wanted so-so bad to go Brazil and I told it to some people also. I was thinking it was a sort of heaven where life is good, places are great, people are nice and so on ...

Not much changed since then but my eagerness to go to Brazil decreased. Still, last summer I applied for an internship in Sao Paolo on CSR. I didnt get it but I finally ended up going to Brazil for IC this year. I am very grateful to Microsoft for giving me the chance to go. I have been to tens of AIESEC conference and I cannot say this one was out of the ordinary. What was really interesting was the fact that i was an external and members were treating me so much more seriously than when I was a member myself. Today, as a follow up of IC a member wrote me an email starting with "Mr. Rosca"!!! hahahaha! The really great thing was to meet so many of the people I knew and became friends in AIESEC and beyond. That was truly special!

Of course, representing Microsoft there was special also and I in particular enjoyed talking with people about the work Microsoft is doing in CSR and the impact we are having. I find that the workshop I delivered together with other Microsoftees was one of the best I've ever seen!! No modesty here but I thought it was really good and the reactions of the participants after it were very encouraging in this sense. People came to us and said: "I want to work in this field, what can I do?"

Besides attending IC I also took some time for sightseeing and travelling. One afternoon and a morning I went to Sao Paolo but as everybody knows it is not an exciting city for sightseeing but it was nevertheless interesting to see it, I am glad I did.

And ... after a sleepless CEE party, me, Kais and Andries went to Rio de Janeiro. There Salma, Mada and Jacek were kind of waiting for us. We spent 2 great days in Rio. This city is superb! gorgeous!!! I want to go there again! Actually no! I want to be there now!!! :D

It is a city that has so much to offer: great landscape, wonderful beaches, I can imagine great people :) and so many thing to do and see. The thing that really left an impression on me was the visit to 2 favelas. We arranged with a travel agency to take us there and we had a guide with us, she was very good and passionate about the city and its social issues. Favelas are part of Rio, are the poor areas of the city, well-known for violence and criminality. We experienced none of that but hearing the stories was very impressive ... too many details to give here ... totally recommend a visit when u get to Rio!!

Since I came back I am thinking about when I will go back to Brazil: I want to make a tour, waterfalls in the south, the amazon and the tropical-forrest, the north-western coast and rio again :). that will be in some years probably cause it is costly but I am sure it will happen sooner than I expect! Being positive makes things happen faster :)

pictures on facebook from Rio de Janeiro and from IC, sao paolo and trip

Tudo bem!