Reflections and Expectations After My First Week in Brazil

     Today marks my seventh day in Brazil and I must say that it feels like I have been here much longer than one week.  This blog post is supposed to be about my internship related experience but since my internship has yet to commence, I will reflect on my experiences in Brazil thus far.  When I arrived in Sao Paolo International Airport, I knew I was in for an adventure of a lifetime.  When I reached immigration, the attendant started speaking to me in Portuguese about a discrepancy between my student visa in my passport and the original visa application.  Luckily, I was able to speak to her in Spanish and she could understand what I was saying and the situation was resolved in a few minutes.  From that moment, I knew I was going to have to adapt extremely quickly not only to the language, but also to a new culture and way of life. 

     Whenever I visit or live in a new city, I instinctually look to compare the new city to other cities that I have been to.  After spending a week in Curitiba, I can honestly say that this city is like no other.  As innovative and efficient as the city’s bus system is, actually using it in practice is quite a different story.  From the perspective of an international exchange student with minimal knowledge of the language, I have already had my share of experiences, good and bad, using Curitiba’s transit system.   That being said, I have already learned a lot from my mishaps thus far and am inclined to believe that my impression of Curitiba’s transportation system will be much different upon leaving in fifteen weeks.

     I start my internship next Monday.  I will be working from 9 am until 2 pm Monday through Thursday for the next fourteen weeks.  Because my internship has yet to commence, my learning objectives that I elaborated about in my first blog post have not changed.  I am very excited to meet my colleagues at Toro Investimientos in Curitiba and anxious to start working towards meeting and exceeding my learning objectives.  Furthermore, I am curious to see how the knowledge and skills I have acquired throughout the past four years at George Mason will help me in practice in a financial consulting firm.  In addition, I am interested to learn what my daily tasks will be in the firm and what area of the consulting business I will focus my time and attention to.  The tasks and area of concentration will undoubtedly significantly shape the experience and knowledge I take away from my semester long internship.

     Portuguese class has been a seamless transition thus far.  My background in Spanish language has been a huge aid to this point in terms of easing the learning curve in grammar and vocabulary.  Don’t get me wrong, there are significant differences among Spanish and Portuguese and at times my knowledge of the former has been just as much a hindrance as it has been a help.  That being said, in times where I have been stuck, Spanish has helped me communicate more so then English ever would.  When I speak Spanish, a native Portuguese speaker can understand most of what I am saying but when they reply to my Spanish in Portuguese I have a hard time comprehending the majority of their response.  That being said, I have already noticed the major strides I have made with the language in my first week and have no doubt that I will be conversational in Portuguese when I leave Brazil in May. 

Learning Objectives

     1. Relate my experiences in the classroom at George Mason in terms of theory and compare those         experiences to how a financial firm operates in practice.

-Explore how financial consultants use and interject principles of economics and finance into their strategies, both at the managerial level and in terms of implementing strategies for their clients.

-In addition, I can inquire among the consultants in my firm as to what degrees they had earned among their post-secondary institutions and how those degrees have shaped their professional careers.  Moreover, I can ask if they would mimic their academic careers or amend them if they had the opportunity to go back in time and start over. 

-By asking them to delve into their past experiences, I will be able to fundamentally understand which courses and/or degrees were most helpful and significant in helping them attain their current position in the firm.

     2. Understand how deals get finalized in practice.

-Although the classroom and readings provide an initial look into the business world and how firms operate, working in a financial firm for a somewhat extended period of time will allow me to gain infinite knowledge into the thinking and decision making of consultants.

-By observing how consultants negotiate and barter with other firms and clients, I will gain a significant advantage over other graduates in that I will have already experienced the harsh reality of working in the financial world.

     3. Learn how to facilitate, develop, and sustain relationships with clients.

-Understand how to form partnerships with other financial firms and other industries in order to foster horizontal and vertical integration.

-Observe how financial consultants sell their product because the success of each individual consultant relies on their ability to sell the product in addition to an intimate knowledge of international capital markets.

     4. Gain a better understanding of how financial markets are integrated in the global economy.

-Develop my knowledge of how financial systems and markets are integrated globally by being able to identify how a shift in a certain domestic variable will affect another economy.  By being able to do so, I will be better able to advise and consult future clients on how to deal with a constantly changing international financial system.

-For example, a significant increase in the price of a key input into the production of a given product will undoubtedly raise production costs in the short-term, which would lead me to revise my projections.  The faster I am able to identify the issue, the better I am able to advise my client which allows me to develop trust and maintain that relationship for the long-term, given it is in my best interests.