In August of 2017 I participated in DOE’s SCORE research exchange program in Brazil. I haven’t received any of the 3 chosen cities (Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Fortaleza). I was placed in Belém do Pará at UFPA university. I was working in the Leishmania research group (not that I ever heard about this disease before) where they tried different substances as potential medication. I didn’t regret a bit that I was placed here as the city’s nickname is the Gate of the Amazonas.

I was staying at my host’s home. We went out a lot in the beginning but as time passed, he had to study a lot, but it wasn’t a problem as I became friends with so many people (other exchangers and their hosts, lab mates and IFMSA-Brazil members) by then that I always had something to do. The lab was at the last phase of moving to a new building so the first 1,5 weeks were about that and less about work. My lab mates and the professor were incredibly kind and openminded. If I was 10 mins late (or 30-40 haha), they didn’t make a fuss about it and I became a part of the crew in an instant. They paid a lot of attention on improving my knowledge. Besides routine lab duties (making macrophage and leishmania cultures) I could try out their transmission electric microscope, they took me to the national primate’s center (primates are important in trying these substances out with infected ones) and I visited a clinic where I met patients with leishmania. On my last day in the lab I kept a seminar about a previous publication of this lab’s. I believe they showed and taught me what they could.
The best part of the trip besides the great people and interesting topic was the city. More accurately the location and surroundings of the city. Belém is a typical Brazilian big city, the sights could be visited in days. The most exciting part is Ver-O-Peso, the city market by the river. Located by Guamá river, the city is part of the Amazonas Delta and because of that I’ve seen so many fruits (for instance: acaí, bacuri, cupuacu, goiaba, jambú and so on) and fish (monsters) that counts special, even in Brazil. It is truly a different world. The city is part of the city. Every weekend we took a boat to a nearby sweet water island to go to their beaches and have dinner in the restaurants. The rivers around here are enormous, just like the islands. Ilha de Marajó for example is the biggest sweet water island in the world! Nature is just breathtaking. Everybody should visit Amazonia at least once in their lifetime! Food is great as well, caipirinhas are unbelievably cheap, instead of water you can drink coconut water all day and they hell know how to dance. And yes, the river had piranhas and that fish that swims up in your urethra, but if you don’t urinate in the water you are good haha. Social situation is not that good but if you don’t brag and show off and avoid no-go zones, you shall be fine. Most of them are extremely friendly, but knowing some Portuguese is an advantage as they have troubles with English. On the 28th of August, I left Belém and went to Rio. Because I had 2 weeks before the start of the semester I squeezed in a 2-week-long vacation in Rio de Janeiro! ???? I’ll tell about that later, but it is truly a magical city! Cidade Maravilhosa!