Gulf High School has two foreign exchange students from Brazil this year. They are Pilar Gomes (left) and Paula Sena. Both are 16 years old.
Pilar has attended Gulf since the start of the school year, but Paula transferred here from Tarpon Springs High School in mid-October. She changed host families at that time.
Pilar is from Vila Velha. She attended Colégio Marista Nossa Senhora da Penha. In an email she wrote, “I was born in Vitoria, Espírito Santo. About my city I can say that we have really beautiful beaches and most of the time we have sunny and hot weather. Vitoria is an island and it’s the capital of my state. What people usually do (besides go the beaches) is going to museums, restaurants and night clubs. Our most delicious food are seafood and meat (usually barbecue). I’m junior here but I’ll graduate in November/December of next year in Brazil, and I intend to go to an American college, maybe here or in LA, and I want to be an engineer or an architect.”
Paula is from Belo Horizonte. She attended Santa Maria School. Paula says she likes attending Gulf, where she finds the students “so polite and friendly.” She will attend college when she returns to Brazil. She plans to study law and public administration and hopes to be involved in projects that will change the world. Paula says that school is different in Brazil. She was taking 16 different subjects in her school in Brazil. She says parents who can afford it send their children to private schools, rather than government-run schools.
