Brazil native gets taste of Texas as exchange student

Besides her new friends, Ana Beatriz Gus-mao isn't sure what she'll miss most about the Rio Grande Valley.

She suspects it may be the foods she'll never experience in Brazil - Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Dr. Pepper and corn in a cup.

Or it could be the long, scenic road trips she took to Austin, San Antonio and Dallas with her host family.

"There are a lot of things I will miss," Gusmao said. "It's gonna be hard to get used to my country again."

The 18-year-old Sao Paulo native has been living in Alamo and taking classes at PSJA Memorial High School for the past semester under the Cultural Academic Student Exchange program.

The teen said she came to the United States to study English so she could eventually attend law school in Sao Paulo - the program she wishes to apply for requires knowledge of the language.

Although she will miss Alamo, Gusmao said she looks forward to ditching her winter clothing - air conditioners are not as common in Sao Paulo as they are in Texas.

"It's super cold for me," the girl said. "I'm always with a jacket."

Word about the "girl from Brazil" quickly spread at Memorial.

"At first I couldn't tell what kind of accent she had," her friend Johanna Diaz said.

"It was so cool when I learned she was the girl from Brazil."

Diaz said she'll miss the girl's eagerness to learn.

"I taught her to play cards and she's really good at soccer," Diaz said. "It's been really interesting spending time with her."

Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.