Day 5 (continued.): We landed in Rio de Janeiro after four exciting days in Sao Paulo and headed straight to Corcovado, where the monumental statue of Christ the Redeemer is located. Once arrived, we were left standing in awe of the legendary figure and the spectacular view from the top of the mountain. In the evening we had a Brazilian style dinner at a local Churrascaria.
Day 6: The day began with a presentation by major development bank BNDES in down town Rio. It was very interesting to find out how Brazil was preparing for major sporting events including the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2016. Following the insightful morning session, we had an eclectic lunch at Café Colombo. We then attended a meeting with Brazil’s largest company, Petrobras. After that we were free to explore Rio and the beautiful Ipanema beach by night!
Day 7: We had a meeting with Deloitte that morning and then visited Vigário Geral, one of Rio’s favelas for lunch and presentations by the social enterprise organization, Afro Reggae. It was a once in a lifetime experience where we witnessed a few exhilarating music performances and got to do some drumming ourselves! The final dinner was held that evening at one of Brazil’s finest restaurants, Porcao Rio’s. Most of the group then headed to Lapa, probably the most happening place in Rio on a Friday night!
Day 8: The last morning in Brazil was at leisure and I took that opportunity to visit the landmark Sugar Loaf Mountain. We all then boarded the flight back to Dublin after an intensive week of work that gave us a wonderful opportunity to get a first-hand experience of rich Latin American culture and understand how it influences business and society.
– Vishal Balasubramaniam, Full-time MBA 2011/12