From Curitiba to Cullowhee: A Brazilian reunion at WCU
Luca Brunetti and Raul Rodriguez Chapieski
By Shane Ryden
āImpressive how we find Brazilians everywhere, right?ā
The words, spoken in Portuguese, broke Luca Brunettiās concentration. He ended his phone call with his family and looked more closely at the young man standing before him.
Five-thousand miles from his hometown in Curitiba, Brazil, in the bustling Asheville Regional Airport, Brunetti had no idea heād be meeting his neighbor, Raul Rodriguez Chapieski.
In their city of nearly two million people, sprawling over 150 square miles, Brunetti and Chapieski discovered their childhood homes were less than 10 minutes apart on foot, mere blocks away in the neighborhood of MossunguĆŖ.
Despite sharing companions and hang-out spots, their paths had never crossed until that January morning, when both boys were bound for Ģš¹ĻŹÓʵapp.
Brunetti had never considered studying abroad before his family suggested it. At the Pontifical Catholic University of ParanĆ”, Brunetti was already a third-year student, approaching his graduation with a degree in agronomy.
But the idea intrigued him, and the prospect of improving his English confidence at an affordable rate through his universityās exchange program came to feel like a no-brainer.
āIf you already know English and you study our English subjects in school, you would understand everything and maybe think it would be enough, but in practice, itās sometimes not,ā Brunetti said.
āMy main objective being here is not only studyingā being in an exchange program and living in another country is more than that. Itās about upgrading your social skills and learning about how to grow your confidence. Since when I started to now, I feel like I grew up a lot.ā
Chapieski had similar aims, but a longer American history.
āI have had this dream to come to America since I was very little. When I was around seven, I came to visit here, not here to North Carolina, but here to the US. The first place was California,ā Chapieski said.
He described a special kind of wonder in his memories of San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, a fascination that made him yearn to live beyond ParanĆ” and Curitiba.
āWhen I went there with my family ā¦ I just loved it,ā he said. āI donāt know how to express it. When I heard everyone speaking English, I said āOK, this is my place.āā
That first love took Chapieski on a roundabout tour of the United States.
He left Brazil after graduating high school and pursued community college opportunities at states across the nation, searching for a quintessentially American experience.
From Kansas to Massachusetts to Texas, Chapieski searched for an institution that would allow him to connect with peers while being submerged in the English language. Although he enjoyed his travels, most of the schools didnāt quite meet his expectations
āKansas itself is a very American place,ā Chapieski said. āBut my school specifically was basically an international school.
āThe only American students that went there were the teachersā kids.ā
He encountered a different issue in the Northeast.
āThere are many Brazilians in Boston that have been there for many years, and they still don't know how to speak English, because in Boston, they are only speaking Portuguese around their people,ā he said.
Heading south again yielded no different results.
āIn Texas, I heard more English than Spanish, and everyone wanted to speak Spanish with me. Everyone thought they were helping me, but they werenāt.ā
In Cullowhee, he finally found what he was looking for.
āAt Western, Iām definitely happy. Itās the best place I have been so far in the United States ā the very, very best,ā Chapieski said.
āAlmost everybody I met at Western was very, very good to me. They treat me so well, so Iāll never regret living here. Even my first roommate last semester was very cool to me. He respected me, and he didn't judge me for anything.ā
Brunetti and Chapieski came to realize they were just two members of a good-sized population of Brazilian students on WCUās campus, great company for meals and adventures.
The support they found between those peers, WCUās āInternational Friendsā volunteer group and staff on campus allowed them to settle in with ease.
And now, only months after their arrival, theyāre helping others to settle in as well.
By connecting with a recent Brazilian WCU graduate, Chapieski secured a job as a tour guide in the spring and helped Brunetti become one in the summer. Chapieski also picked up an additional job as a math tutor.
The two men have different visions for their future after WCU, but both espouse their time and experience here as a joyful step forward.
Chapieski will continue his studies and aims to complete his degree in engineering here before eventually settling.
āI want to graduate from here, and I have a dream to have my own business. Itās hard for me to say what the business will be exactly, but I really want to do something related to technology. Thatās why Iām in engineering. Iām not studying anything related to business yet, but Iāll do it,ā Chapieski said.
āI have also heard that with business, you learn more by doing than by studying, but studying doesn't hurt.ā
Brunetti will be bound for Brazil after he completes his second semester at WCU, and he plans to share all that heās learned as a tour guide with those back home.
āI really love this place, and when I go back, I plan to do a presentation and tell everyone āCome here, youāre not gonna regret it,āā Brunetti said.
āāDonāt be afraid of the mountains. It's like living in a paradise.āā
Brunetti and Chapieskiās stories prove that WCUās community shines like a beacon far past the hills of Cullowhee.
Catamounts have a global range.
