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PRE-ARRIVAL INFORMATIONArriving in BlumenauAnother important point is related with your visa. As you will receive a student visa, when you arrive at Brazil, you will have 30 days to present yourself to the Federal Police in order to make a register and to receive your identity card of foreigner. Somebody of the University will follow you in this process. To make this register, you will have to pay a tax to the Police in the value of R$ 312,00 (US$ 78,00), approximately. Everyone that arrives with the mentioned visa has to do this procedure and pay such tax. Unfortunately, some consulates do not inform about this, so students become surprised and may be unprepared to pay it.
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Guarulhos international |
We recommend arriving in Brazil at the International airport of São Paulo - Guarulhos (GRU). To continue the trip, you will have to dislocate yourself from this airport to the other airport of São Paulo, Congonhas (CGH), which is a domestic one, situated inside of the city. The linking can be made using the shuttle service of Airport Bus Service (www.airportbusservice.com.br), whose schedule can be consulted at its site. The time spent to change airports is about one hour. In case you have a flight by TAM from Congonhas, you don’t need to pay this transfer. In Guarulhos, you just need to go to the second level of the airport, look for Wing B, go to the exit and, outside of it, show your flight ticket to TAM’s bus driver in order to get in. Each hour the bus departs to Congonhas airport. The same free service is done for passengers who travel with GOL. In this case, the departure place in Guarulhos to take the bus to Congonhas is in Terminal 1, arriving central pavement, outside the building. |
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Congonhas airport |
In Congonhas (CGH) you may take a flight (companies TAM, tam.com.br or GOL, voegol.com.br) to the airport of Navegantes (NVT), located close to the estuary of the Itajaí-Açu River, and near of a town harbour called Itajaí. Navegantes is 50 km far from Blumenau and the airport also has a shuttle bus service to Blumenau (€ 10,64) for all flights that arrive at or departure from there. Nevertheless, if you inform us in advance the date and time of your arrival as well as the number of the flight, we can go to the airport to pick you up. Alternatively you may use the airport of Florianópolis (FLN), which is 130 km far from Blumenau. |
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Should you prefer to complete the trip from São Paulo to Blumenau by bus, there are some leaving that city every night to Blumenau. Catarinense is the name of the coach company, catarinense.net. The shuttle-bus service connects the international airport of Guarulhos (GRU) to several places. Please, take the line that leads to the Tietê Bus Terminal, where the buses to Blumenau leave, according with the following schedules: Executive bus, from Sunday to Friday, departure at 08:30 PM, price R$ 70,51 (€ 19,98) per person. On Saturdays Executive bus departure at 07:45 PM, price R$ 70,51 (€ 19,98) per person. Motor coach, from Sunday to Friday, depart at 08:30 PM, price R$ 87,53 (€ 24,80) per person. Coach bus, on Saturdays, departure at 07:45 PM, price R$ 87,53 (€ 24,80) per person. Every Friday and Sunday there is a conventional bus leaving at 07:30 PM and the ticket costs R$ 59,17 (€ 16,77). The trip is 630 km long and it lasts 9.5 hours. |
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HousingOn-campus housing is not available at our university Students have to select where to stay among the hotels shown in our page. Also, they can decide to stay in one of the houses listed at the homestay service at CRI. CRI keeps a list of approved places, although they are not responsible for the procedures related to rent and meals. Some international students benefit from this service because they will speak Portuguese all the time with the family. A third option for students is renting a flat or house because they are not expensive in Blumenau compared to rents abroad.
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Meal optionsThe university offers two restaurants and a cafeteria. At the cafeteria you find fast food and several snacks. At the restaurants, you find a wide variety of salads, rice and beans, spaghetti, 3 or 4 different kinds of meat, dessert, fruit and fruit juices, besides water and soft drinks. Prices are reasonable. Meals are served from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm. If you prefer, you can go downtown to have your meals.That would take you a fifteen minute walk or a five minute bus trip.The shopping mall on Rua Sete de Setembro furnishes you with a complete fast food chain and eateries varying from hamburgers and pizzas to Chinese and seafood dishes.
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FURB health centreIt’s located on campus 1 and provides basic medical services. They treat everything from sore throats to colds, stomach and intestinal problems. You must ask for an appointment in advance. More serious diseases are referred to area hospitals for further exams and treatment. Do not forget that it’s obligatory to have a health insurance before you leave your country.
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FURB athletic facilitiesAfter you’ve been admitted as a student in one of our courses, you can use the weight rooms, gyms, football courts and all other facilities available to FURB students. The counselor will show you all the rooms and gyms as well as helping you to set the best time for exercising.
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Extracurricular activitiesThe coordinator will organize several optional activities each week, depending on the university cultural schedule .Activities will be based on the learners' interests and might include visits to local institutions, sightseeing, shopping trips, movies, exhibitions, sporting events, dining out , plays, museum tours, walking in parks, etc.
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ClassesYou will be placed in classes based on your score in our Portuguese for Foreigners Placement Test given the first day of class. In addition to the regular instruction, there is an optional opportunity of attending classes as a listener in some of our university courses where you can meet classmates who are native speakers of Portuguese. This guarantees a profound language immersion from the very beginning of your arrival. Although your class schedules will vary, most classes will be held between 8 to 10:00 am, Monday through Thursday and as a listener between 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm, Monday through Friday. After your placement test, we will tell you which books to buy. Books are not very expensive in Brazil compared to other countries and most bookstores accept Visa or Mastercard credit cards. These credit cards are well accepted for payment of fees and services in general.
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Weather & clothing suggestionsIn Brazil, seasons are the reverse of those in North America and Europe.
December, January and February in Blumenau are usually very hot and sunny. The average high temperature is about 35º C and the average low temperature is about 18º C. Be sure to bring these clothes for hot weather like sleeveless shirts, shorts, bermudas, skirts, dresses, sunglasses, sunscreen , caps, sneakers, slippers and the essential : bikinis, swimming suit or swimming trunks. From March to November, temperatures are mild . Brazilian winter is not as cold or strong as the European or American weather, but in the deep south of the country, it snows slightly in July. Bring some sweaters, sweatshirts, wind breakers and light coats.
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Please, do not forget to bring
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