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Y
Can you talk a little about your experience at the exchange university (1), how you
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chose the university and the country
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Lf
(3) So I was an intern at the company PA, and then my advisor there, he got his
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master’s degree in Germany (1) and then when I was in the process of enrolling, he
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emphasized that I should choose Germany […] and then when I chose the country
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and was selected to write the three letters, the university where he had his master’s
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degree was not an option, so we searched, me, him, my mother, everyone who was
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involved in this whole project to choose one of the three (2) options
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Sf
Mine was (2), I was (1), the person who really encouraged me to enroll was a friend
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of mine from the course who was going to enroll too and he said oh come on let’s
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do it, I said I don’t know if I’ll make it, I don't know what
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Lf
@(1)@ (You always beat it)
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Sf
Yeah, you always beat it this way, I don’t know either (1) I didn’t have a very good
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English either because I had come from a public school, English isn’t that good
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there (1), he said why don’t you try Portugal, there’s vacancy for Portugal […] in the
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middle of the process they canceled the vacancies for Portugal […] There was
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vacancy for Australia, and other places, and for the United States, Canada, England
and Italy, so I chose Italy
01
Y
What was the main reason to participate in the CsF Program
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Gm
I fell into this by accident, for me an exchange program funded by the government was so
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distant, I thought it was something for master’s and doctoral students […] then one day
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someone came and talked about it have you enrolled in the CsF, I asked is it still open,
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when I saw it, it was for Portugal; South Korea, Japan, places that only Portugal I could
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speak the language, the others, no way for me to apply (1) then I applied for Portugal and I
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don’t know if you’ve heard about it,
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the application for Portugal was canceled
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Tm
I guess I was in it too
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Gm
Then they asked me to choose from Australia, United Kingdom and the States, then I chose
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the United Kingdom because I wanted to go to Europe [...] then they put me to the United
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States (1) and a city I didn’t even choose in the United States
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Tm
I really believe, I’m Catholic and this CsF program, I was in a cytology class […] and I was
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talking to this master’s student and he said oh there's this thing called CsF it’s really cool
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blah-blah-blah I didn’t even care, I said ok, just like he said that’s for students from the
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master's program
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Gm
You don’t think it can happen to you, like you are now graduating and you know nothing
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about life and are sent abroad (1), it’s such a distant reality for us
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Tm
My partner is a good friend [...] at that time he came and said hey man I enrolled in the CsF
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(1) I didn’t even want to know what it was I just said hey you’re going to leave me alone
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here in this sh** (1) then he said today is the last day @you should enroll too@ (2)
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then we chose Portugal also because we didn’t have any language certificate and that’s it […]
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then there was Germany there man I think it’s God I don’t know I started to think like
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this when will I be able to learn German in my life […] then I went to Germany
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Y
And did you have any incentive from your parents to take an exchange program?
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Gm
I had it from my mother, from my father, no my father is very, I don’t know, from
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an early age, he went to work, his whole life, he was dedicated to work, he didn’t
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have education like that of the same quality as my mother had, my mother had
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higher education, my father didn’t […] So regarding the exchange, he didn’t,
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traveling and things like that, you have to stay here and work, I don't know, you
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have to graduate soon; but my mother said, in my time I would never have an
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opportunity like that so you are having a chance, go for it […]
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Tm
As I didn’t believe I was going to, I didn’t tell anyone […] create expectations for friend)
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anyone to annoy me, then this thing arrived anyway I didn’t believe it (2) then it's
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good, then another email arrived telling me to choose the country then I went to
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talk (1) with my brother because my brother and I are very close and then I asked
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do you think it’s worth it then he said of course it’s worth it you have to go and
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then I went (2) think about what I wanted before talking to my mother (2)
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because my father is more or less what (2) Guadaci said more hard-headed,
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closed-minded […] at first she didn’t want it, and my father didn’t either my dad
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blah-blah-blah you have to work and graduate soon blah-blah-blah; then (his
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started saying oh it will be great then my father was @very excited@ no
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Tino you have to go you have to go (1) then my mother got excited too
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Y1
And for you, what was the biggest contribution of the exchange
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Lf
(2) Personal growth
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Sf
I would say (1) personal growth (1) too much more than academic growth
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Lf
Much more than our academic growth, there’s no comparison
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Sf
There’s no comparison and that, in my opinion, today I wouldn’t say that, before
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maybe, but it’s worth much more than academic growth because with your personal
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growth you’ll get much further academically too
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Lf
Yeah, or sure
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Sf
But personal growth; (3) you learn a lot
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Lf
No comparison
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Sf
As she said, you learn to find a way, you (1) learn how to deal with the issue of
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being in a different place, with this issue of differences, of adapting yourself to new
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situations
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Lf
Yeah
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Sf
To new challenges, right
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Lf
Respect others too
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Sf
And be more tolerant too
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Lf
Be more tolerant
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Sf
Be more, maybe have more empathy because you know the other can be different
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Lf
Uh huh
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Sf
But I would also say more personal growth and this thing, for example, you (1) have
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to learn another language (1) but there’s no way you have to learn; because you are
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there
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Lf
Yeah
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Sf
Then you have to find a way and you have to really do everything in that language
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Lf
└In a moment you have
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Sf
to communicate yourself and adapt to the habits of people who are there
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Lf
Yeah
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Sf
So yeah, I think it’s a big personal growth indeed
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Lf
It’s because exchange is living, so if (1) you don’t grow as a person (1) @there’s
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something wrong@ you were in a bubble right
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Y1
Could you talk a little about what was most important during the exchange program,
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what marked you most
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Gm
Ah, the fact that I met my wife there […] but also seeing how things work outside Brazil,
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you have no idea how much people think inside the box, so you don’t think outside the
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box when you’re in your country so I left here, I don’t know, full of prejudices and so
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on; and it’s amazing how the exchange program can change someone, you know, there,
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you’re going to have a class with a Muslim, you’re going to have a class with a Hindu,
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you’re going to have a class with people of the most diverse beliefs and religions and so
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on, and you’ll see that it’s not necessarily one of them and it’s alright and you see how
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closed-minded you were for certain things, accept certain behaviors or not and so it’s a
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slap in the face for someone with a small mind, it’s a slap in the face so it was very good
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for me
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Tm
For me (1) the most important thing, I guess it was of a personal nature because you are
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usually very alone too (1) and then you think, think and rethink and (2) think about life
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and it gets better, it gets worse and it changes so that for me it is the most important of
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the experiences I had there for the person I became […] but something I learned there is
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the respect and concern for others because even though the Germans are crazy and
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closed and don’t talk to you, if they see that you need help they will help you
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Y1
And what do you think about doing after graduation in terms of future projects
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Lf
Well, to be honest, I want to pass an exam for a good public job, that’s it […] I
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want to be happy, have quality of life, be close to people I love, I guess that’s it, I
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don’t know, it’s my goal
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Sf
Well, I’m still not sure but I guess that if I had another opportunity to go back, I
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guess I would go back, especially if it was for a master’s degree, a graduate program,
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a scholarship in that sense, even a job, but I think it’s a little more difficult, a job
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opportunity straight like this
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Lf
Something you said about a master’s degree when I started the exchange program, I
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was crazy about continuing my academic life, I took Pet, Pibic, I already thought
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about everything, everything was
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Sf
Planned
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Lf
Planned, I’ll take a master’s program (1) but when I went there I saw that a master's
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is a very Latin degree […] and then when I came back (1) @I realized@ that in my
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field too, it doesn’t have much weight here for a job, unless you continue
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to a doctor’s degree; (1) so your academic life, but the master’s degree; I guess I lost
motivation
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Sf
With me, it was kind of the opposite […] I don't know, I think it’s because: I
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already had that kind of thing I thought I think maybe I thought like that, wow,
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that’s the highest I’m going to get, it’s the university
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Lf
Ah ok, then you saw
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Sf
Then I saw
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Lf
Another world
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Sf
Another world, I thought, my goodness, I’m in a public university, I’m the first in
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my family to go to a public university
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Lf
Yeah
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Sf
So, for me, it was like, well, you know, I got a lot for my family, and for my
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grandmother […]
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Lf
└Pride
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Sf
I’m the only one who goes to a public university […] so this was a lot for me, so I
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never thought like, oh, I’m going to take a master’s program; I thought that I had to
79
achieve the goal I’m going to try to graduate and get a good job and that’s going to
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be a lot in my family
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Lf
└Graduate
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Sf
so now I don’t think like that, I think that if I have an opportunity to continue; to
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have a master’s degree and continue my studies I think I would embrace this
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opportunity both here and abroad (1) and a job too of course but I’m not very
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focused on a public job exam, I don’t know, I think that a public job exam will hold
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me here; I guess I want to feel free
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Y1
Could you talk now about future projects, what you intend to do after graduation
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Gm
[…] I’ve been at this company (1) for two and a half years I really like it, I get along
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very well with the people there, but I have my personal projects so (1) I intend to
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launch my app in a few years on which I’ve been working and that's it (1) academic
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project so I think I don’t have the intention to take a master’s program, I graduated
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last semester […] following the academic life I don’t think so now, it’s what I want,
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I like to teach I think it’s cool, but in my field, if you’re going to pursue a graduate
69
degree, if you want to be a professor […] for the job market, they don’t really look
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at whether you have a master’s degree or a doctor’s degree, they want the guy who
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knows how to do it […]
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Tm
Eh, I’m graduating now, so my mind is a turbulence of things, defining what I’m going to do, if I’m
73
going to stay here, if I’m going to go back to my city or I wish I
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had the courage to go, but I don’t have the courage to leave […] because with the
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CsF, we had all the support behind us, whether or not we had a date to return, we
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had the Government that could help us, we had other Brazilians, we had the
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university, and now if I leave I’ll be alone […] so (1) now that’s what I see,
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specialization in Endodontics, a dental specialty, and with faith in God, I want to
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pass an exam to be a firefighter because here in Brazil (1) I think there’s no other
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way in the country we live, in the city of XX, public departments are an option.
