Caroline Clark
West Virginia University College of Law, 2L
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Our Last Day in Rio

Today was a day filled with mixed emotions. We woke early, excited about the free morning ahead of us, but dreading the flight to Manaus later that evening. The sun was out and our morning on Ipanema Beach was perfect. The Flamengos (the soccer team we had seen play a few days before) held their practice not far from where we were on the beach and Joey and Prof. Taylor were able to get their pictures and autographs. Our fun in the sun did not last long enough. We had to leave the beach to pack our belongings and prepare for our last class at FGV.

Our last day of classes included lectures by Brazilian Law Professors Rafael Almeida and Rodrigo Vianna on the emerging role that arbitration plays in Brazil. The lecture on arbitration was interesting. We started the discussion with a scenario. Joseph, who was a soccer player at WVU, signed a contract with the Flamengos and was going to be their new star. Joseph, however, went to the Amazon before starting practice and was attacked by a poisonous frog. Joseph was unable to move his leg and could not start practice with Flamengos. From there we discussed what Joseph’s best method of action would be since he would be unable to go through with his contract. Should he stay in Brazil? Or take his case to the U.S?

Professor Taylor and Professor cummings

In our next session, professor cummings lectured on corporate governance. We discussed what happened with Enron and the differences between U.S. and Brazilian corporations. This was especially interesting because one of the Brazilian students father owned a business and it was funny to see his reaction to the way U.S. corporations were run. More FGV students were involved in the lectures today and it was nice to meet many of them, including Anna Clara who will be studying at WVU this semester. After class we had our last few hours in Rio. This included some last minute clothes shopping and buying food that would be better than what we would receive on the plane.

The long wait at the airport and our flight to Manaus allowed us to reflect on our journeys. The fact that we would be back in West Virginia and school was starting in four days was not exactly what I wanted to think about, so I went to sleep dreaming about the friends we left behind in Vitoria and the beaches in Rio.