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What Brings Estonia and Brazil Closer Together? An interview with Grete Soares de Camargo


One wouldn't typically associate Estonia and Brazil as having much to do with each other, right? They're located on opposite corners of the earth. Yet, Brazil has drawn immigrants from Estonia both before and after the Second World War.

Of course, there are Brazilians of Estonian descent still there today. Sharing Brazilian and Estonian heritage myself, I wanted to speak with someone who could offer a contemporary glimpse of what it's like in the space where these two cultures meet.
Photo: Eduardo Figueiredo

Grete Soares de Camargo (née Kõrgesaar) lived in São Paulo for many years, before returning to Estonia in the summer of 2020. As the creator of the blog Living It Brazilian, she has shared many insights on Brazilian culture through an autobiographical lens. Currently, she is the Customer Relations Manager at Work in Estonia, utilizing her knowledge of the Brazilian market to encourage business interaction with and immigration to Estonia by Brazilian professionals:

What initially brought you to São Paulo?

I was doing my Master's degree at Tartu University when I got the opportunity to become an exchange student once more. My first study abroad experience was…

(Read more: Estonian Life No. 45 2020 paber- and PDF/digi)

Written by Vincent Teetsov, Toronto