General information about Guaratinguetá

Well, I'm a student of UNESP here, and I liked very much this site, because I have pretension of apply myself for an exchange to Erasmus, and I could see a lot of useful information about the places here. So, I'd like to help the foreginers that want to come here for an exchange here in Guaratinguetá too, with my point of view of my city.

What is it like to live in Guaratinguetá? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

Guaratinguetá is a small and calm city. It's near São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two biggest cities of Brazil. Here we have all the necessary for living well, but don't expect agitation, here the people are very calm.

What is the student lifestyle like in Guaratinguetá?

So, I don't know what are the plans for the students of Erasmus here (if there is a Portuguese course). But I can tell that the classes in FEG (Faculdade de Engenharia de Guaratinguetá, the campus of UNESP here) are all in Portuguese. So, I recommend for who have the pretension to come here, training your portuguese. For who don't speak latin languages, Portuguese can be a little difficult to learn, but nothing impossible. A lot of students can speak English in college, so you can communicate with them if you have difficulties with Portuguese.

How much does it cost to live in Guaratinguetá?

Guaratinguetá isn't a expensive city to live. If we compare with São Paulo, for instance, here the costs are very low. But Brazil isn't a low-cost country, in my point of view. Even Guará being a small city, the costs are little high (I don't know to say if it's expensive for a foregin). So, I can give some prices for show (in Reais - R$):

Food: about $5-7 in many restaurants, $10-20 in the shopping mall here
Transport: every travel costs $2.85 in the bus. You can pay half-pass if you're a student, but it's very expensive yet.
Accomodation: how Guará is a university city, we have a lot of student housings. They can cost between $200-$500, depending of number of people living together and resources offered. Living alone can be very expensive.
Telephone: the taxes here are very high. I spend $25 per month and 3G internet, prepaid cell phone, and my plan isn't the better plan... If you want to talk between different service providers, you spend special fees.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Guaratinguetá? Is there any advice you can give?

Absolutely not, Guará have a lot of student housings and find a place here is easy. You can visit the site http://www2.feg.unesp.br/, and look for "Vagas em Repúblicas" (we call the student housing as "República" here). Or, when you arrive here, you can talk with everybody in campus that someone will show some house.

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

So, the food here basically consists in rice, beans and some type of meal, generally meat. Cow meat, chicken meat, vegetables... We appreciate too pasta, and you can find fast-food here. The variety is big. And there are an restaurant inside the college, but you can find better prices outside the college.

Is the nightlife good in Guaratinguetá? Where is good to go?

As I said, Guará is a very calm city. The main parties of the city are promoted by the students. So, the students that came here to study don't like very much the nightlife, there are a few places with parties. But, if you don't mind to go out every night, I think here is a good place.

Is there any other advice that you could give to future students who are going to Guaratinguetá?

Well, I can say, here is a good city to live, and the college is very good, we have a good structure for students. About the city, the people are friendly (I think it's more difficult in a big city).

So, if there is anyone that want more information about here, you can contact me:
[email protected], that I will help you.

I hope I have helped with this information!