The destination is San Diego, USA. The English course lasts one month and the student gets a certification in the end. And that’s it: the similarities of the super luxury exchange created by an agency in São Paulo with any another common program we already know.

After all, the student flies first class to the USA having to deal with the ‘inconvenience’ of taking a helicopter from Los Angeles to San Diego because there are no direct flights departing from Brazil to the final destination.  When the students arrive, a limousine will be at the airport waiting to take them to a five-star resort.

To prevent the student from getting bored (after all, they have 18 hours of English Course per week), fun and relaxing moments are provided: five shopping tours (the agency recommends the student brings at least one thousand dollars to the trip), a baseball game, and visits do Disneyland and to movies studios.

But, if you think this is too much comfort for an exchange trip, hold on: one of the days will be “Laundry Day”! The students will have to learn how to do their own laundry the American way.

This luxury exchange has its price: £60,000 that can be paid in up to 24 installments (with interest). “However, 99% of the parents pay in full” said Marcos Talarico, the director of SD Student Travel, the agency which invented this kind of exchange program. “To have an idea, one ‘normal’ package (economy class flight), costs about £5,000”, he said.

Debutant Party or an Exchange?

“The public that we attract to this kind of program are in their teens, mostly [girls] who are having their debutant party, and it can cost up to ten times more”, says Talarico. “These teenagers nowadays want party with celebrities like Luan Santana, Michel Teló, Chiclete com Banana”. (Famous Brazilians artists).

The director says that the exchange focus is not about consumption. “They visit universities, aircraft carriers, major museums”, says. Talarico says the program offers an “option” to very wealthy families. “Who has a good financial condition, will always want to be differentiated.”

The exchange was Nathalia’s choice (whose mother requested us to withhold her last name “for safety” reasons), 16. “It was my 15th birthday present. I originally wanted a party, but after I found out about the exchange options, I thought it would be better to travel, because of safety.”

She says that, in the beginning, her parents didn’t accept the idea. “They didn’t want to let me go, at first, because I would go on my own. After some time they agreed: it’s a course, I would get a certification”, she stated. Nathalia already speaks English and says she wants to improve in the language.

Drink, go home

Talarico says they had a case in which a “famous entrepreneur” questioned if his son could travel with a bodyguard. He says, however, the teenagers will be with guides at all the times and there are strict rules to be followed.

“They are not allowed to consume alcoholic beverage or drugs. Boys and girls in the same room are not allowed as well. Whoever is caught will have to go back home” he states.

Writes Flora Monteiro, Veja Sao Paulo