After four months living at home in Brazil, which she was no longer used to doing, Julia Lopes de Paulo was ready to return for her third year at the University of South Florida and regain her independence.
Lopes de Paulo went back to her family in Montes Claros, Brazil, when the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly interrupted her life on campus. To return, Lopes de Paulo, and other Brazilian students, had to take a detour after a travel ban prevented them from directly re-entering the United States.
The decision to restrict the flow of travelers who had been in Brazil in the 14 days prior to entering the U.S. was placed because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Lopes de Paulo, and a group of other Brazilian students, found a solution by deciding to spend two weeks in Playa del Carmen, Mexico—where they could serve their quarantine relaxing at the beach.
“I really wanted to get back here and not because I did not want to be with my family anymore, but because I needed to get back to what was mine,” said Lopes de Paulo. “What is mine is my studies, my job, the things that I accomplished myself, I just thought, “I have to buy the ticket, and I have to go.“
Lopes de Paulo is a resident assistant in the university’s Tampa campus, and she had to come back to keep her position.
The travel ban was announced back in May—but as August approached, and with it, the start of the fall semester—students, such as Lopes de Paulo, had to look for alternatives. The group of six Brazilians departed São Paulo on July 20, and one more joined them a week later.
“I was freaking out,” said Vitoria Miguez Rosas, a third-year student from a group who saw the development of the COVID-19 pandemic spread from her home in Rio de Janeiro. “Time passed, and nothing changed. Brazil was only getting worse, the U.S. was only getting worse, and then it was June, July, and we had no idea what was going to happen.”
Miguez Rosas considered spending 14 days in countries such as Canada or the United Kingdom, where she had places she could stay. Still, more countries started enforcing travel restrictions and closing their borders.
“Everything just started going wrong, all the options. The only option left was Mexico,” said Miguez Rosas.
According to Miguez Rosas, it made more sense for her to return to the United States. The engineering major already had a yearly leasing contract and two on-campus jobs in the mail center and as a peer mentor.
Miguez Rosas also said she struggled when classes transitioned online in the spring. This semester, she has two in-person classes.
“I have two siblings, and we live in an apartment. My mom uses my room as her office. It was just difficult to find a place to study,” she said. “Studying in a different time zone, I was always getting assignments wrong.”
Students who were seriously considering ways to return to the U.S. created a group chat and agreed on the details. Staying in Mexico City was the initial option because their flight arrived there, but they decided to rent an Airbnb somewhere they could be near the beach and a pool instead. Playa del Carmen, a small city about an hour away from Cancun, was the kind of place they were looking for.
The students knew each other from the university’s Brazilian community, but not all of them were friends. Traveling together brought them closer.
“At night, we would watch a movie or just sit and talk and play games. It was a few days of just chilling and enjoying each other’s presence,” said Lopes de Paulo. She added, “We did get to go to a few restaurants and had some delicious tacos, exquisite tequila too.”
