But even though she misses Brazilian barbecue and pao de queijo – Brazilian cheese buns – Silva soon adapted to Butte and to a smaller campus than the university she studies at in Brazil. She’s studying civil engineering.

“(Tech is) cozy,” she said. “The professors try to make us feel comfortable.”

Another perk to studying at Tech? She met her boyfriend, fellow Brazilian and civil engineering major Joao Oliveira, at the school. The two grew up in cities nearly 1,000 miles apart, but Butte brought them together.

The pair has taken advantage of the opportunity to see the United States – neither had been here before – during their study abroad trip. They’ve traveled to New York City, Hawaii, California, Chicago and Washington D.C. They’re also traveling around Montana, visiting Yellowstone and Glacier national parks and learning to ski.

There are some differences from their courses in Brazil. Learning the English system of measurement – inches, feet, yards – instead of the metric system, for one.