The Universitária Line

The University Line

Another interesting bus line created by the former Foz do Iguaçu’s mayor, Samis da Silva, the son of ex-mayor and today’s state congressman Dobrandino Gustavo da Silva, is the “Universitária Line”. This proposal is interesting. This bus will drive by and stop at or near schools, high schools and colleges in and across town. From the TTU the bus will go to what is called the "University Zone" or District in the area of influence of Itaipu Binational.

Side by side are the Foz do Iguaçu Campus of the Unioeste (Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná - West Paraná State University) – Foz do Iguaçu’s alma mater par excellence and the – privately owned Universidade União das Américas - Uniamérica, responsible for bringing courses in the medical area on the Brazilian side (the Paraguayan side has pioneered medical courses in several areas – including medicine proper). This is the final stop and you will have to get off the bus which means that the “integrated” ticket is over. You will have to pay a new ticket. If you are a tourist, that is, a perambulator, you might consider visiting these universities, sitting at the students bar, talking to people. Who knows? Nobody has done that! So why not start? The Unioeste Foz do Iguaçu Campus' (there are other campi in the region) main building has been built to bring to mind the Jesuit Architecture of which now there are only ruins. The return bus will keep the universitária promisse, it will pass by the Fafig / Cesufoz College Complex on the Avenida Paraná and blocks down the avenue it will turn left and head to the UDC – União Dinâmica de Faculdades Cataratas (I got my Bachellor Degree in Communication / Journalism, here). The name of this school is kind of a challenge to translate. Something like the Dinâmica Union of Cataratas Colleges. Colegio Educação Dinâmica (Dynamic) is the name of a privately-owned school that has been taking care of pre-school, basic, middle and higher education in town. The pre-school departament runs by the name of Xodó da Vovó (Grandma’s Xodó where xodó may mean anything from joy, to pride, jewel). It is not hard to see whole families studying at the Dinâmica Educational Complex. After the UDC stop the bus will head to the Bartolomeu Mitre State School – a traditional state school fitting the every-one-in-town-has studied-here-someday category (I also did) - and will head to the TTU Terminal on its way back to the University Zone.