As a child one of my favorite past times was reading about the lives of people around the world. I wanted so much to see and witness what existed beyond the confines of my neighborhood, city, state and country. Many moons later, I am doing just that and I have seen more of the world than I ever imagined possible. For the longest time I haven’t been motivated to blog, because I have been soaking up the new sights, sounds and smells around me. You see folks, I’m currently living in Brazil.
BRAZIL
My first encounter with
South America would have to be via soccer as shallow as that might sound. I
remember watching the 1998 world cup with my Dad and wondering what on earth the runner up team was saying. They weren’t speaking English for sure and I
knew that wasn’t French….so my childhood brain was left perplexed by what I was hearing. My Dad then explained it to me, that Brazil was a place, very
south of the US where they spoke this language called Portuguese, also have black people who were taken their as slaves, and that was where
the best soccer in the world came from. At that time, I was part of a little
league girls’ soccer team and completely soccer obsessed. My Dad needed to say no more, I
already loved this place called Brazil.
Years later, my life has rotated in a full circle and I am working, learning, and living in South America for the first time. Sometime in the summer I left Paris after about a year of living there, replenished my battery in my beloved city of New York, and moved to Brazil in September to embark on the second leg of my PhD journey. I am not very good at articulating exactly what I do, but let me give it another shot: I am pursuing my PhD in Law (Mining and Energy Law) currently in my 2nd year, which is the field work phase, so I chose to do my field work in Brazil (because why not :). I work within the Mining and Energy unit of a Law Firm here and in a few weeks will be heading to mining cites in the Amazon where the actual mining projects are located.
I am so grateful for the
opportunity of having found my passion…..I love what I do. However, I love even
more the thought of chronicling all that is good and sustainable about mining
in Brazil and imparting that knowledge to mining reliant countries in Africa.
old city center in Sao Paulo
BRAZIL: THE STEREOTYPES
Let’s face it, normally when you say the word “Brazil” the first thing that comes to mind is to shake your hips, gyrate your waist, comment about the girls and engage in many other unpleasantries. I am certainly guilty of this before I got here. Glad to say, that I’m over the watered down stereotype of what Brazil is. However, in case you were wondering, the general stereotypes of a samba dancing, protest loving, bikini obsessed nation are all true. But, there is so much more to this country than meets the eye. To understand Brazil, is to live here…..and I don’t mean a one week vacation to Copacabana beach in Rio. I am entering my third month here, so allow me from my “gringa” (word used to call foreigners) perspective to share what I see to be the reality of Brazil.
BRAZIL: THE REALITY
In the upcoming weeks and months, I’ll try to forgo my Friday nights of
frolicking at Rua Agosto (a popular neighborhood that gets turntup on weekends)
and instead sit at my desk, and pen down in depth narratives on all that is
good, bad and ugly about Brazil from my foreigners’ lens. However for starters, what I see in Sao Paulo where I live, is a city which is emblematic of a
country that is on the cusp of becoming a major world power. I see high rise buildings
with helicopter pads on top, made in Brazil cars, and supermarkets stocked mostly with made in Brazil products. However, at the same time, I see the most extreme
form of inequality in which the haves and have-nots live side by side. And disturbingly so, an obsession which I think the country as a whole has towards America.
However, when all is said and done, my favorite characteristic of Brazil so far is in the warmth and friendliness of its people. It is evident in the multitude of friends I’ve gotten to know since getting here. People who one day after meeting me invited me into their houses, introduced me to their friends, accompany me to doctors visits to act as my translator, get me local phone plans in their name so I too can enjoy the same benefits that citizens do….and the list goes on. This to me is the “Real Brazil” which no stereotype can capture. So in a nutshell, Beautiful people….absolutely, but I say even more beautiful are their hearts.
Making new friends in the neighborhood of Jabaquara
FOLKS: Seja Bem-Vindo/Welcome!! To the Brazil Chapter of my Blog
Your girl,
Juanita.
xoxoxo
コメント