The few Brazilians I had met prior to my grand adventure were incredibly warm and friendly people - they were usually dynamic, fun, kind, and practical. I cannot help but think that these are very long ingrained cultural and social traits that I had also encountered in previous visits to both the Azores and Portugal. As I worked with Maria Alice on her PhD dissertation and became friends with colleagues, Barbara and Mirella, I grew more intrigued about Brazilian culture and peoples. So when the opportunity came to be an invited scholar at UFSC and spend time in Brazil, I knew that I would be in for a great experience.
Brazil has had quite a history with its colonial past, particularly the territorial disputes with Spain, slavery, and then active recruitment of immigrants. One would think all this and the distance (and subsequent separation) from Portugal would make it very distinct from the original roots. However, the language, much of the original culture and customs, and the essence of Portugal are very prevalent. The main distinction of Brazil from these places, from what I could see, was the the incredible diversity of the peoples. The dynamic nature of Latin-based heritage, sense of community inspired by the Catholic institution (religious hierarchy and dominance aside), and vibrancy of rich traditions truly define the beauty of Brazil's population.
As I blogged on earlier, Brazil has had its political struggles and continues to have huge divides between rich and poor rooted in historic inequities, classism, and racism. These fundamental challenges are not so different from what we have in Canada except, perhaps, the magnitude of scale. For instance, Canada's historic treatment of Indigenous peoples is as heinous as that in Brazil, made worse here because the Crown had legal treaties and reneged on them. When in office, Bolsonaro seemed bent on active genocide of Brazil's Indigenous peoples during COVID by withholding healthcare services and vaccinations and Canada's legacy includes deliberate small pox-laced Hudson Bay blankets and residential schools. But a huge strength I saw was Brazilian pride in their country that is not so fraught with regional differences compared to Canada; there seems to be less active divisiveness in their country compared to here with our political leaders.
Similar to people across Canada, in Brazil there are good and bad folks, those who are nice and those less so, those in it for all and those in it for themselves, those highly political and those not...a veritable mix of types. I got to experience all of this in Brazil as with everywhere I have visited or lived in my six decades of life and have accepted this as the essence of the human condition. But the vast majority of people I met were good, nice, generous, and so open. There were offers to visit places, see the sights, invites over for meals, spontaneous encounters while out, and (thankfully!) extended patience for my lack of Portuguese when I was on my own.
It is hard to narrow down the highlights of my experience of people - there were so many. Obviously, the gracious hospitality for my stay at Angela's place ranks high and it connected me to some wonderful people for a ready-made social circle (Arthur, Marlene, Alvaro, Elaine, Perry, Rita, João, et al.). The visit to the Quilombola community with Maria Alice and Josie to learn about the history and challenges of these peoples was a definite highlight, as it was both a privilege and eye-opening experience to hear the stories and learn about the ongoing historical injustices they faced. And, while carnival was a whole lot of fun (and it was!), it led to meeting an enterprising engaged couple fundraising for their wedding and the chance encounter with Vivian and her beau, João, that led me to Athena the Gawdess of Tattoos...and the Parrot Sketch. When I was in Rio de Janeiro, the fun academics there (Marluci, Liana, and Maria) went out of their way to take me to the Sugar Loaf for an impromptu karaoke session and host me for meals. These spontaneous encounters and the discussions they sparked underscored the warmth and welcoming nature of the people I met, and that really helped me to feel at home. I never experienced culture shock in Brazil as I expected I would and, to be honest, could see myself going back for another extended stay.
And then I learned about the two kinds of gossip - good gossip and bad gossip. Oh, yes...gossip is a very real thing in Brazil and I think I might have been warned about this at some point before going. Of course, gossip is a thing in our society and is often the grapevine we learn things quickly from. But our societal norm, right or wrong (we all know gossip is wrong but it happens anyway), is that gossip is usually done on the QT with whispers and, often, behind closed doors. As three people with great authority told me (may lightning strike me if I am telling tales), in Brazil "good gossip" is healthy and openly shared - it is OK, not with evil intent, and acceptable. In contrast, "bad gossip" is not healthy, usually with ill intent, and often done discretely...but still acceptable (?). It was good to learn this distinction and I lived the experience gossip early in my stay. When I had a significant non-COVID head cold and opted to use my own medications and inhaler (being familiar with my own care and, as a nurse, have managed these things in the past) and politely declined offered remedies, the gossip went around that I refused to take Brazilian medications. My interpretation - bad gossip. I also quickly learned that WhatsApp group chat was one of the main ways that gossip quickly made the rounds - the virtue of social media. All I had to do is say I going somewhere or meeting someone, and everyone knew it within minutes. Interpretation - good gossip? I learned very quickly what I could say and to whom...and, for fun, would just say things to see what information travelled where 😈
There were few low points in the interactions I had when in Brazil. For the most part, people I engaged with from service industry personnel to healthcare professionals, were polite, respectful, helpful, and gracious. I did have an encounter with an aggressive person with mental health and addictions issues who was ultimately taken down by police and national guard members. And there were the occasional gruff anti-social characters. But such situations were far and few between that, possibly because of the places I happened to be in. But a disappointment I did have was feeling in parts of the academic world there that my expertise was desired, given by me, and somewhat exploited in return for very little. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was invited to UFSC as a visiting scholar and essentially paid for my own trip there and back without so much as a meal for my time and efforts. The only exceptions were the immediate flights from Buenos Ares to Floripa and from Floripa to São Paulo and the hospitality of staying at Angela's place (the latter being her generosity, not UFSC's). In comparison, UFRJ covered everything when I went to visit their institution - flight, hotel, Ubers, and meals. I was invited out by some individual academic colleagues from UFSC for meals and to see parts of the area, for which I remain truly grateful. A perplexing thing was often when meeting on official business, amongst the first questions I was asked was whether there would funding for research and sponsoring students. Since leaving UFSC, I have not been contacted by anyone...nada. I chalk this up to the entitled quirkiness of (nursing) academia and will write more about that in the future.
My ranking of Brazil's people as my second top moment is that I experienced and learned so much from my time with them. The overwhelming openness, acceptance, and vibrant spirit truly made it a memory of a lifetime for me. I have a visa for another four years, so I think I will find a way to return to experience more of Brazil...although next time during a cooler time of the year and with more vacation than work.
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