My bags are packed. My ride is coming in about an hour. My flight leaves at 10:30 tonight. This is my fourth trip to Brazil in nine years and my third to São Paulo. Between these four trips I have spent a combined seven months in the country. The main difference between this trip and the previous three is that some of the enchantment has worn off, which I mentioned in my first post. But, I think this is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love Brazil. I love the people, the food, the language, the culture, the literature. But I now realize that Brazilians are just people. They are no more exotic than anybody else in the world. Sure, they have their cultural idiosyncrasies that set them apart from Europeans and other Latin Americans, but for the most part their desires and dreams are similar to the rest of the Western world.
Tom Jobim, the Brazilian composer and one of the innovators of bossa nova, said “O Brasil não é para principiantes” [Brazil is not for beginners]. Most people, when quoting Jobim, refer to the cultural and social complexities that Brazil has to offer. Nevertheless, is there any country or culture that is designed for beginners? I don’t think so. (Well, maybe Disneyland.) Yes, Brazil offers a variety that foreigners sometimes find challenging, but doesn’t every culture, be it national, regional, or local, pose challenges to the Other? As an Other who loves Brazil—and who will never truly become part of the Self—I must say that learning about Brazil has opened vistas of understanding of my own culture(s)—American, Utahn, Mormon.
I will always be a student of Brazil. I don’t think I will ever fully arrive at a perfect understanding of all things Brazilian, but this trip has been different. I no longer feel drawn to Brazil like some faraway place where everything is vibrant, colorful, and exciting. I don’t think we realize to what level cultural stereotypes inform our vision of another country and culture. When the average American thinks of Brazil, he thinks of soccer, beaches, bathing beauties, carnaval, urban violence and poverty. But he doesn’t think about the millions of people that get up every morning, go to work or school, eat and sleep, and dream of a better life for themselves and their children. As I walked the streets of Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, and São Paulo, I realized that the line between American and Brazilian is very thin in many regards. Of course there are gaping chasms between our two cultures (language, heritage, history), but we also share a lot in common.
And on that note, I bid adieu to Brazil. Até a próxima [until next time].
Tom Jobim, the Brazilian composer and one of the innovators of bossa nova, said “O Brasil não é para principiantes” [Brazil is not for beginners]. Most people, when quoting Jobim, refer to the cultural and social complexities that Brazil has to offer. Nevertheless, is there any country or culture that is designed for beginners? I don’t think so. (Well, maybe Disneyland.) Yes, Brazil offers a variety that foreigners sometimes find challenging, but doesn’t every culture, be it national, regional, or local, pose challenges to the Other? As an Other who loves Brazil—and who will never truly become part of the Self—I must say that learning about Brazil has opened vistas of understanding of my own culture(s)—American, Utahn, Mormon.
I will always be a student of Brazil. I don’t think I will ever fully arrive at a perfect understanding of all things Brazilian, but this trip has been different. I no longer feel drawn to Brazil like some faraway place where everything is vibrant, colorful, and exciting. I don’t think we realize to what level cultural stereotypes inform our vision of another country and culture. When the average American thinks of Brazil, he thinks of soccer, beaches, bathing beauties, carnaval, urban violence and poverty. But he doesn’t think about the millions of people that get up every morning, go to work or school, eat and sleep, and dream of a better life for themselves and their children. As I walked the streets of Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, and São Paulo, I realized that the line between American and Brazilian is very thin in many regards. Of course there are gaping chasms between our two cultures (language, heritage, history), but we also share a lot in common.
And on that note, I bid adieu to Brazil. Até a próxima [until next time].
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