It was an absolute pleasure for me to have class with such a well-educated, well-rounded, caring person. He's currently studying a masters in Political Science and is writing his thesis on some of the rich cities on the northeastern coast of Brazil, which are surrounded by many of the poorest people in the country. He's writing about how the politicians there use the limited access to water to bribe the people, thereby maintaining their power and wealth. Fascinating paper...messed up situation.
Luis already understands many things that I intend to learn about. He's educated on these topics (and of course is still studying) AND he has a broad perspective. He's not only learning about these people and their situations; he has traveled to the Northeast to get to know the place, the people and the politics that he is researching and writing about--clearly necessary in order to truly understand his topic.
Among the many interesting things he talked about that night, here are a couple that stuck out to me:
1. From the time I've spent talking with Brazilians, I'd already learned that the general perspective is that people in the northeastern regions are the friendliest in the country and that people in the south are the least friendly. I'd also already learned that there are many descendants of Germany and other Europeans countries in the South (because I'd been told multiple times that I could pass for Brazilian as long as I said I was from the south). Luis, however, brought these two ideas together for me.
People in the northern parts of Brazil are descendants of Indian, African and Mestizo populations while people in the south are, like I said, descendants of Europe. The people in the north, therefore, still have their strong traditions of hospitality and kindness, while people in the south, since the time of the colonization period, have had a colder, less hospitable, less-friendly, we're-better-than-you 'tude. Talking about his travels to both places, he gave me specific examples from how the people act in both places (though I'd already heard similar things from many other Brazilians earlier in this trip).
For example, he told me about one particular evening that he spent at a family's home in the northeast, while he was there conducting research. They had a family of seven people (the same as the family I grew up in) but they only have access to a small amount of water once a week (used for cooking, showering, drinking and everything in-between). He was there during the family's dinner time and they had one--yes, one-- small fish to share between the seven. (That sounds as foreign to me as a freakin Biblical story, but it's an unfortunate reality there.) Per custom, they would never have a guest in their home who didn't eat so they offered to share some of their one fish with Luis. Refusing would be offensive and rude so Luis reluctantly accepted. In the south, however, this is not typical. People there see what's theirs as theirs. They have more of an "I have to feed my family...sorry, but you'll have to find a way to get your own food" attitude.
In this life, I've learned that you can't really judge and say that one is any better than the other since people on both sides of the coin usually have good intentions backed by their own sincere reasoning but, when I look at these two situations, I can't help but ask myself "Which people would I rather spend time with?" "Which people are probably happier with themselves as human beings?" "Which people are truly living fuller lives?" and "Which people do I want to be like?" and each of my answers points to the same group of people. Maybe the answers to those questions are different for everyone, but I know what they are for me.
2. Everything is relative, right? We all know that, but here's another interesting take on it:
Systematic racism unfortunately exists just as much here in Brazil as it does in the U.S. and it's just as ugly. Luis, however, made an interesting point. As a white male in Brazil, he has more opportunities and fewer barriers to success than his black counterparts. However, were he to move to the U.S., his skin color would not be seen as quite white anymore. What is he, then? He's "white" in Brazil but would be considered "mixed" or something if he were to go to the U.S. Interesting...and yet another reason that racial discrimination ultimately makes no sense and should have no place in this world.
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My thoughts: Hearing about the political manipulation and poverty that the people in the northeast are dealing with is heartbreaking and this type of situation is entirely too common. Knowing how easy it is to sit somewhere comfortably, blissfully ignoring issues like poverty, sexism and racism because they don't effect us personally, I'm only motivated to keep traveling. I will choose to see more. I will choose to see what's difficult to see and to look into the eyes of people who are affected by my decisions and the decisions of my country and race. I will choose to see everyone as humans who deserve just as much as I do. I will continue to help the people around me everywhere I go as much as I can. For every person I know who doesn't travel, I will spend that much more time out here trying to connect with and understand other people, people who are different than me, opening my mind, growing and changing...learning to love, learning to see, learning to help...not ignoring, not being complacent, not keeping my blissfully ignorant mind where it is now forever. This is my mission.
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