Algumas reflexões ...

I was having a lovely time musing about Bahia while coming home on the bus this evening. It had been a relatively stimulating day, seeing people I hadn’t seen for a long time and having interesting conversations with friends. It’s nice to hear the opinions of others on why here is so terrible: first of all it’s always corruption, but also there’s the lack of education among government workers who slow the system down. It’s true that things here can be pretty slow. With only two people ahead of me in line at the library I can wait for half an  hour while the librarian tries to resolve some problem or other with the student. While this is not always the case, it isn’t unusual. My host mother also once complained to me about having to show an employee how to do his own job while she was waiting to get some paperwork done, because he honestly didn’t know how. But these are simple problems that can be fixed with the right amount of training. No, I can understand why Brazilians here want to leave. It’s always harder (at least in my case it was) to see the good things in the place you grew up in.

And why is it exactly, that I find Brazil so incredible? I admit that most likely it is because it was the first place I went to after leaving home, and everything that I found to be different, the language, the food, the warmth, the people, I fell in love with, simply because it wasn’t what I was used to, and I craved change. Also  I believe that it’s because how you find your environment (your opinion and perspective on it) is a direct reflection of how you yourself feel in that same environment. True paradise, whether it be in the tropics or up North, depends entirely on the people you share it with (and maybe the food counts for a bit as well).

So I would like to think that this second time around I can see Brazil from a more moderate perspective, rather than through the eyes of someone who was just anxious to get away from home. Even so, there is still something about Bahia that I find hard to define, but that leaves me feeling at home even though I’m miles away from Canada.

What does Brazil have that Canada is missing? First of all, in Canada there is the concept of “to-go”, that is (almost) entirely non-existent in Salvador. My life in Canada is that of multi-tasking. Munching down food while studying for a test, drinking your coffee while running to class. But here, I have realized that being late isn’t that big of a deal (my opinion on this might change once I’m back in Canada), and it’s just not worth the stress of speed walking simply to arrive a few minutes earlier, especially if half the class arrives late anyways.  Life is meant to be enjoyed, and it seems to me that the people of Brazil have realized that fact much more than us North Americans.

Second of all, and most importantly, is the warmth that people have for one another. People here have a tendency to touch, much, much more than Canadians. I think that just the act of touching, which is so fundamental not only to being human, but to being alive, helps us to feel closer and more connected to one another. There are many examples of this that I could give, but I’ll mention just a few. The woman I asked directions for on the street put her hand on  my shoulder before wishing me luck in finding my way. My teacher at the university rested his hand on my head while walking down the rows of desks and talking to his students. They are both very simple acts, but to touch a stranger in Canada, and even for some to touch your friends, is seen as strange and unordinary. This may or may not be true, but I think that if Canadians became more “touchy”, and tried to incorporate more “touchiness” into their every day routines, we would have a lot less depression in our country. People need to feel as if they belong, and it’s sad to see in Montreal how many people look so alone walking on the streets or in the metro. While there is still depression in Brazil, people in general here seem a lot happier than people in Canada.

And that sums up what I thought about during my bus ride. I arrived in Porto da Barra to a beautiful sunset over the ocean, descending the buses stairs, the doors closed on me, and I became stuck! It was worse than being stuck in the doors in the Montreal metro. For two seconds, a news headline flashed through my head:  “Canadian girl crushed to death by bus doors due to ignorant bus driver”, but then he managed to find the right lever, and to my relief, I was released. That’s one point for Canada.