Letters from Brazil, Week 2: Ignored ‘Foreigner’ Learned a Lesson

By RICHARD A. DECKER
Dear Friends,
It has been another wonderful week here in Brazil. For those of you who do not know, a group of friends and I are on a missions trip here in Sao Paulo, Brazil, working at North Valley Bible and English Camp in order to preach God’s word and teach English to the Brazilian children.
Last week, as you may or may not know, I was in Itaporanga, getting a feel for the country and experiencing some of the Brazilian culture. This week was preparation for the camp that will be starting on the 11th.
Our way back from Itaporanga was interesting. The group, which included at that time, Andrea, Vanessa and Tyler Fox, Danielle, Marcos and Sue Souza and I, was driving back to Atibaia. We were on the highway during the night and it was very interesting to once again see how the Brazilians drive.
Marcos was driving and we were stuck in some traffic. So in this scenario I saw cars passing other cars with little regard to the lines on the road motorcycles weaving in between and on the sides of cars. The reason for all of this is: one, big rigs and two, hills. No one wants to be stuck behind a big rig while driving on a hill. So everyone, including Marcos, was passing everyone else in order to get around the rigs.
I was told most Americans find the driving here very scary…but I love it because it reminds me of my video games.
I drove a little here…but not on any main roads. I liked it, especially since all the cars are manual transmission. So I’m hoping to get more driving in before I head home.
Once we arrived in Atibaia we rested. The next day, which would be last Monday, the group had to wait for four more people to add to the group: Marcos Jr. and his wife Monica, their son Matt and Andrea’s brother in law, Mike Fox.
While waiting I went with Marcos and Sue to the market to buy some food items for the camp. While here I would read Portuguese words out loud…poorly that is, and Marcos would translate for me and explain how to pronounce the words. It was nice of him to do this for me he is a great man. A few hours after Marcos, Sue and I returned home, the four people we were waiting for arrived and we spent some time talking, joking around and enjoying our time with each other.
The day after, the group went to Nazare Paulista, to the camp, which is owned by Marcos and Sue Souza. The camp is where the group and I have been for the past five days. And let me tell you, it is beautiful here. We are up in the mountains of Nazare Paulista, where the air is clean and the sounds of birds, trees and wind can be heard all around you. The camp is also a beautiful sight with four main sections: a bottom hill, which contains a worship hall/cafeteria, sleeping facilities for the campers, a mess hall, a pool and a pavilion. There is a recreation area that has a mini-golf course, a soccer field, a basketball court, a pond and a zip line.
A middle hill has larger sleeping facilities, a house for the staff, another zip line, and a small playground. And finally the upper hill which contains a large garage where Carlos, the groundskeeper and very cool man, stores all his tools and equipment. The whole area is really God given and it is a blessing to be here. If any of you want to find out more about the camp or see what it looks like, check out the website: www.nvcamp.com.
Mike, Marcos Jr. and I worked on the stage in the worship hall for two days; fixing lights and wires, organizing and setting up equipment and practicing songs that the musicians in the group will play during worship time when the camp is in session. I also went down the mountain a ways with Carlos and Marcos yesterday to help them put up a sign.
The sign will be used to give campers direction to where the camp is when they drive up on Tuesday. While at the camp I was also able to see some amazing plants including: coffee trees, banana trees, and trees that look like menorahs.
I was also able to go into town where I bought two glass bottles of soda. What was interesting was that the bottles were deposit bottles. So the drinks were R$ 5…but I paid R$8. However, if I return the bottles to the store when I am finished with them I get the three Reais back.
I mention this because it is very interesting to see such a thing, since we don’t have that with small bottles of soda in the U.S …only large bottles.
This all brings me to today where we picked up more people from Sao Paulo International Airport to complete our group. The people included: Joshua Fox, who is Andrea’s husband, Sonny Purugganan, six Americans from a church in Easton, Pa. and one American from Maryland.
We then stopped at a Brazilian Wal-mart. This was an eye opener for me and it has to do with a small story I am about to tell. It goes like this:
I was looking for a case of guarana for the Americans who never had it before. I could not find a case, so I went up to one of the employees to ask her where I could find one. So I said, “Senhora, senhora,” which is, “Miss,” in Portuguese. However, she did not respond. I said again, “Senhora, senhora,” but she did not answer…she did not even look at me. It was strange because I never had anyone here in Brazil, or America, or anywhere, ever do that to me. It was certainly a very rare occurrence. So I found Marcos Jr. and asked him about it and he told me how some Brazilians, when they see Americans, get very shy and do not know what to say when approached by one. So they do not respond at all.
Now do not get me wrong, Brazilians like Americans and they do not ignore them like this woman did. Like I said, this was a rare occurrence that most people, Brazilian or American, would never experience. But I recite this story because it was very humbling.
Here I was, just a normal person, asking someone to help and they would not respond because I was a foreigner. It makes me think about the U.S.; how sometimes some of us put down people that are not native; how we ignore them and treat them wrong.
I am thankful that this woman did this to me, I am thankful that I was able to be on the other side of things because God showed me in this rare occurrence how horrible it is to disrespect someone just because they are not from your own country…and now I know how it feels.
But now I must go and attend to other things. But please, dear friends, remember the camp, the group and I in your thoughts and prayers so that we might have a wonderful and uplifting time during the camp this week. God bless and keep reading.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Decker
(ED. NOTE: Decker is 17, a resident of Court House, and a senior at Middle Township High School.)