Day Dois: Beleza pura

The ecology in Estados Unidos is nothing compared to Brasil, especially the Amazon. The amount of biodiversity, as it is the highest in the world, is beleza pura — pure beauty! It is a shame to see it not necessarily unappreciated by its own inhabitants, but not treated with the same respect one might see in America. To me, this seems as the most difficult thing in Belém to deal with — not language barriers, not the crime — but a respect for the ground they are walking on.

While everyone stares at our American group wherever we are walking, occasionally being called gringas (not a bad term, but just a name for complete foreigners that don’t speak any Portuguese), the people are friendly — especially those who speak English. English-speaking Brasilians are always telling me they want to talk and practice their English, and if they haven’t been to Estado Unidos, it is their life goal to do so.

Today, for example, while getting lunch at the big shopping mall, a woman noticed Alex and I did not speak any Portuguese, thus we were having problems ordering our meals with a cashier who refused to speak any slower. She asked us if we needed help and ordered our meals for us. She left and then came right back to invite us to her table. We asked her if she was sure and she was only but ecstatic because she said she doesn’t get to practice her English very often. She had impeccable English, and better speaking-grammar than me. She actually teaches English here in Belém. When talking about possible travel to the states, she said she wanted to go to California because of the television show, The OC—I quickly explained to her that while California is the best state out of all of them, the show is not a very accurate interpretation of life in California. We talked about the weather and diversity of California, while she grinned incessantly and kept saying how she wants to travel there when she has the dinheiro (money).

The prices here are also wonderful, even the shopping mall, the Iguatemi shopping mall, where the more affluent Brasilians go, everything costs about half of what one would pay in America. Last night we went out for drinks and dinner with Joao and Julian at the Estação das Docas where Amazon Brewpub is located and other restaurants. According to its website, it gathers 6,000 daily visitors and has generated tens of millions of dollars for city since its more recent construction. One can also count a good dozen couples smooching along the docas.

One thing Julian told me last night that really stuck with me when we were discussing the difference between American and Brasilian government, in his somewhat broken English, he said that Brasil sells everything that is good in this country, leaving the people here with what’s left at the end. He said the people here are the last priority of the Brasilian government.

While countries like Estados Unidos exploit developing countries and strip them of their natural resources it seems as though it is a vicious cycle — where does it end?