Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas in Brazil: My “Secret Friend”

15 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Brazil, Festivals, People, Relationships, Working Life

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Christmas PresentPhoto Credit: nopatio.com.br

 

At Christmas time in work places around Fortaleza, the exchange of gifts between co-workers is common. A popular practice is to select the name of your amiga secreta or “secret friend” from among the undisclosed names of all participating co-workers.

During the years I worked in Brazil, one amiga secreta stands out from all the rest: Angélica,* my nemesis.

Angélica and I started out on the wrong foot. She was responsible for the control of all incoming and outgoing merchandise. I made the unforgiveable error of pointing out discrepancies in the product codes. Other related questions about stock control resulted in a rebuke from Angélica’s boss. I was meddling in matters outside of my job description, he told me.

I paid the price in full for questioning Angélica’s competence. Her subsequent covert attempts to discredit and sabotage my work turned my work environment into a quagmire. Over time, I harbored resentment and anger towards her. When I pulled her name as my amiga secreta, I knew that it was not by chance. I was being forced to take action, to take another path.

I resisted the temptation to exchange my selection with another co-worker. I knew that I had to resolve my enmity towards Angélica.

On the Saturday evening of our Christmas staff party, Angélica and her husband were noticeably absent. The opportunity of presenting my gift in a safe and festive atmosphere did not occur as I had planned.

Some situations are never as easy as we would like them to be.

The following Monday morning I found the courage to go to Angélica’s office with my gift offering. I had discreetly found out what she most wanted for Christmas. I made my peace with her. That’s what Christmas is all about, isn’t it? Peace and joy and goodwill towards all.

She was open and responsive. We cleared the foul air between us. I freed myself of all those dark emotions. I became lighter and joyful.

In the New Year, I became a part of Angélica’s small group of friends. We shared many enjoyable Happy Hours on Friday evenings after work. Over glasses of Brazilian light beer, the four of us made plans for our future.

Then the bombshell fell.

My amiga secreta had secrets of her own. She was embezzling the company. I don’t know the details of her scheme. I didn’t want to know. I could not gloat. I could only lament that she had lost her way.

The Christmas my nemesis became my “secret friend” changed the course of my life as well as hers. This Christmas, wherever she may be, I hope that the star shines brightly atop her Christmas tree.

* Fictitious name

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Toys Toys Toys

09 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Brazil, Economy and Finance, Working Life

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Feira Brasileira de Brinquedos - Sao Paulo - April 2011

ABRIN 2012: Feira Brasileira de Brinquedos – Brazilian Toy Fair

São Paulo – Brazil – April 2012

Source: http://www.abrin.com.br

 

Before I started earning a decent living wage in Brazil, I could only afford the luxury of buying brinquedos for my sons on special dates: birthdays, Dia das Crianças (Children’s Day, October 12), and Christmas Day. It was often difficult to buy that special toy they coveted. After former President Collor de Mello (March 1990 to December 1992) opened Brazil to imports in 1990, cheaper toys from China – eye-catching and novel – filled stores downtown and at street vendors.

By 1995, the influx of toys from China had crippled Brazil’s toy industry, forcing the government to file an antidumping investigation against China with the World Trade Organization. To provide a level playing field for local manufacturers, the government raised the import tax on toy imports and imposed Brazilian quality and safety certification for imported toys intended for children up to 14 years of age.

These restrictions on toy imports did not deter Ceará Importers Ltda (fictitious name), where I worked as import manager, from importing toys for Dia das Crianças and Christmas, the periods of greatest demand. The import process for these products became more time-consuming and onerous as I had to forward a sample of each toy to a laboratory approved by INMETRO – Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia for quality and safety control. While samples are no longer required for obtaining the INMETRO quality and safety seal and Import License, careful control and planning are still essential for imports to arrive in time for peak sales.

Despite all these measures to restrict imports from China and make locally manufactured toys more competitive, Chinese-made toys continue to dominate the Brazilian market. In 2011, China accounted for over 85 percent of total toy imports, valued at US$358.6 million. The increase in the import tax from 20% to 35% for 14 types of toys did not achieve the 15 percent growth in national sales expected by the Associação Brasileira dos Fabricantes de Brinquedos (ABRINQ). The year ended with 70 percent of sales for imported toys against 30 percent for national production. ABRINQ’s hope is for Brazilian toy manufacturers to close 2012 with 60 percent of total sales. Vamos ver.

At Ceará Importers, our imported toys from the USA and China were a success on the local market. The children’s joy on seeing our selection of toys made up for all the frustration of the importation process. The large and colorful Chinese marbles captivated my sons, turning them into marble collectors.

Toys shine at Christmastime and reap rewards for producers. Children’s fascination for toys is not determined by their country of origin. As parents, buying our children’s dream toys boils down to the cost. The toy industry’s success depends upon its ability to remain innovative and competitive, as well as the Brazilian government’s provision of favorable fiscal and market conditions necessary for its survival.

Christmas is about Family

04 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in About Me, Relationships

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Christmas Family Reunion in Guyana

I love Christmas stories. They are magical. Christmas is, after all, a magical time of the year: The time of the year when we do our best to put aside our differences in the name of goodwill towards all.

For the past two weeks, I have been watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel. In the majority of these movies, one of the main characters at some point of the story says: “Christmas is about family.” I soak up these stories like a kid who still believes in Santa Claus.

When I speak of family, I am not referring to the nuclear family of father, mother, and children. I am referring to our extended family: our parents, siblings and their spouses, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Over the years following Guyana’s independence in May 1966, thousands of Guyanese left our shores for other lands across the ocean. Among the first to leave in my family were my aunts, uncles, and cousins. (My paternal grandparents were deceased long before I was born; my maternal grandparents had migrated to the USA when my mother was a teenager, leaving her and two of her sisters behind in British Guiana.) Close neighbors, school friends, and later friends at work also joined the exodus. At the same time, one by one, my mother and siblings migrated to Canada and the USA, leaving me and my father behind.

Marriage gifted me with a new extended family. I did my best to fit in with my new family. When I migrated to Brazil with my husband and two sons, I lost my second family. In Brazil, it took four years and a fractured marriage for my neighbors and work colleagues to open their hearts and homes to me and my sons. For the next twelve years, after my husband left Brazil to return to Guyana, the calor humano brasileiro (Brazilian human warmth) sustained us.

My sons and I never had to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day alone. Together with the families that invited us to join their Christmas celebrations, we shared their family Christmas traditions. We shared with them the Guyanese traditional Christmas black cake: ground mixed dried fruits and nuts soaked in Rum for over a month; caramel gave it the black color.

With time, family took on a new meaning for me. I learned to embrace as family all those individuals who became a part of our daily lives. Each relationship became more meaningful. When people left to pursue other paths, I learned to appreciate every moment spent with others. As often happens in life, some individuals were mere opportunists; others betrayed my trust. But, for the most part, I found people receptive, generous, and full of goodwill.

Christmas is about family. I celebrate being part of our universal family bound together on a tiny planet hurtling through space in an expanding Universe.