Tag Archives: Fortaleza/Ceará

My Greatest Fear in Brazil

07 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by in Brazil, Family Life, Human Behavior

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Bus Terminal - Praca Coracao de Jesus - Fortaleza - Ceara - Brazil

Bus Terminal – Praça Coração de Jesus – Fortaleza – Ceará – Brazil
Photo Credit: Agência Fato

When my sons were young, my greatest fear was dying and leaving them orphans in Brazil—a fear triggered by a near-death experience.

I had just gotten off the bus at the terminal in the Praça Coração de Jesus in downtown Fortaleza. In those days, there was no divider separating the bus lanes from the street. Cleared for crossing with the red light, I was in the middle of the street when I heard the roar of a speeding car. The tires screeched as the driver took a right turn at high velocity, heading straight at me. Continue reading →

Brazil – Preparing My Sons for Our Move to the USA

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Brazil, Education

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The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - Book CoverThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Book Cover

 

After mailing my divorce papers to my mother in the United States, five years went by before I heard from her attorney that the application for permanent residence for me and my two sons were finally being processed. On the chance that our application might be approved, I began preparing my sons, then sixteen and eighteen years old, for life in an English-speaking country.

Ten years earlier, after their father left Brazil to return to Guyana, my sons had stopped speaking English. To ensure that they did not forget the English language, I continued to speak to them in English. Later, when they started high school, it helped that English was part of their school’s curriculum. They both excelled in English grammar and vocabulary.

To get them to practice speaking in English without making it an onerous activity, I set up one-hour reading sessions once or twice a week, depending upon my work schedule. They had to be engaging stories for adolescent boys their age. In Fortaleza, finding the popular English Classics, in the English language, proved to be a challenge. But I did manage to find some of my favorites:

  • Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  • The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

During our reading sessions, we took turns at reading out loud. Their reading proficiency in English surprised me. Whenever we came upon a word or expression that they did not understand, I translated it to Portuguese. To determine their level of comprehension, I ended each session with a brief discussion. While I did not get them to comment on the story in English, I was satisfied that they were hearing themselves speak the language. From my own struggles in learning to speak Portuguese, I knew what an important step this was for them.

Happily, they enjoyed the stories and looked forward to our reading sessions. While preparing this blog post, I asked them which story was their favorite.

Without hesitation, my younger son said, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

His older brother couldn’t decide. “I enjoyed them all,” he said.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the last book we began reading together. By then, there were so many other pressing matters to attend to regarding our immigration process that we never completed the book. As in real life, we did not know what lay ahead for us, beyond the wardrobe, in our future adopted homeland.

Miracles Happen

07 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by in Brazil, Family Life, Relationships

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Natal de Luz 2014 - Fortaleza - Ceara - BrazilNatal de Luz 2014 – Christmas of Light 2014
Fortaleza – Ceará – Brazil
Photo Credit: Prefeitura de Fortaleza

 

The Christmas Season is here! The kid in me loves the Christmas lights and music. I love, too, the Christmas movies in which all things are possible. People look out for others. They are forgiving, generous, and compassionate. Miracles abound.

During our Brazil years, the miracle that stands out from all the other miracles occurred the year my then-husband returned to Guyana. Shortly thereafter, still reeling from being abandoned, I received an eviction notice from our landlord. Discovering we were three months in arrears with our rent sent me spinning. Continue reading →

Dengue Fever Threatened My Son’s Life

08 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by in Brazil, Family Life, Working Life

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Dengue Fever - Aedes Aegypti MosquitoDengue Fever – Aedes Aegypti Mosquito
Photo Credit: WHO/TDR/Stammers

 

When my older son, John, was eighteen years old, he took sick with what I thought was the flu. At the Italbras tannery, my Italian boss had arrived in Brazil for a five-day visit by our largest cut-and-sew client. The day our two visitors arrived, John was bedridden with high fever, headache, and muscle and joint pains. Our over-the-counter medicines for fever and colds only provided temporary relief.

Around ten o’clock, when John called me, I knew that something was wrong. His condition had worsened. After telling my boss that I had to take my son to the hospital, I returned to Fortaleza in a company vehicle. Continue reading →

Violence in Brazil

06 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by in Brazil, Social Injustice, Urban Violence

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Manifestation against Violence in Fortaleza - Ceara - BrazilManifestation against Violence in Fortaleza – Ceará – Brazil
“Enough! We want to Live Fortaleza!”
Photo Credit: Tribuna do Ceará

 

In Mexico’s NGO Citizen Council for Public Security & Criminal Justice yearly list of the fifty most violent cities around the world, sixteen Brazilian cities feature among the Top 50 for 2013. Six of them, located in Northeast Brazil, rank among the top fifteen.

Fortaleza, capital of Ceará, ranked seventh worldwide – the city placed thirteenth in 2012 – and second in Brazil, after Maceió (Alagoas). With the expansion of drug trafficking, Fortaleza has become increasingly more violent over the years since I lived there. Nowadays, my best friend in Fortaleza suffers from panic attacks whenever she has to walk the streets. Another friend reports that home invaders have become more brazen.

Data released for Fortaleza by the Secretariat of Public Security & Social Defense of Ceará (SSPDS-CE) reveal that during the period from January 1 to March 19, 2014, there were 766 homicides. These included 433 deaths from gunshot wounds, 14 knifed to death, and 3 bludgeoned. The cause of death of the remaining 316 corpses is unknown. That’s an average of 9.8 persons murdered every day in Fortaleza.

When attending the games in Fortaleza during the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, soccer fans should be on the alert.

On a quiet Sunday afternoon in an upscale neighborhood in the city, my two sons and I set out on a fifteen-minute walk to the shopping mall on Avenida Dom Luís. When we crossed the intersection with Avenida Senador Virgílio Távora, we observed a street gang, two blocks away, approaching on the other side of Avenida Dom Luís.

Intersection of Av Dom Luis with Av Senador Virgilio Tavora - Fortaleza - BrazilIntersection of Avenida Dom Luís with Avenida Senador Virgílio Távora
Fortaleza – Brazil
Source: skyscrapercity.com

“The convenience store,” my older son said. He and his brother sprinted across the street ahead of oncoming traffic towards the gas station.

Impeded by the traffic, I waited on the median divider island. The gang was now half-a-block away. A voice shouted from behind me. Looking around, I saw a security guard standing outside an office building. He beckoned to me.

“Stand behind me,” the security guard said when I joined him. He fingered the gun at his hip.

I remained calm. My sons had reached safety. I prepared myself for the inevitable. As the gang came closer, I estimated that they were about fifty of them: male and female, ranging in ages from eight to eighteen.

Then a miracle happened.

Two police cars arrived on the scene. Loud confusion ensued. The policemen ordered the children and adolescents to prostrate on the sidewalk with their hands on their heads.

With the gang under police control, my sons joined me. “Lots of wallets and watches are in the drain,” they reported.

“Getting rid of evidence,” the guard said.

After thanking the guard for coming to my rescue, my sons and I returned home. There could be more trouble up ahead.

Fortaleza, like most of Brazil’s major cities, is a world of contrasts between the rich and destitute. Extreme inequality breeds crime and violence. The corpses tell the tale.

 

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

Brazil: Pushing Beyond My Limits

15 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in Brazil, Working Life

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East Coast Highway CE-040 - Ceara - BrazilEast Coast Highway CE-040 – Ceará – Brazil
Photo Credit: blogdotamandua.com.br

 

Sometimes in life, events occur that force us to push beyond our limits. When I got the highly coveted position as Administrative Supervisor of foreign payment receipts and Foreign Exchange Contracts for exports (Contratos de Câmbio de exportação) in the Export Department at Italbras Leather Producer & Exporter S.A. (fictitious name), my first challenge was the distance I had to travel to and from the company’s Head Office and tannery in Cascavel, Ceará.

I do not drive. Making the 38-mile trip to Cascavel—along Ceará’s principal federal Highway BR-116 via a metropolitan bus line—for the job interview was a hurdle I had to overcome. Since the company provided private transport for its staff in Fortaleza and its environs, I did not have the day-to-day hassle of using public transport.

According to the pick-up schedule prepared by the company’s Personnel Manager, I was the first on the schedule, starting at 5:00 a.m. In order to get out of bed by 4:30 a.m., I had to set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. I’m a slow riser. This meant that I could no longer cook lunch for my sons before leaving for work, as was my practice over the years. I began cooking in the evenings when I got home. That was usually around seven. First to be picked up; last to be dropped off.

During the first few months, I stayed awake during the journey, soaking in the scenery in the quiet early mornings. Our bus, equipped with reclining seats and a restroom in the rear—later, we got a small TV mounted behind the driver’s seat—took Highway CE-040 connecting Ceará’s beaches east of Fortaleza. Within a month, the novelty of travelling across unfamiliar territory soon faded.

Owing to the round trip to pick up other staff members, our trip to Italbras took two hours. After a while, I was able to return to a deep sleep. I recall my embarrassment the time I overslept while everyone disembarked without waking me. The guys never let me forget that incident. Our return trips on Friday afternoons, at the end of our work week, were good times spent together.

Our workdays began at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 5:00 p.m. from Mondays to Thursdays and at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays, with an hour for lunch. A trained culinary staff prepared and served breakfast, lunch, and dinner to all workers in the company’s dining hall.

After a couple of months of my new waking and cooking schedule, my sixteen- and eighteen-year-old sons offered to take care of the cooking. No prompting from me. Without their support, I could not have taken on the greatest challenge of my professional life in Brazil.

The Myth of Brazil’s Racial Democracy

11 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by in Brazil, Human Behavior, Social Injustice

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Brazilian WomenSource: American Renaissance (www.amren.com)

In Ceará, Northeast Brazil, I blended in among the brown-skinned mestiços on the streets and buses. People of mixed ethnicity – African, European, and indigenous Amerindian – made up 61.9 percent of the population (ipece.ce.gov.br). Yet the faces smiling at me from billboards around the capital were mostly white. Accounting for 32 percent of the population, whites occupied top posts in the government, commercial banks, businesses, and professional services.

According to Brazil’s Census 2010, whites accounted for 47.5 percent of the total population. Blacks and mestiços make up 50.9 percent. Whites dominated Brazil national TV. In the 1990s when my sons were kids, Xou da Xuxa: Rainha das Baixinhas (Queen of the Little Ones) was the most popular children’s program. The hosts of popular TV night shows were also white. Whites played the major roles in the much-watched Brazilian telenovelas. Blacks and mestiços portrayed the villains, the underdogs, the domestic servants, the seductresses, and prostitutes.

Top Moda also favored whites, as is still evident in Brazil’s world-renowned Fashion Rio.

Whenever I raised the issue of racism in Brazil with friends and work colleagues, I always received the same response: “We don’t have racism in Brazil.”

Was I wrong? Why then were blacks and mestiços the overwhelming majority of people using public transport?

Brazil Census 2010 by color/race, education, and employment reveal that whites held 73.3 percent of college degrees compared to 20.8 percent of mixed ethnicity, and 3.8 percent blacks. The number of self-employed professionals also showed great disparity: 52.5 percent whites to 38.9 percent of mixed ethnicity, and 6.9 percent blacks. The divide was even greater when you consider the number of employers or business owners: 75.9 percent whites to 19.2 percent of mixed ethnicity, and 2.5 percent blacks.

With the enactment of the Affirmative Action Law for Universities in 2012, the Brazilian government is working to reduce this racial social disparity. Leaders of the African community favor this move, but several prominent Brazilians believe that this will lead to racism. (See links to videos and other articles on the Guyanese Online Blog.)

While I worked for white Brazilian business owners who welcomed me and my sons into their homes, and who helped me to grow as an international trade professional, I also faced what I considered racial discrimination. A white boss once put me in my place when I asked for a raise, based on increased job responsibilities.

“You people are never satisfied. You always want more,” he told me.

He could only be referring to the color of my skin. Or was it my lower social status?

Like all upscale apartment buildings in Fortaleza, the ten-story building where my sons and I lived had two elevators: one for residents, the other for domestic servants and external service providers. My income-level had earned us a place among Brazil’s white and growing brown-skinned middle class, granting us the privilege to share the elevator provided for residents, of a white majority.

We became part of the myth of Brazil’s racial democracy.

A Faithful Friend

02 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in Brazil, Family Life, Relationships

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A Faithful FriendSource: amigafieltotal.blogspot.com

During my second year at Ceará Importers, Cristina* joined the Personnel Department. She shared an office with me and the assistant accountant.

A single woman in her twenties, Cristina was a devout Roman Catholic and active member in her parish Church. Soft-spoken, she measured her words when speaking with others. Attentive and diligent in the execution of her work, she soon won the respect of all staff members.

Cristina and I became friends. My sons and I first went to her home for a nephew’s birthday party. Located in a working-class neighborhood on the periphery of Fortaleza, her family’s three-story house was long and narrow. During a tour of the house, she pointed out the sub-divisions for her, her parents, and four married siblings with their children. The communal kitchen and dining room were located on the ground floor.

The most-recently married brother had built his house in the extensive backyard. When she got married, she told me, her family planned to add another flat above the bungalow.

I marveled at the way this extended working-class Brazilian family had pooled their resources to support one another.

At Ceará Importers, on the assistant accountant’s resignation, Cristina referred a friend from her Church group. With the necessary qualifications, he got the position. When the Personnel Department needed another assistant to handle the demands of a growing workforce, Cristina found a neighbor, an older woman, with the required experience.

A few years later, Cristina’s best friend Lucinda* became a new addition to the Accounts Department.

Then our lives changed in 1999. After five years of expansion and success, Ceará Importers suffered a severe blow from Brazil’s Central Bank. The five-year-long fixed parity of the US dollar and Brazil real had come to an end. At that time, the company had six retail stores in Fortaleza and franchise stores in major cities in Northeast Brazil.

Cristina’s position placed her in the front line of the downsizing that followed. I recall the day the first batch of retail store workers gathered in the Head Office compound to receive their final paychecks and other monies due by law.

Months later when Lucinda’s name appeared among those on the cutting list, Cristina stepped in to save her best friend. Lucinda’s husband had recently lost his job, leaving her as the sole-provider for him and their eleven-month-old infant. Cristina asked her boss to instead reduce her own salary. The personnel manager spared Lucinda for a couple more months, by which time her husband had found another job.

Cristina left the company some time after my departure. Holding key positions, the other two friends she had brought to the company survived the downsizing.

A faithful friend is beyond price,
no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy,
such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly,
and his friend will be like himself.
 
Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 6:14-17

* Fictitious Name

Success is Transitory

05 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Brazil, Economy and Finance, Working Life

≈ 14 Comments

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Bairro Varjota - Fortaleza - CearaBairro Varjota – Fortaleza – Ceará – Brazil
Photo by Macilio Gomes (www.panoramio.com)

 

As Import Manager at Ceará Importers,* a successful and expanding young medium-sized company in Fortaleza, I thought that I had finally made it in Brazil. Gone were my days of struggle to raise the rent and my sons’ high school fees. We dressed better, frequented the cinema, and enjoyed holiday week-end outings. I also began looking for an apartment closer to my workplace and my sons’ school.

After relocating to his farm 52 miles away from the capital, a good friend offered to rent me his apartment in Bairro Varjota, an upscale neighborhood in Fortaleza. An evening after work, my sixteen-year-old son and I visited the apartment. Located on the eighth floor of a ten-story apartment building, it had a master bedroom with bathroom, two other bedrooms sharing another bathroom and self-contained quarters for a live-in maid. The view from the living room balcony took my breath away.

My son looked at me wide-eyed. “Mom, you’re dreaming. We can’t afford a place like this,” he told me.

“We can make it happen,” I said.

By cutting non-essential expenses, we were able to cover the doubly higher rent and condo fees. Change demanded individual sacrifices.

Four months and thirteen days after moving into our new apartment, the Brazil Central Bank announced a change in foreign exchange rates. The Brazil real, pegged one-to-one with the American dollar (R$1.00 = US$1.00) during the previous five years under the economic Plano Real (Real Plan), would undergo fluctuations. The measure aimed to defend Brazil’s foreign reserves that had suffered losses totaling over US$44 billion during the financial crises in Asia (1997) and Russia (1998).

The announcement that Wednesday in January 1999 caused havoc at Ceará Importers. The cost of our imports had increased overnight. Our products were no longer competitive with similar nationally produced goods. Sales plummeted with increased prices. The company began closing its retail stores, laying-off the employees. Tensions rose at the head office-warehouse-showroom complex where I worked.

Who would be next?

I floundered as the company lost its ground and battled to find a new direction for survival. I crumbled as colleagues I had come to know and love said their goodbyes.

By mid-year, I worked only half-days. Paying my rent became a challenge. Sleepless nights assailed me. My hunt for a job opening began anew.

As shipments came to a halt, I became irrelevant. My final days came in February 2000. Despite a number of job interviews, I hadn’t yet secured a new job.

When we are on top, we think that it will last forever. I learned that in a globalized economy, there is no job security. We never know when destructive winds will blow our way and sweep our success from under our feet.

* Fictitious Name