It’s been four days since we got back from Brazil, and in some ways the three weeks in Rio feel like a dream. Cornfields have replaced the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. The Nebraska summer heat has melted away the temperate winter of the Southern hemisphere, and life here at home has picked right back up where it left off. My time in Brazil seems so totally separate, distant, and foreign. It’s always the challenge of the traveler to make sense of what he or she has seen, heard, felt, and experienced, and initially this seems difficult. Just a few minutes of reflection, however, reveals just how deeply I have been affected by the study abroad course in Brazil. That I can even compare the Nebraska summer to a South American winter is evidence that I’ve had the unique opportunity to experience an exotic place. More than having seen and experienced the natural wonders of Brazil, I have been transformed by the people I met and the conversions I had.
We came away from Rio with much more than the average traveler because we were more than tourists. We were students of Brazil, of its culture, its language, its people, history, successes, and faults. We learned how the Brazilian economy is growing each year as a result of shrewd political decisions by the nation’s leaders after a tumultuous and disappointing past. We learned how the Brazilian school system operates and that new steps are being taken to reorganize the existing half-day schedule into a full, productive day of classes. We learned that Brazil has a large and multifaceted public health system with many strengths but also many flaws, and that free and equal health care does not usually extend into Brazil’s ghettos or favelas.
Above all, we learned that Americans and Brazilians would do well to learn from one another and join efforts to be responsible citizens of two major world powers. There is more to tie us together than keep us apart. Probably the most valuable thing with which I came home is a set of relationships with several conscientious Brazilian professors and scientists who are working to protect the environment and improve their home country. The world is shrinking more and more each day, and I have a feeling I will see these people again and that our meeting this summer will be the beginning of a continuing friendship. Until then, I will enjoy the new friendships I have made with my fellow University of Nebraska students. After sharing such powerful experiences in Rio and Paraty, we have bonded in a way that is only possible abroad.
We came away from Rio with much more than the average traveler because we were more than tourists. We were students of Brazil, of its culture, its language, its people, history, successes, and faults. We learned how the Brazilian economy is growing each year as a result of shrewd political decisions by the nation’s leaders after a tumultuous and disappointing past. We learned how the Brazilian school system operates and that new steps are being taken to reorganize the existing half-day schedule into a full, productive day of classes. We learned that Brazil has a large and multifaceted public health system with many strengths but also many flaws, and that free and equal health care does not usually extend into Brazil’s ghettos or favelas.
Above all, we learned that Americans and Brazilians would do well to learn from one another and join efforts to be responsible citizens of two major world powers. There is more to tie us together than keep us apart. Probably the most valuable thing with which I came home is a set of relationships with several conscientious Brazilian professors and scientists who are working to protect the environment and improve their home country. The world is shrinking more and more each day, and I have a feeling I will see these people again and that our meeting this summer will be the beginning of a continuing friendship. Until then, I will enjoy the new friendships I have made with my fellow University of Nebraska students. After sharing such powerful experiences in Rio and Paraty, we have bonded in a way that is only possible abroad.
You are certainly not alone in lamenting some of the contrasts between Nebraska and our time in Brazil. Indeed, I think we are all experiencing a degree of “traveler’s grief” in which we are searching for ways to maintain connections with our experiences in Brazil. While time spent abroad is always emphasized, another crucial—and yet often overlooked challenge—is determining what we will do with the insight that we have gained, now that we are back in our old lives.
ReplyDeleteAs a future language teacher, I approached the trip from a different perspective than that of, say, a business major or a nurse. I took particular notice of experiences concerning education. Thus, while there are many things that I learned and that I plan to incorporate into my life here in Nebraska, there is one in particular that I would like to share: language immersion.
Having always been taught a second language through the “now-we’ll-be-learning-the-preterit-tense” approach, the chance to experience language learning through immersion was so enlightening. Unlike in many “textbook-driven” language classrooms, the emphasis during our learning of Brazilian Portuguese was truly on communication. I not only learned the types of phrases and vocabulary that my future students would find most useful, but I also experienced for myself how immersion helps with vocabulary retention, learning accents, and even noticing language patterns. I feel like this experience has made me a better language teacher by putting me “in the shoes” of some of my future students, giving me new ideas for teaching language.
Pat, back now almost a week and my feelings of the previous three are just as you described: "totally separate, distant, and foreign." As I'm trying to digest everything I've just experienced and learned, I find that it is all quite lost on my friends and family back home. As excited as they were for me to have this opportunity, sharing anything beyond the gorgeous beaches and awesome sights seems to be lost on them.
ReplyDeleteIn reaction, instead of trying to explain what I've just witnessed, I've instead found myself diving into literature, documentaries, and pretty much any resource that can give me further insight into anything and everything that we merely scratched the surface on during our three weeks in Rio. Although our time there now seems awfully short, I think we had become masters of thoughtful and critical observation and as a result, our abrupt return has left me desiring more ... so much more in so many ways.
Like Danielle mentioned, we all come from different academic backgrounds and therefore certain aspects of the trip left more of a mark or more room for reflection than others. As a language and Latin American studies student, the linguistic aspect was overwhelming. I had never considered pursuing Portuguese primarily due to the fact that Brazil itself isn't thoroughly covered in my program and as such, the language didn't appear to be necessity (nor had it been offered until very recently). Oh how the tides have shifted. I'm so intrigued by this language and have practically found myself having fallin' head over heels for it ... just as I anticipated I might upon discovering this Brazil program. Suffice it to say I'm enrolled in another semester of Portuguese at UNL this fall and Brazilian music has taken my IPOD by storm.
Furthermore, through our pre-trip assigned readings, essays provided by Brazilian lecturers, and some that I've stumbled across upon returning, I'm even more freakishly intrigued by Brazil's current situation as it prepares for the biggest events of its existence: '14 FIFA World Cup & '16 Olympics. There is so much paradox and inequality within the country and I'm grateful that with the knowledge I've gained I am now prepared to observe critically and thoughtfully as the next 50 years play out. This enchanting nation is facing the challenge of how to balance extreme economic success while carrying out much needed social improvement of an epidemic that's been in the making over the last century: concentrated poverty within the massive favela communities.
Can Brazil successfully level the playing field and strengthen a historically non-existent middle class?
So many factors are involved and I'm thrilled at the opportunity to take notice.
While foreign, disconnected, and now very distant this experience feels to me (perhaps most of us), I find myself returning to Rio through the literature and documentaries I've indulged in since our return. While there are very few people outside of my academic life that can grasp what I've just experienced, I have refused to be content with what I've been given. My experience has not ended nor do I want it do. Rather, it has strongly impacted perhaps what I'm looking at pursuing after graduation.
Thank you University of Nebraska Foundation, the University's Office of the Vice Provost for Global Engagement, & UNO OLLAS staff for allowing us to take part in this global initiative and for making it a success!
I too have felt the same as Danielle. I am also pursuing a degree to become a language instructor. Although this is not my first time out of the country it was, however, the first time I had been forced to learn another language by immersion. I have reflected upon many of our experiences and relationships that were formed during our time in Brazil.
ReplyDeleteAfter spending some quality time thinking about all of the experiences, all of the lessons, and all of the assignments, I have realized that the things we learned will affect us for the rest of our lives. We are from so many different majors that we will each take away something different from each activity that we were a part of. As Patrick correctly stated, we have formed bonds with people from across the world as well as in Nebraska. It is up to us to pursue our futures while utilizing these people as tools for shaping our futures as well as the futures of those around us. For teachers, those tools affect our students, for nurses and doctors those tools affect our patients. We have the tools; it is up to us to continue this experience for years to come.
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteOur time in Rio does seem like a dream. I keep looking at the pictures and comments on Facebook to prove to myself that we actually experienced all that I remember.
It it easy to fall back into our relationships and activities at home, but we are changed. I agree with your assessment that an important aspect that we take from this experience is the relationships and continued communication. Brazil is making incredible strides and we have much that we can learn from and share with each other. Our technology gives us a means for continuing conversations that were initiated in Rio. I hope to continue the learning process we have started.