A Stranger in a Foreign Land

After a year in mission, process of adjusting to a new culture continues

By Bev Trach
October 2004

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It has been over a year since I arrived full of enthusiasm for my mission in Brazil. At first I was simply overwhelmed with everything I was hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and feeling. All of my senses were working overtime. There was no doubt that I was in a foreign land. On a regular basis I added stories to my journal about new experiences.

Then came the day when I wrote in my journal that I felt I was finally adjusting to this new culture. The city of Boa Vista, in the State of Roraima, was beginning to feel like home.

However, it wasn't long before a few experiences challenged my feeling of fitting in, and I realized once again that I was a stranger in the land. It happened on a warm evening when my friend Gilmara had invited me to go to a movie. I arrived early at the place where we were to meet and decided to get a cold drink while I waited. You can't get root beer in Brazil, so I had discovered a great alternative – guaraná pop. This is the Brazilian soft drink flavoured with the fruit from the guaraná tree. Delicious.

I ordered one at a drink stand near the bus terminal and was asked if I wanted it to go or if I was going to drink it there. I was planning on sauntering over to the cathedral, so I said it was to go. I watched as the man poured the pop into a plastic bag, knotted the bag and handed it to me.

I'm not sure what the expression on my face communicated, but it made him pause, and then he handed me a straw. I thought he must have run out of plastic cups, so I said nothing. Since then, I have noticed parents bringing a plastic bag filled with pop or juice into church on Sunday for their kids. It is an alternative that I would never have thought of, but it works.

After enjoying my guaraná, I waited for Gilmara to arrive on her motorbike to take us to the cinema. Unlike Canada, motorbikes in Brazil are not recreation vehicles for those who have the money for such luxuries. Many Brazilians cannot afford cars, so the motorbike is a common form of transportation that is cheaper to buy and to operate than a car.

Although I had ridden with Gilmara before, I was still a bit nervous. I held on tightly as I sat behind her, but this time I was able to look around as we drove; no more of that fearful look-straight-ahead-and-don't-move stance of before.

Stopping at a red light, I noticed another motorbike in the lane beside us. Behind the driver sat a woman breastfeeding her baby. I looked at that scene and wasn't sure I was seeing correctly. Again I was reminded that I was not a local. As I wrote in my journal that night, there are still many things that I need to adjust to in this new country. Maybe I am still a stranger in a foreign land.

Scarboro lay missioner Bev Trach will soon begin work with Our Lady's Missionaries in Fortaleza.

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