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 I travel to Brazil often on business and most of my travels are in Amazônia where very few people speak English. Even in the hotels and shops in Manaus few can speak the language. My business requires me to fly into the interior and it is difficult to find interpreters who are willing to travel with me for extended periods of time.
As a result, I decided to learn Portuguese. I also have a business in the states so it was not possible for me to attend classes in Brazil. I live in the Northeast which is a fairly large area with many colleges and universities, so I sought out classes in Portuguese. They are very few and far between and only offered during the day for full time students. I then went on the Internet to find help. I bought everything I could find to help me with my quest to learn Portuguese. Despite all my gadgets and electronic aides my progress was slow and I realized I needed to be able to speak with someone in order to improve my pronunciation. I didn't know any Brazilian or for that matter whether there were any Brazilian in my city. I soon found out there was a large community of Brazilians (mostly undocumented) living on the fringe of the city and in nearby New Jersey. This is where my story begins, I was introduced to the Brazilian community several years ago by a Catholic missionary. I now teach English each Sunday after mass to his Brazilian parishioners. Many of them have befriended me and this has exposed me to the day to day life and struggle of the undocumented Brazilian immigrants in the USA. For the most part they have one common goal, that is to make enough money to return to Brazil in five years and buy a farm or shop and provide a better life for their family. Although, I don't condone them coming here illegally and breaking our laws I have been to the cities and interior of Brazil and seen first hand the poverty and despair. I would not hesitate to do what they have done to provide for my family. Most of the Brazilian women clean houses in the suburbs and the men work construction. The obstacles to succeed in these endeavors are not speaking English, not having a driver's license and a social security number. The women can get by without a social security number but driver's license and understanding and speaking English are essential. The other major obstacle is time. They work long hours and travel long distances to and from their jobs and they have very little time to learn English. Sunday is their only free day and they have tasks to prepare for the week ahead. Post 9/11 it has become almost impossible to get a driver's license without documentation, and as a result every traffic stop by police or traffic ticket is a major problem. This has created a booming black market for bogus international driver's licenses that have no credibility at all with local police, but most Brazilians don't know that when they pay the US$ 1,000 to the seller. I have developed a relationship with a local city hall attorney that specializes in traffic violations and I take my Brazilian friends to him with their traffic problems. To date, none have been deported but that may soon change with new proposed immigration law. Culture Shock Although I don't have a lot of experience in these matters, I suspect that my experience with the family from Rio is typical of the migration of Brazilians into our region. One family member comes, establishes himself and then others follow in the coming months or years. In the case of the Rio family the sister came first and the three brothers followed and in the space of two year all the siblings were here. The sister worked for another Brazilian with an established house cleaning service and the brothers worked for a Portuguese subcontractor that had a contract with a national company. They all lived together in a small house and pooled their money to pay off the coyotes that had smuggled them into the country and at the same time attempted to save money to bring their wives into the US. I know it took more than a year for them to pay off the bill for the three brothers. With respect to the wives the cost was higher because they chose the deluxe package. The ride in the van over the border and the flight from California as opposed to the trek through the desert and bus to the east coast. I later found out that the fee for the wives was US$ 23,000. The siblings struggled financially for the first couple years just to establish themselves and pay off the coyotes. Fortunately, their family in Brazil supported their wives during this period. The aroma of rice and beans was ever present in their house. I never made my weekly visit to read the mail and interpret the English phone messages without a bag of treats or a case of beer for the brothers. At this point, two years into their stay, the siblings realized that their original plan to come here work five years and go back to Brazil with a large sum of money was unrealistic. It would require a longer stay and they would have to learn English to get better jobs and be able to venture outside the Brazilian community to seek other opportunities. This realization plus the constant fear of deportation and their inability to obtain a driver's license, bank accounts etc., etc. placed a lot of stress on the family. At this point, the brothers homesick for their wives and family wanted to go back to Brazil, but the strong willed sister would have none of that and she put the boys back on track. How I don't know, but she pulled it off. The weather was also a bit of a shock to these Cariocas who were accustomed to year round beach weather. The winter weather here in the Northeast is cold and long in duration. Fortunately, I had just sold a vacation home in the mountains and the entire contents of the cottage, lots of down comforters and winter clothing were available. In addition, I have a client that gave me several cartons of new winter clothing that were left over from his Christmas gift to the poor program. I still see remnants of my cottage when I visit with Brazilians other than this Rio family. Evidently they shared the clothing and quilts with other needy friends. The snow was another novel experience, they were at first fascinated by its beauty but soon found that in the narrow street of the inner city it meant gridlock and no way to get to work. They soon adapted to the ever present cold weather and snow and compensated by wearing beach attire around the house. They warmed up around the TV with Globo and dreamed of when they would return to Rio and the warm weather and beach. This and the Sunday telephone calls to family and wives sustained them during the first year or two. Another strong influence was their faith. They are devout Roman Catholics and there is a nearby church with a mass in Portuguese every Saturday night and several support groups for new immigrants. Bob McCulley is a CPA in private practice with several businesses in the US. He also has a forestry business in Brazil "Brazilforestbargains.com". He has a graduate degree in business and an undergraduate degree in liberal arts. McCulley lived and studied in Europe for several years and speaks Portuguese, Spanish and German. He hopes to settle in Brazil when he retires. He welcomes comments at
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