I’ve met a lot of people on this trip, so I wanted to do another human interest story to provide a cast of characters. I’ll introduce everyone chronologically.
-Bruce (New Zealand)
I first met Bruce when I returned to the hostel in Sao Paulo. We exchanged “Ola”s, and noticing that he was blonde and pale I asked him if he spoke English, “Fala ingles?” He looked a bit confused and then said, “English yeah, English.” This was great news, the first native English speaker I’d met on the trip.
Bruce is a thirty year old backpacker who has been traveling through South America for about 3 months. He used to work in New Zealand and Australia as a miner. Bruce and I went on the walking tour together and then Bruce’s friend, Xavier came to Sao Paulo. Fun fact: I ran into Bruce at my hostel in Rio- quite the coincidence.
-Xavier (France)
Xavier and Bruce had met while they were both in Florianopolis (A place in Brazil I would love to visit) and had become friends. Xavier is an incredibly charismatic Frenchman, mid-thirties, taking a sabbatical from his investing career to “think about something different.” He’s been traveling though South America for about three months, and has two or three more left. As Sao Paulo isn’t a traveler’s destination, Xavier had only come to Sao Paulo because he felt obligated while he was in South America as it is the largest city on the continent, and because he had to pick up a credit card that had been shipped to him.
Luz Station, home of the Museum of the Portuguese Language. Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Though Bruce left Sao Paulo early, Xavier and I spent a lot of time together. We met some Brazilians and went out to dinner, he came with me as I looked around the University, and we hit the museums in Sao Paulo together. Xavier taught me a lot. As an experienced traveler, he helped me know the type of things I need to do while traveling and really helped me feel comfortable at the beginning of my trip. He also shared his mindset behind traveling. It’s an opportunity to see other things, learn new things, and meet people. “You learn something from everyone you meet,” he said.
Xavier was a delight to talk to. He would wax poetic about life, work (“I used to make a lot of money, but I hated it. You need to be your own boss.”), politics (“In France, the money controls everything- it is the same in the States!”), and women (“What do I have to lose? I will talk to her, she is beautiful.”). Those of you who know me well might know that I, too, can preach about some of these topics. The two of us could go one forever.
-Jeremi (France)
Jeremi is a young IT professional who is from France, lived four years in Canada, and is now trying to move to Brazil as he loves Brazilian culture and the language. He is giving himself six months to find a place to live and a job, and if it doesn’t work out he will go back to France.
Jeremi had been in the hostel for about three weeks, and was ready to move out. He and I would often eat breakfast together and I would get the updates on his job and apartment searches. He also speaks Spanish and we would often converse in Spanish to give me some practice.
I’ve realized that this cast of characters list could be very long. So let’s call this part one.
Next week on “Cast of Characters,” we will meet Henrique, Nathan, Daniel, and maybe more. Stay tuned!