10 Days in Bahia, Brazil

 

Taylor Lonas

Education Abroad

My STEP Signature Project reached culmination through an education abroad experience in Bahia, Brazil. I spent ten days engaging in educational enlightenment with a focus on higher education and the educational needs of low income and first-generation students. I visited several institutions of learning as well as historical and cultural sites in Brazil.

As an individual who possesses an avid love for traveling, Brazil has long been at the top of my list of places to visit. While living in Bahia, I was exposed to the rich culture that Afro Brazilians call their own. This educational excursion was truly an opportunity for me to experience growth. This trip allowed me to undergo significant mental growth. Being someone who is thoroughly invested in the progression of black culture and the black lives matter movement, it was intellectually stimulating to be able to discuss matters of international race and racism with Afro Brazilian collegiate students. Interacting with them enabled me to more fully understand how their society is divided into classes more so based on monetary wealth and characteristics of hair texture and the shade of chocolate of their skin versus our more simplistic division into black and white. The citizens that were poor where overwhelmingly darker in skin tone with coarser hair, while those who were more well off had lighter skin and curlier textures. The amount of money available for education within a household, determined whether or not the children would have higher or lower chances of being accepted into the coveted public universities which had a surplus of money, resources, and top-notch professors. While I found this trip to be very empowering and educational, I simultaneously discovered that racism is global, regardless of what form it takes.

Traveling to Bahia, Brazil with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion was a monumentally eye-opening experience! I genuinely enjoyed each aspect of the trip, from walking amidst the vividly painted neighborhoods and hiking up seemingly vertical hills, to interacting with the beautiful children of the city and getting the opportunity to know and love Clara (our tour guide). Every single day was an adventure and I am truly grateful that I was presented with the opportunity to learn more about the Afro Brazilian culture, which in turn, helped me discover more about myself. Our group (consisting of both OSU & UCONN students) came together to acquire a deeper understanding of a culture differing from our own.

As mentioned earlier, the visits to the educational institutions played a large role in providing me with insight and numerous opportunities to engage with Brazilian youth. These visits and interactions not only exposed me to the culture, language, traditions, and educational experiences of Afro Brazilians, but they allowed me to share a piece of myself (American culture, language, and traditions) with those with who I came in contact with as well. It was an evenly divided cultural exchange.

I found the language barrier to be one of the hardest and most trying barriers to overcome while in Bahia. While I have some minor experience with Spanish, Portuguese is a whole different ball game and needless to say, I struggled significantly. When I couldn’t find the right words to use, my hand gestures helped to vocalize my messages to civilians. While language interactions may not have been easy, I found both dance and sports to be a universal language. Performers who danced to the beats of drums in the middle of the streets where quickly applauded and encouraged by my traveling entourage. When our boys formed a team and played a game of street basketball against the Brazilian youth, the audience cheered on both teams as they ducked, dribbled, and dunked down the courts. We understood each other and celebrated as on one accord. All at once, my being was at peace and I felt an inner happiness that I had yet to experience in a long while. I was humbled to be in that place at that time. I was shocked to realize that the children revered us and considered us to be “rich Americans”. When I offered my $5 Forever 21 glasses to a high school girl as a gift, another girl fought her for them.  I realized just how privileged I am and wished I could have had more time to talk to the youth about their experiences and how they view Americans.

This transformation was substantially significant to my maturation as being. Traveling can give an individual a different perspective on life. As a current undergraduate pre-law student I hope to one day become employed by a firm and specialize in law pertaining to civil rights. I will focus on representing minorities as these are the people that generally lack quality representation in courts. My excursions have permitted me to learn firsthand about the multitude of injustices that cross the world many times over. I am very blessed to live in a country such as America, for there are many places where people are restricted from living with basic human rights and necessities. My journeys will eventually lend me the ability to remedy the injustices that I have observed through my career work as an attorney.

 

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