I still can't believe I've been to Brazil
It has taken me almost three months to write about the Brazil trip. I wanted that post to be perfect, and that video to be emblematic. But what does perfect even mean? Nothing better than done. More than that, I guess I wanted to keep the memory of Brazil in my head and with those, I shared it privately for a long while.
In this first of many clips which I’ve managed to stitch together, I end the video with the lines “I came fascinated with Brazil, I left in love with Brazil”. In light of the recent elections, no matter how chaotic it may seem and more daunting the future appears, I have these chaotic thoughts:
Of the few articles, books, and documentaries I’ve come across, Brazil has always been described as the “country of which its richness is in the future”, reformulated in many ways. The idea is that Brazil has a large and apparent potential to be a superpower. The thing is it has been this way for many decades. When will this future come in the present?
On a personal level, Brazil seems to be my middle ground. As someone coming from the Philippines – a country considered to be developing, also having its potential in the future (or missed opportunities in the past) and living in what is called a first-world superpower – France. France is too intense for an immigrant of my roots. Brazil seems to bridge that potential yet keeps that community and human spirit I grew up with, but also the comfort, openness and liberty I’m confronted with. Being there was refreshing.
These and many, many more fragments of thoughts that I hope I’ll be able to put in more elaborate and eloquent use of words. But for now, I’d be content with how I’m able to put together memories of Belo Horizonte in 5 minutes. Not an easy feat because it does not even begin to give justice to the elatedness, wonder, and bewilderment that I experienced in my few days of passage there.
In my head, I could narrate the events as detailed and as chronologically as I want them to be. In fact, every day, I recount each precious memory. I can’t quite tell what it is with paper (or Microsoft Word) which prevents me from translating those memories into words, images, or reels. Maybe it’s still some sort of memory preservation. Yet the point of this online space(s) is exactly to that end: to preserve those memories, to serve as my archive. I’m still looking for that sweet spot. I must get over trying to achieve perfection or accuracy.
While I battle with my thoughts, I will satisfy myself with the fact that I have this piece of that memory published. I hope you, reader, or passer-by, enjoy it.