partial transcript

Growing up in Brasil - Marcos Mendonca

One of my favorite quotes is from Tolkien.  “Not all who wander are lost.”  I love that quote.

São Paulo Brasil (Brazil) is where I was born.  It’s like life in the big city in America and Europe with Latin influences.

For a big city it was safe. Not like today.  I used to ride bikes all of the time.  Unfortunately I don’t see that happening much anymore.

I had a healthy childhood where I played sports, went to school.   My traveling was limited to visiting relatives.  Brasil is a huge country therefore it took a long time to get anywhere.

The teachers in Brasil really want to put you on the right track for a career.

My mother language is Portuguese.  In addition I speak English and Spanish as well.  I learn other languages for traveling purposes.

Traveling Puts Things in Perspective

I always liked traveling even as a kid.  My mom says I made travel plans ever since I was five. I don’t remember that.

Above all the most important thing for me about traveling is the culture. I like getting to know cultures and meeting different people.  In fact it's interesting to see how people live around the world.  I think by the end of the day I value the things I have a lot more.  There are people that don’t have stuff and they are happy and really I can live without some stuff.

I think there are better and worse countries however there is no perfect country.  I want to get across that if you travel you will value more things that work well where you live.  You will discover things in different countries that work better than in yours.  Traveling opens your mind to see this.

To me traveling is very fulfilling.  Hence the more I see the less I know.

How can I live my entire life without knowing how people do things and how they live?

I was in Cambodia.  In my lifetime Cambodia lived through terror and genocide yet  the people were so open and so friendly even after the atrocities they lived through.  Sometimes it is a slap in the face because some people will complain about the fact that the country doesn’t have the tomato sauce they like.

Sometimes people feel entitled to things.

Traveling puts things in perspective.

After spending three months in Africa and returning to Brasil I refused to pay ten dollars for a meal. There is just too much waste I think.  I spent a dollar on meals out in Africa.  Re-adjusing was hard.

I have so much.  Too much.  It seems to be wasteful.  For example, a client of mine had a party and the dinner was $125 a person.

Sometimes the differences are so brutal but that’s why it’s important for me to travel.  It’s different when I am there.  Like I say, traveling puts things in perspective.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

During my three and a half months stay in Africa I got robbed four times nevertheless I still love going back there.  It brings to me a different perspective but of course I don’t like that I got robbed.

One instance was when I was traveling in Uganda in the countryside. I was on the bus and I left my belongings unattended and my iPad was taken out of my bag.

Similarly the person who stole my wallet from my pocket should get a prize because I never felt anything.  I did find my wallet thrown on the side of the road.  The cash and my credit cards were gone but luckily my IDs were still there.

I met this girl in a hostel in Uganda.  We went to the beach by a lake.  It’s a very touristy place.  Gorgeous.  We got on The Bus, which is the name of it, and the driver separated us.  The girl was seated in the very back whereas I was seated in the front next to the door.

Oddly enough my door was open and I had to close it.  The driver told me like twenty times to open and close it.  After a bit the driver kicked us off The Bus.  This bus was a fake one with pretend passengers and they slipped my wallet out of my pocket when I was working the door.  The girl I was with was taken to the back seat so she couldn’t see what was happening.  Her purse was rummaged through.

Immediately I of course tried looking for The Bus and it was nowhere to be found.  It is funny now as I sit and get a visual of me opening and closing the door.  It wasn’t funny then.  I learned that I had to catch a crowded Bus as that would be the real Bus.  This one was just a bus, not the Bus.

In spite of what happened I still have a positive imprint about Africa.  At the end of the day I of course had to cancel credit cards and call my mom and sister for money.  I still had five weeks left in Africa.  My sister wired me money but I think she laughed.

People cared about me.  I got free meals at a local cafe.

In the end, the feeling I have about people in general is much more positive than negative.  I always find people who are generous and who care and I think that is much more human than the bad part.  Consequently I have much more positive feelings.

I always say jokingly, I went to Africa and got robbed four times and I got on bus rides that took 20 hours instead of 7 hours.  People are much better than worse.

Again, I think it’s important to travel.  I can share my perspective.  My positive imprint.  So I wrote a book.  It’s in my mother language of Portuguese.  The title translates to English basically as, "Can I get Some Help Here right Now?"  It's a humorous title.

I want people to know that it’s OK to travel and to not be afraid of different cultures.

I’ve been all over the world.  The idea was to travel but not spend much money.  I stayed in hostels.  Mingling with the local population was important therefore I tried to travel by vehicle within the country instead of by air.

The places I’ve been are not developed places for tourists.  I put myself in situations for things happening.  I knew I had to be prepared for certain things to happen.

The book has an insight.  It of course has plenty of the bad because people love those yet with happy endings of course.  But the book is also the good.

I want to share with people the idea that traveling is a good thing to do.  Getting exposed to cultures is a good thing to do.  I gained a lot of knowledge.  It is very humbling to learn how people live.

A lady in Uganda checked on me everyday after the fake bus incident.

At the end of the day we are all people trying to do the best we can.

I would love to do all of the trips all over again.  It’s very humbling.  Every single minute I learned something new and absorbed everything.

I miss that when I come back.

Can I Get Some Help Here Right Now? Gente, Ajuda!

I went to see wild hyenas in Somalia and I was in for a lifetime of surprises.  The hyena jumped on my back and broke my belt.  I felt something harsh on my buttocks.  Worst place!  I felt what I thought was his teeth.  Maybe the nails.  I couldn’t tell.

There was blood in my underwear and I freaked out.

Somalia is one of the worst places to be today.  Somaliland is the safest in that region, at least I think so.  I went there for medical help.

Hyenas have the least possibility of carrying rabies because nothing attacks them.

I love trying the different foods around the world.  I ate too much in Egypt one time.  The bus I was on for a three and a half hour trip did not allow bathroom stops.  I had to ask the guy to stop in the middle of the desert.  I had to go to the bathroom in front of everybody.  It was embarrassing.

I wrote my journal in English but chose to write my book in Portuguese.  Someday I might translate my book into English.

My book brings people closer to the cultures I have immersed myself in.

I work as a freelancer events and travel coordinator in addition I am a tour guide.  I’ve been to all of these places so I have a lot to offer.

What I’ve learned about my travels is that the more I see the less I actually know.

My job is fulfilling because I see the places through different eyes.  I can share that and I am sharing it.

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