The day before yesterday, I got a telephone call. It was from a secretary at the Language School I teach at, CNA, asking if they could give my phone number to a reporter from one of the two major daily papers in Bauru, Brazil, where I am currently living. I said no problem, and a couple hours later, a young guy and a young photographer were interviewing me and taking a few photos of my ugly mug. About what?
The Presidential election, of course. As an American in Brazil, at least a few people, the paper guessed, might care to know what a gringo like myself might be up to on the day before the most important election in half a century. So, I gave my two (or three) cents, smiled for the birdie, and waited to see if anything would actually come of this twenty minutes spent with the Brazilian media.
The next day, I bought the paper, Bom Dia, and saw myself lounging, in a T-shirt and shorts, on the cover...between photos of John McCain and Barack Obama! I was a bit taken aback, and then realized that on page 8 of this upstart newspaper, I was pictured again, with a short article. So, just in case anyone would like to know what the hell I said, I have translated it from Portuguese for you, the reader of SG.
American citizens who live in Brazil use the Internet to stay informed about the elections in the United States. That is the case of Daniel James Fogarty, 32, in Bauru for five years. A graduate of Sociology in New York, he is married with two children to a Bauruense, and teaches English in the city.
Daniel voted more than a month ago by mail -- a method available in his country for citizens living outside the U.S. -- and believes in victory for the Democrat Barack Obama.
"Obama is going to win even in states where democrats haven't won in 25 years, like Florida," he said. For Daniel, Obama is different from democrats in previous elections, "who gave over-intellectualized speeches and couldn't reach the population."
Beside this, Daniel said that his people are fed up with republicans. "McCain is a party pawn . Everyone knows that he didn't want Sarah Palin for vice." Daniel has a blog where he writes about politics: www.northsouthconnect.blogspot.com.
by Reynaldo Turollo Jr.
1 comment:
really cool. i went to the newspapers site, don't know what was up with it. great thoughts.
-Jfogarty
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