Today's post is written by Jr. Shooting Guard Tercya Ferreira:
Hi…My name is Tercya Ferreira and I am a junior from Sao Luis, Brazil. I am a transfer from Labette Community College and this is my first year at Missouri Southern basketball. I have been very blessed to be a part of the Lady Lion’s family.
Starting this blog today I am going to start by saying I am a Brazilian living in the USA for 4 years now. But I did live most of my life in Brazil. I believe all experiences and cultures are fun. I believe I have the best of both cultures in me.
Finishing high school I had the opportunity to come to the US at the age of 19 and live in a different culture and learn a second language. ..
Therefore, I have listed some things that I like about life in the U.S.
Here it goes:
-1) The cleanliness of the streets.
-2) The organization of streets and highways and the maintenance of buildings and streets is far different.
-3) Open spaces, wide roads, smooth and well maintained. With few exceptions, the US is a country where you can see that the tax money is well spent.
-4) The free school system. Well maintained and well equipped schools.
(I want to add here that a lot of Americans take for granted how great these things are.)
-5) A variety of sports and activities which a lot of Americans like to attend such as, college and professional games, community and school organizations, public events. They are fans of the college that they used to go to.
-6) The fact that everyone has access to the same stuff, theoretically speaking. Black, white, green or gold :), we are all equal.
-7) Safety. One of the few parts of the world where you can leave the door of your house open, your car open, not have alarms in your house and fences. An issue that encourages me to consider moving to the U.S. (My parents have their home in Brazil protected by electrical fences, cameras and alarms)
-8) The fact that the minimum salary is not very low and all people have the same opportunity to succeed.
Now, some of the things that are different:
-1) We don’t have natural disasters, such as, tornadoes, volcanic eruption, and huge storms, which destroy houses, buildings, cars….
-2) We used to cook every day at our own houses to have lunch and dinner with our families. Eating out on the town happens so much in the United States.
-3) In America, everyone farts and belches whenever they like, and all they do is say excuse me. In Brazil; if you fart or belch in public you will turn red and apologize.
-4) In Brazil, we can live in our parent’s home our entire life and no one thinks that's strange. In America, if somebody does that, people think that they must have something wrong with him/her.
-5) The seasons in Brazil are opposite from those in North America. Therefore, it is cooler in July than it is in December.
-6) In my culture, cursing in front of other people can disturb or offend them. It gives the impression of bad education or a bad person. In the U.S., people falsely think it's cool to curse.
Finally, this one is special for Coach Jones…I know he loves Brazilian Soccer so…
“The ONLY soccer team in this world to have won the important ‘World Cup’ 5 times is Brazil's soccer team. Brazil is also the birthplace of one of the best soccer players of this century, Pele.”
I hope you guys enjoyed some of the information about Brazil. Thanks for reading!!
It’s a GREAT day to be a LION!!
Tercya Ferreira
Jr. Guard
