The Girl from Brazil…..

I knew very little about Brazil other than the fact that it is a huge South American country with rain forests, Reef sandals, scantily dressed women on Copacabana beach, the huge Christ statue above Rio de Janeiro, colourful cities, shanty towns and of course the 2014 football World Cup!

 

That all changed in June when sixteen year old Naiara de Salvo Lisboa came to stay with us for two weeks. Nai was on a month long tour with her school visiting Paris and London before spending two weeks in Paignton at the Devon School of English polishing her already excellent English. Her only linguistic stumble was the pronunciation of ‘ed’ where words like finished become finish-ed. I speak no other language with any fluency and therefore folk like Nai have my deepest admiration.

Over evening meals we were introduced to the beauty of Brazil and its colouful culture. Nai is a Catholic and shared Sunday mass with me, commenting on the similarities here with the more vibrant Brazilian celebration. Thinking about the World Cup I loved her comment that Brazil should win because whilst the pope is Argentinian she thought that God was probably Brazilian!

Nai enjoyed her time with the the Devon School of English and thought their standard very high. Every morning was spent in the classroom and afternoons were packed with interesting visits around the English Riviera and atmospheric Dartmoor National Park. They even managed a day surfing!

The overseas students bring a special vibrancy to South Devon and a welcome boost to the local economy. Their interaction makes the world a smaller and perhaps safer place, which has to be good for all of us. Nai is back in Belo Horizonte now enjoying almost endless sunshine and we miss her boundless energy.