CONFINTEA VI Conference - Day 2
David Harvey, Belem, Brazil - 12/02/09
Living in the United States, I might say that we have come to expect a certain order to life. Standing in line, ordering food, getting change promptly, lining up to board flights, and so on. In Brazil, where I am attending CONFINTEA, the rules and norms are very different! I have so many examples of cultural differences; it is hard to capture them all.
For me, a restrained and orderly individual, boarding flights in Brazil was a new endeavor and a challenge – hustling through managed chaos to navigate the crowds to the boarding gate. I faced an additional challenge today when I went to a cafe in the convention center and ordered lunch. I paid and was promptly given a ticket. I waited 15 minutes until I learned you have to give the ticket to the next person behind the counter to get your food. 20 minutes later after crowding together with other folks waiting for their meals, I was on my way, no line, no particular order and what seemed to me to be chaos behind the counter was actually efficient. I got my lunch! And no one was unhappy waiting for their meal.
Each Civic Society meeting ran 1 to 2 hours behind schedule. I found myself thinking hmmmmm.... how would the folks who attend ProLiteracy’s annual conference react to having a plenary session go over by 1 and ½ hours? But I will tell you, there could not have been a happier crowd of folks attending the meeting from all over the world. All the speakers had their time to be heard, and everyone was richer for it.
Taking taxis to the convention site is one of those life experiences you just can’t miss in Brazil. The roads are full of buses, cars, people on bicycles and motorcycles, carts and people walking. There seem to be very little road signs and stop lights. And yet, my taxi driver thought nothing of speeding down the small roads, passing slower vehicles, pulling in just before a bus slammed into us, and veering around carts and motorcycles. I stopped looking out the window! I got to the convention quickly and safely!
Cultural competency, of course, is all about respecting other peoples values, norms and beliefs -- accepting people where they are and working within the framework of other cultures. At ProLiteracy where internationally, we practice literacy for social change, our model is based on this respect. My little examples of cultural differences in Brazil are small clues to us about how to understand people in other countries. I don’t know about you, but traveling through Brazil is a thrill. Who says we need to line up for anything or keep to rigid schedules – it’s such a passé idea!
Living in the United States, I might say that we have come to expect a certain order to life. Standing in line, ordering food, getting change promptly, lining up to board flights, and so on. In Brazil, where I am attending CONFINTEA, the rules and norms are very different! I have so many examples of cultural differences; it is hard to capture them all.
For me, a restrained and orderly individual, boarding flights in Brazil was a new endeavor and a challenge – hustling through managed chaos to navigate the crowds to the boarding gate. I faced an additional challenge today when I went to a cafe in the convention center and ordered lunch. I paid and was promptly given a ticket. I waited 15 minutes until I learned you have to give the ticket to the next person behind the counter to get your food. 20 minutes later after crowding together with other folks waiting for their meals, I was on my way, no line, no particular order and what seemed to me to be chaos behind the counter was actually efficient. I got my lunch! And no one was unhappy waiting for their meal.
Each Civic Society meeting ran 1 to 2 hours behind schedule. I found myself thinking hmmmmm.... how would the folks who attend ProLiteracy’s annual conference react to having a plenary session go over by 1 and ½ hours? But I will tell you, there could not have been a happier crowd of folks attending the meeting from all over the world. All the speakers had their time to be heard, and everyone was richer for it.
Taking taxis to the convention site is one of those life experiences you just can’t miss in Brazil. The roads are full of buses, cars, people on bicycles and motorcycles, carts and people walking. There seem to be very little road signs and stop lights. And yet, my taxi driver thought nothing of speeding down the small roads, passing slower vehicles, pulling in just before a bus slammed into us, and veering around carts and motorcycles. I stopped looking out the window! I got to the convention quickly and safely!
Cultural competency, of course, is all about respecting other peoples values, norms and beliefs -- accepting people where they are and working within the framework of other cultures. At ProLiteracy where internationally, we practice literacy for social change, our model is based on this respect. My little examples of cultural differences in Brazil are small clues to us about how to understand people in other countries. I don’t know about you, but traveling through Brazil is a thrill. Who says we need to line up for anything or keep to rigid schedules – it’s such a passé idea!
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