waiting Waiting Isabela: Mom, how long I’ve been away from home? Mom: 122 days 1 hour and 37 minutes. Isabela: I think I’ve made friend with some local people. But I don’t know what friends mean to them. Last week I was invited by a friend to talk with students who participated in a project Pescador. I was supposed to say something related to portuguese and the importance of learning a foreign language. One of them asked me if I’ve made lots of friends? I answered that I didn’t think I’ve made many. And she replyed “now you have at least 17”. I was deeply touched. All though it’s a little bit strange for us Chinese people to consider someone as friend after a short conversation, their hospitality could warm one’s heart and they will receive happiness at the same time. Mom: Oh, dear. I’m happy for you. Do you miss mom? Isabela: I have to confess that I went home late last night. Because I accompanied a friend to a birthday party . A womem asked me if I had 15 years old. I said I was 21. And what surprised me more was that she continued to ask me if I had had children. In Brazil, it’s illegal to have an abortion. So a young mom is acceptable even when the baby desen’t have father. She told me that she didn’t have, either. But apparently she has passed the age that generally we think when a womem should settle down. I realized that some chinese traditions are largely limiting the liberty of women. They couldn’t choose their willing way to live when think about notions of people and of society. It seems that all the Chinese women are following the correct way to build their family with right steeps. But are they really happy? Mom: Oh, dear. Congratulation to you. You’ve think deep of cultrual differences. But do you miss mom? Isabela: Talking about the culture, I’ve possessed a brief outlook. Actually it’s hard to really understand a different culture in 4 months. But rich resources of cultural activities pushed me to compreend their way of thinking. There are lots of free movies, plays, concerts, even symphonies, offered by university or cultural organizations. I usuallly watched 2-3 movies or plays, 1 concert or symphony per week. Knowing that like America, the Brazil is a melting pot, which made me believe that the prosperity of culture provides long-lasting strength in ecnomic development. Mom: Oh, my dear. You’ve started to talk about something that mom doesn’t understand. But listen, do you miss mom? Isabela: Yes, you don’t need to understand. Because it’s only my personal opinion. I’m not sure it’s right or wrong. But I really like here. Mom: Are you still willing to come back after one year? Tell me that you miss me. Isabela: No. Mom: Oh, my God. Don’t you know that I love you so much? I really hope that you could come back right away. Isabela: No, I won’t tell you that I miss you. I want to tell you that I dreamed about going back everyday, that I thought about your smile every minute when I was awake, that everytime I cried for homesickness, I called you, mom, deep in my heart. I tried hard to embrace my life here to avoid me dropping into the abyss of missing homeA. I don’t want to remind my longing for home, because you’ll see my tears. The last thing that you want to see, is my tears. Right, mom? So, I will smile, saying that I love you.