The Timid Gringo

Alertness and Awareness


This is a subject that I wrestled with throughout my journeys through Brasil and so I would like to recap for my readers why this was such a difficult lesson to learn.

It is very easy being from rural NC to begin feeling very trusting and confortable in your surroundings.  It was at least for me, but after all the goings on and shake-ups I found myself struggling with too much caution.  Let me explain by first giving a brief summary of the personality shift that I encuntered during this first tour.  Naive tourist-to-comfortable foreigner-to-extremely cautious foreigner-to-American who is always on guard-to-Gringo with balanced sense of caution and interraction.

As stated in previous posts upon arrival I felt completely safe.  I knew there was a reason I was there and nothing could hurt me.  As that curtain was removed, my level of alertness  had to increase as well, but there was a certain lag time between the two and that is when I had a very short learning curve to catch me up to speed.  After the mistake of riding on the back of the bus and loosing many belongings, I found myself subconciously blocking people out.  My attentiveness to my surroundings was at an all time high.  As I walked down the streets I was constantly positioning myself away from open doorways, passing cautiously those who looked homeless or suspicious, and I was finding that my eyes were always drawn to a persons waiste line (checking for possible weapons) and then immediately back to the ground.

One day while coming home from the supermarceta (grocery store) I heard my name being called.  I turned and a small boy that often came and played with me, was standing in the street shouting my name.  He ran up to me and wanted to introduce me to his mother and friends who were playing with him.  How had this happened I wondered.  I had been so cautious to blend in, not attract attention, and carefully watch anyone of suspicioun that I had actually blocked out the people I had been trying to help.  In my state of alertness I had been so cautious and persistent to realize all possible threats that I had neglected to acknowledge the very reason I was there.  How could I be any use in these slums, or serve any perpose at all if I do not open up and give freely.  These children are the reason I am here, and regardless of what happens to me, I must never become to afraid to do everything I can for them during my stay.

After that instance I purposed to be alert and cautious only to the extent that it did not interferre with helping those in need.  As I have discussed before Christ commanded that we show love.  If showing love means taking an occasional risk then those are risks that I must take, but I cannot live my life in fear of what man can do to me.  I cannot stop interacting or loving those around me just because I had a few 'scary' circumstances.  I am not claiming that we should live out our lives in a state of naivity, I am only suggesting that everyone needs to find a balance in their own life and for their surroundings.

I suppose the lesson I learned today and in the upcoming weeks of reflection are that we must always be alert to our surrounding and environment while being still maintaining a constant awareness to the needs, hurts, and opportunities around us.  I feel this is a critical lesson for anyone wanting to travel abroad or just cross the street.  Be alert to your surroundings, but infinitle more important be aware of those needs all around you.


This is when I realized that Jesus was never suspicious He was simply aware of His surroundings and alert to the needs of others.  He can give strength and courage in any situation.

"The wicked man flees though no man persueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
~Proverbs 28:1