All images Copyright 2009 Andrea Bonifacio
All images Copyright 2009 Andrea Bonifacio
All images Copyright 2009 Andrea Bonifacio
My mother is Brazilian. Most of her family lives in Natal, a city on the northeastern coast of Brazil.
"You Were Here" by Andrea Bonifacio
The English word “natal,” pronounced nayt-l, means, among other things:
- of or pertaining to a person’s birth
- residing over or affecting a person at birth
- (of places) native: nostalgia for one’s natal town
Natal, pronounced na-tahl in Portuguese, means “Christmas”. Most Americans have never heard of Natal—when you mention Brazil to them, the first thing they think of is Rio. But when you ask Brazilians about Natal, they all sigh and tell you how beautiful it is, or what they have heard of its beauty. Clique aqui para leer informações de Natal.
Here are a few items of note about this city:
- It is reputed to have the best air quality in all of Brazil.
- Due to its geographical position (the “Corner of the Continent”), the city served as a US airbase in World War II.
- It has a lot of beautiful beaches and dunes.
- It is home to the maior cajueiro do mundo (the biggest cashew tree in the world).
- Being so close to the Equator, it’s sunny and warm around 300 days of the year.
That is Natal. From the other cultural and climatological side of the world came my father.
Dad is Swiss-American, born in rural Washington State. He came to Natal in 1967, traveling there with two other Wise Men, sent by the American military. They came to map out a piece of a global communication net whose connecting points were monitored by satellites and measured by the positions of stars in the sky.
“…And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem.”
“American Wise Men” by Andrea Bonifacio
One day in Natal, Dad found himself in a store, exhausting his limited Portuguese as he tried to make a purchase from a sales-savvy store clerk. As he stumbled through sentences and painful pronunciations, he was suddenly saved by uma senhora gracioso with a little conhecimento do inglês and a kindness-of-strangers heart. She spoke to the clerk on Dad’s behalf, and with that simple gesture, the transaction was completed and my parents’ story began.
Looking for uma mapa, Dad found uma mulher instead.
"At First Sight" by Andrea Bonifacio
Their weeks-long courtship was shepherded by a flock of siblings and a translator-cum-chaperone, and carefully couched in conservative, Catholic tones. Finally, my father proposed in writing (he doesn’t remember what), she responded in agreement (she doesn’t remember how), the shepherds gave their blessing, and on December 23rd, they were wed.
And the rest é história.
"Gótico Americano" by Andrea Bonifacio
Inasmuch as they’ve been together for so many years now, it’s an effort for me to reimagine and understand what that natal moment—and the first few months of their relationship—were like: Culture clashes, communication contusions, passionate celebrations, patience and forgiveness.
I’ve created a few metamorphical* sketches to illustrate what their courtship and early marriage might’ve been like. Click here to see them:
Culture Clash
Culture Crush
Together-Asunder
Até logo,
Andrea
* that’s my name for it: a series of images to be viewed one after the other, illustrating a metamorphosis
All text and images Copyright 2009 Andrea Bonifacio
Boa vinda! Welcome. I’m an artist, a writer, a Brazilian-American, and a believer. On Divine Mandate, I’ve created this place where I can do some show and tell about my current walk and work.
Divine Mandate. Whenever I think about God’s plans, I first think Bible, then Blues Brothers…
Jake: First you traded the Cadillac in for a microphone. Then you lied to me about the band. And now you’re gonna put me right back in the joint!
Elwood: They’re not gonna catch us. We’re on a mission from God.
My current mission–creative endeavor–personal project–does not involve art-making, but linguistics: I’m learning Portuguese. Learning any language challenges you, causes you to grow, and changes you. It is changing my life. This is where my saudade is coming from.
"Time Blend" by Andrea Bonifacio - photo courtesy Rita de Cassia
Estou aprendendo português, mas também estou descurbrindo sobre mim, e a minha familia, cultura, país… E também estou aprendendo como confiar em Deus.
This language is part of who I am. By it, I am learning what I have inherited in the culture, character, and people of Brazil. I am inheriting my heritage, and all the good and bad that goes with it. There are things I love and things I can’t stand; God is giving me amazing joy via the former, and building my character to deal with the latter. It’s a boot camp of the soul, where the fresh air is wonderful and the views breathtaking, but the hikes are arduous and the bugs buzz and bite.
Sondo saudade means, “I investigate homesickness.” As I learn all these new things, as I am changing and being changed, I see my past differently, my experiences, my family. I think about what’s to come in a different light as well. Thoughts of both past and future stir up saudade, or yearning, happy anticipation, bittersweet remembrance, and joy.
I recently was at my parents’ house—the house I grew up in—on vacation. While I was there, my father gave me this: My first passport.
Round-Faced and Ready
There I am, two years old. Shortly after it was taken, we were in my mother’s country, visiting her family. My earliest memory is from that time: My aunt stooping over me as I play in shallow water on the beach. The sun is behind her head, so I cannot see her face; I can hear her voice, but I cannot understand the words she’s saying. That’s the first I remember of her—and me: A loud, laughing woman and a little fin-flipper being pulled from the sea. Traz-me fora do mar, Tia Dinha.
My aunt is also my Godmother. So this myth-bound, metaphor-heavy, quasi-Darwinian image has the Hand of the Master Planner all over it. He said “Light Be,” and millennia later I splashed out from the sea, under the shade of a spiritual midwife calling my eyes to look up toward the sun. It’s a broad geographic spread for one human’s birth experience: My body in a hospital in Spokane, Washngton, my soul and self-awareness on a beach just south of the Equator.
So here I am now, in Queens, NY, blogging about it. Divine Mandate has put a new tongue in my mouth… and a new map in my hands: I am going back to Brazil in 2010. It’s time to return and re-meet minha tia and the rest of my bubbling, joyful, passionate, sentimental, non-time-bound tribe.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. This time, it’s a past-meets-present path blazed by blue, green, and yellow stones.
"Brazil Blaze" by Andrea Bonifacio
I’ll keep you posted as I go.
Até logo,
Andrea
All text and images Copyright 2009 Andrea Bonifacio
