Another cultural difference Aurea found in America had to do with racism. She does not try and sugar coat the fact that Brazil definitely had its issues with racism. Yet still, the blatant racism and hostility toward immigrants that was so casually thrown around in America was a shock. Aurea herself never had much of an issue being a foreigner. However, she clearly saw the effects once she married her husband, a German immigrant name Michael. Next to his side she saw a different side of America. Stranglers would tell him to, “go back to your country,” when he spoke. It was often they would hear the word “Nazi” being thrown at them. Despite the fact Michael had no part in the war and came to America still a child. Aurea says that these events profoundly hit her and that it is sad to see that racial tensions are still on the rise in American culture.
It was in the United States that Aurea had her biggest life changing experience. Around the year 1968 she witnessed a piece of technology so grand she was absolutely mesmerized, the microwave. A friend of her husband had invited them over to watch the microwave cook some bread. “I felt like I was a caveman when I saw the bread pop up,” Aurea describes the event as she reminisces. This same technology would not arrive in Brazil until sometime during the 90’s. It was at this moment Aurea realized the stark difference in technological advancement between the United States and Brazil.
Aurea does not believe that the differences in