Throughout our time at the Kaiwa Mission we look to plan each day. "It is a little difficult since you never know what will happen," my mother comments. As a rule few plans are made or carried out and there are absolutely no deadlines. Most things depend on the weather. If it rains school is cancelled. If the road floods no one goes anywhere. If a relative needs help you go take care of that. And frequent illnesses can change everything. Changeable weather patterns even make planting times unpredictable.
An older Kaiwa is waiting to hear back about the results of his driving test which he has attempted to pass at least five times. The rules and requirements keep changing and the driving schools are making a killing out of all the mandatory lessons. If he passes then he will be able to do so much more by car than on a bike. He is trying to get his grandson into school on the reservation, but all the schools are full. So he is free to make plans for a future date if it doesn't rain, no one at home is sick, he passes his driving test, his grandson is in school and no one else needs his immediate help. Shaky to say the least.
The Brazilian tribes face an uncertain future. Many have left behind their language and old traditional ways in favor of a more modern future. But what does that future hold for them?
At lunch we talk politics and the country of Brazil's future is just as shaky. Can anyone make plans for the future or do we have to wait and see what happens first? Will Lula and all the other corrupt politicians go to jail? Will the current president be impeached? Will the Real be devalued and prices soar? Will a new government change things for the better? Will there be a military take over? Will Brazil make it into the next World Cup?
No one knows the answers because the one certainty in Brazil is its unpredictability. The one predictable characteristic of Brazil is its uncertainty. People are well practiced at waiting to see what comes.
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