The "Faces Of Strangers: #46" Story

Teresa

Foreword:  This story was written in October and stored in my queue until I discovered it recently.  Some of he written material will make more sense if you know this fact before reading.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing next to my wife on perhaps the most beautiful beach in the world, according to a myriad of travel magazines, having our photograph taken by a woman we had met twenty odd minutes ago.  Interesting woman with a fabulous accent who had to stop her conversation from time to time to think of the word she wanted to use, but was at a loss for it in English.  Teresa was visiting Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales as were my wife and I.  Carol and I were scavenging for sea shells when we noticed this woman struggling to get around the rock formation that was on the beach a short distance away.  I walked toward her, but she had navigated the rocks and headed our way.  Teresa was from the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil and visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands for the first time with her sister.  I questioned her accent and was told she spoke Portuguese, not Spanish as most people believe is spoken in Brazil. Teresa had a niece who lived in New York and made a few trips to the States in the past.  Enjoyed our homeland and said that the people she knows all look at the USA as the cornerstone of the world's society.  As we talked I noticed she stopped from time to time to search for just the right word she wanted to use in her sentences.  I told her I wished I was able to speak in other languages, but never felt it necessary to do so.  The three of us wandered into the crystal clear turquoise water to cool as we talked.  We shared our thoughts about the island we were visiting and then the conversation shifted to Brazil and the past Olympics.  She expressed her dismay as to the amount of money spent by her country, since so many people live in the extremely poor favelas that dot the landscape near the Olympic venue.  

Carol and I on Grace Bay Beach

Carol asked her what she though of our ongoing elections in the States and she said everyone in Brazil loved President Obama and can't believe that Mr. Trump could possibly be elected President of a country such as the United States.  She and my wife went on and on about politics as I exited the water to retrieve my camera which I had placed in a safe place before entering the water.  As the girls exited the water I asked Teresa if I could snap a photo of her and she obliged.  Then I asked her if she would take one of Carol and I on this beautiful beach and she readily reached for my camera.  I knew instantly she was familar with cameras as she took a few photos, both horizonal and vertical. We thanked her for the conversation and the photos and she departed down the beach as Carol and I continued our search for the elusive perfect beach shell.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.