Rosinha and the Estrangeiro Permanente

Following my heartrending departure from Rosinha and Brasil in early 1975, I was determined to return as vowed. For a year and a half, countless letters and frequent phone calls kept her from doubting my sincerity. The job offer from Enco-Zolcsak had been confirmed and my permanent visa was taking shape. Termination notice was given from the dream-job that I had held traveling the globe for five years. A large trunk was filled with things that I could not leave behind. I passed out furniture to family and friends with the notion that there was a remote possibility I could return someday on a very distant tomorrow. The Enco boss had a shopping list of American luxury items that I could bring in without duty with my emigration papers. The first of July was a target date so June 15th marked my final workday. Assignments had kept me away. The boss called me in for goodbyes but asked what it would take to keep me on. I laughed out loud till he said there was a project in Africa. No one in the world could understand my desire to see Africa but if she loved me a couple months shouldn’t matter. My phone call to Rosinha was met with all her fire and passion but in defiance. Not to be dissuaded, I committed to the Ghana assignment and felt I could always charm my way back into her arms when I returned to Brasil. How vain.
My returned to Brasil in December of 1976 as an "Estrangeiro Permanente" was met with disdain from my beloved Rosinha. She never believed I would return and my delay for Africa was enough to cause the difference. She provided one token encounter at the Pampas Palace Hotel and I was left with only her shadow. Being alone in Brasil for a young American male can be a good thing. I made the most of this exotic adventure for a year and a half. A message from home telling of young brother David’s cancer, gave me the license to return to the States gracefully and void all Brasilian obligations.