It’s a delightful fact, the host gets as much out of a chance encounter as the one who is the world traveller, and good surprises, too.
You may have first hand experience with the concept, maybe having had guests from exotic locations, maybe just a short how-do-you-do in passing. But even if very brief, the encounter can be most rewarding.
Here at the Castlegar News, on the busy publishing Wednesday this week, we were treated to a visit from Giovana Lopes, a Rotary-sponsored traveler who was arranged to spend some time doing a bit of work with us.
It was never said out loud, but at least one of us was thinking, ‘we’ll have to make things nice and easy for her when she gets here. This can be a high pressure, hectic environment... don’t want her to freak out, or anything like that.’
Giovana proved a very capable and efficient proof reader after receiving her first assignment. Then it was off for a short photo opportunity and an equally short write up of a couple of community events.
She was back in no time flat, posed for a couple of photos with some of us. Then she was saying her goodbyes.
She was asked if she lived in a very big town, and what part of Brazil was it?
About 400,000 people she said of the city in Sao Paulo State.
‘Interested in journalism as a career?’
“It is my career,” she said. “I teach it in university.”