Interview with Zenir Machado

The Soul of Brasilia and the Flower of Cerrado

El alma de Brasilia y La flor del Cerrado

by

Ahmed Al-Hosni

Zenir Machado lives in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. Brazil is a sunny 50-year old city in the central part of the country that was planned and built to be the capital, and since its foundation it has been attracting visitors from all over the world for its modern architecture. It has the shape of an airplane, but the inspiration for it comes from nature and Zenir really like the idea of living in a city whose design was inspired by a butterfly. She likes it a lot. She loves the incredible light blue sky that can be seen from anywhere, the amazing flowers of the cerrado – that is how Brazilian savannah is called.

Zenir went to kindergarten, elementary and secondary school in Santa Maria, a small town in the south of Brazil, and she graduated from the federal university there.  She spent 12 years at school, and five at the university. She graduated in 1975 and 1977. First, she took journalism, which she have never practiced after college and forgot all about. Then she applied for languages, her major became English, and she ended up earning a master´s degree in applied linguistics from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre in 1997. She worked at different private places in the south, but now her work at the Centro Interescolar de Línguas, which is a public language school.

Zenir’s father worked for the army and her mother was a housewife. Her parents both have passed away. She have a brother and two sisters, and they are all good friends. Only one of them lives in Brasilia. However, she spends some time with her brother, her youngest sister and their families in the south once or twice a year.

Zenir is divorced a long time ago. She has no children “Thank God I have two nephews, three nieces, a great-niece, a great-nephew – and lots of students!” she said. 

Zenir speaks Portuguese and English. She first studied English at school around the age of 13. At that time, French came before English at school, and, in fact, she still think it sounds more beautiful, but she chose to learn English at the university because of the work market. “I guess it was the best choice for me.” she said.

Zenir decided to take this journalism course because of her students, she wants them to learn, but it’s more than that. She wants to do something more creative and interesting with them. She wants them to be as happy as possible at school – here and now. And as good citizens as they can when they finish school.

In her free time, she enjoys reading novels, and sometimes borrows a book of poems in Portuguese from the school library to read on the bus or in the bank line. She also like going out with friends, going to the movies, concerts, and art exhibitions. She doesn’t play any sports. She just go walking three times a week “Arts and friendship are essential and they will always be, and I need to exercise, too.” She replied.   

Zenir tries to seize the day rather than dream of the following one and she hopes to have a long, healthy, loving and productive life. At 57, of course she has had her share of good and bad moments, but she has not led a difficult life. She has learned a lot, and she thanks God for everything.