Pattie
Pattie, friend of Sebastian and Line
Team West traveled to Austin, USA, to meet their new host Pattie. Pattie teaches linguistics at the University of Texas in Austin, where she lives with her three children. In her interview, Pattie candidly talks about what she would change in her country, her friendship story with Sebastian, and how she became friends with Line, a fellow linguist who lives in Berkeley, California.
What is your superpower?
Enjoying eating lots of different things and doing lots of things. Running around in the forest and writing papers in my spare time.
What would you change in your country if you were able to?
One thing that I would definitely want to change would be to make people value the outdoors and the natural places more and really work harder to protect and preserve them, and to value the knowledge of the indigenous people who live on them and have lived on them in the past and who continue to be part of the world here and the country here.
What are you proud of?
Well I'm proud of the work that I do, to be working with indigenous languages and indigenous communities in Brazil. I'm proud of my three children. Yeah that's probably enough.
What is your spirit vegetable?
Perhaps a Biriba fruit. Which in Brazil, grows in the Amazon. It's actually a fruit of a tree but you can call it a vegetable I suppose. And it's covered with funny little soft spikes all over it and it is really sweet and nice inside.
What do you expect from a friend?
Somebody who will be a companion, or can be a companion when it's possible for them. Who will listen and who shares some values.
How important are friends to you?
Friends are very important, of course. It's always important to feel like you're not alone in the world, that there are others that you can count on.
Week #11 of the Yuujou journey
