Blog It Forward - Debora de Souza

[debora_desouza]

Buenas Tchê!

I was blogged forward by Pedro Freitas so I inspired my greeting on his. Our state is the southernmost state in the country, right next to Argentina and Uruguai, so much of our vocabulary overlaps. Buenas is a Spanish word which means good. Tchê is a coloquial expression which is only used in this region, the Gaucho region of Rio Grande do Sul, Argentina and Uruguai. It can be a greeting, an exclamation (of multiple feelings, like surpise, disappointment, annoyance, all depending on the intonation given) or it can mean simply man or guy.

Intro

My name is Debora de Souza. I've been working at SAP for about 7.5 years now. I started as an SCM Support Engineer and currently I'm the Support Team Manager for SCM, ERP Manufacturing and GRC. I enjoy reading, travelling, and lately I've started to binge-watch my favorite TV shows on Netflix. :cool:

Some friends call me a fake Gaúcha. I don't drink chimarrão like Natália Machado and I'm not crazy about soccer like Pedro Freitas. I grew up in New York. I was born in Rio Grande do Sul, but at the time my family was only visiting Brazil. Soon after we returned to NY and I only stepped foot in Brazil again when I was a teenager. My chimarrão-addicted friends may attribute my weirdness to this.

Fun Fact about my State

Remember I told you that Tchê can have various meanings? Well, I think no word can have as many meanings as the word "Bah" (can also be spelled "Bá" but it's a less common form). Bah derives from "mas que barbaridade" which, literally translated, means "how barbaric" but usually is meant as a kind of "wow" exclamation. Bah can have dozens of meanings, all of which express some kind of emotion, like disappointment, happiness, amazement, surprise, sadness, the list keeps on going... The specific meaning depends on intonation and how long you stretch out the word. There is an entry in Tchêpédia for those interested (and who can read Portuguese :smile: ). Yes, my state is so special we have our own -pedia! Brazil is a huge country and each state has its peculiarities. Many people say we speak our own language in Rio Grande do Sul: Gauchês or Gaucho-speak. Here are some examples of Bah in it's Gauchês form:

English	Gauchês
Wow!	Bah!
Oh my God!	Bah!
Oh no!	Baaaaah!
Yeah, that's great!	Bah, que legal!
Right on!	Bah, certo!
Ohhh (sad, disappointed)	Bããã...

Answers to Pedro's questions:

Which 5 things do you absolutely want to achieve in life?

This is a hard one... Baaah... I've been thinking for about 20 minutes now about how to answer this question! I'm having a hard time listing 5 things. I want to write a book (done if you consider my Master's thesis), plant a tree (almost checked off the list, got a seed during SAP Green Week last week which has SAP engraved on it), take care of my family, travel somewhere new at least once a year and be happy.

If you were given by your work a full day every week to do whatever you feel like, what would it be?

I would probably be studying something. Languages, philosophy, religion, psychology, many things interest me, but alas, not enough time in a day.

If you were not in your current position, what/where would you be and why?

World famous author. Still on my bucket list. I've always loved words and writing. Ever since I was a child I've wanted to be a writer.

Blogging It Forward

I'd like to Blog It Forward to:

leonardo.mauhs

rafael.guimbala

paulo.groth

f.bittencourt

bernd.harder

dennison.john

augusto.krauspenhar

Please answer the following questions:

• What is your guilty pleasure?
• Other than money, what have you gained from your current job?
• If you were not in your current position, what/where would you be and why?
• What's the #1 item on your bucket list?

Cheers,

Debora