"Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day!"

By: Makaila Gaston

Maria Jancar stands under a tree on Oakland University's campus in Rochester Hills, MI on October 18, 2021. For Maria, the tree has a deeper meaning.

Maria Jancar was born in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Maria’s earliest memories of her home were warm. As the years passed, Brazil’s sultry climate became more and more cool. As the temperature dropped, traditional Brazilian summers were a thing of the past.

Brazilian homes were built to withstand heat. They were built to trap cool air. This means Brazilian homes were in no way equipped for winter, for obvious reasons. The homes are built with brick. There isn't any wood or insolation. Oftentimes, people paint over the brick to give a "wall look" but don't let this fool you, it's just brick. In addition to this, there is no carpet. Maria says she didn’t even know what carpet was until she came to America.

Pictured is a tree on Oakland University's campus in Rochester Hills, MI on October 20th, 2021. The tree sits in front of Kresge Library.

“In the winters now, everything is freezing cold,” Maria remarks.

There are no heaters, unless you have money to purchase one and can afford the extra electricity needed to power it. Maria's family was not able to afford one.

This puts those who can’t afford it at a greater risk of other health conditions related to being subjected to cold and conditions they aren't used to. Maria did say however, people would sometimes use pieces of fabric to seal windows and this was a temporary solution to keep the cold out.

Pictured is Maria Jancar on Monday, October 18, 2021 in Rochester Hills, MI. The blow is a symbolization of the unusual snow in Brazil as of recent.

It was normal for the South of Brazil to get hail, but in the past couple of years, there has been snow spotted all over Brazil.

“Newspapers cover it and a lot of people get excited because it's not a normal thing, but they don't realize it's a bad thing.”

Sao Paulo has never experienced a flood before. However, in 2019 there was a huge flood that devastated the area.

Recently, in July of 2021, there was a huge fire in the Amazon. The Amazon is a sacred area that is trying to be preserved by the Brazilian government. The government has hired workers to watch over the land, however, they don’t make a lot of money and so sometimes, they don’t always take their jobs very serious.

As a result, people began to go into the Amazon and illegally pillage wood to export it to other countries for a profit. The wood that was missing when this fire struck would have been enough to save the rest of the forest from the serious destruction.

Maria Jancar lies on a hammock in photo above captured October 18th, 2021 in Rochester Hills, MI. The hammock is a reminder of the one she once had outside her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Not only did this devastate the area, but this and many other fires sparking across Brazil can have lasting effects on its wildlife. Due to deforestation and recent fires, more than 1,400 jaguars died or were displaced in the Brazilian Amazon.

Maria visits China frequently because her father lives there. She recalls how bad the air quality is in Beijing due to the pollution. “You can’t even see across the street. You can barely breathe.” There’s even a notification on the television that will tell you when the air quality is too bad to leave the house.

Maria will be graduating Oakland University soon, and so one thing that is constantly on her mind is her next step. She knows she has to look for a job post-graduation, and admitted that climate is always in the back of her mind when deciding where she wants to live. In Michigan, she knows she’ll have to worry about the fickle winter. In Florida, her concern would be hurricanes and other tropical storms. California has had an issue with wildfires recently.

“It's sort of a balancing act because anywhere you go, there will be climate issues. It just depends on what you want to deal with," says Maria.

"I guess it was just heartbreaking seeing all of the places I love transform over time,” Maria states, recalling the way Brazil, America and China once were once upon a time.