Waimea Bay lifeguard Vitor Marcal

A few miles from Horacio’s jungle, on the beach at Waimea Bay, I meet Vitor Marcal. Vitor’s from Curitiba in the south of Brazil, an inland city with a high elevation and harsh winters. Fifteen years ago, Vitor decided he’d had enough of that and arrived on Oahu, lured by the surf. "In Hawaii, everything is big, huge; there are more accessible channels," he says of the Islands’ waves. "In Brazil, there are more beach breaks, more rip currents, the surf is smaller, the water not so blue." The surf that drew him here kept him here, and Vitor survived the way many do when they first arrive in Hawaii: doing odd jobs, gardening, driving vehicles. But Vitor is a great athlete in the water, and ten years ago he was able to parlay that skill into a job as a city and county lifeguard. "I worked pretty much every tower on the island before winding up at Waimea," he says.

Like Horacio, he’s here to stay. "After going back to Brazil and seeing the way things are, I can’t go back. I like to be hot," he says as the sun beats down on us on Waimea’s beach. "There are still long lines to pay bills in Brazil, the supermarkets are crowded, some things are difficult to get. I wanted a laid-back lifestyle, and Hawai‘i actually brings that to you."

But laid-back lifestyle or not, he sees compatriots come and go. "Some Brazilians come here to change their lives around, some come for surfing, some come for fame, some come because Hawai‘i is still the icon. But the surf cannot feed you—and some people get homesick and find it hard to blend in to the American culture." Vitor talks about Brazil, about the poverty, crime and corruption that plague the country, and whether he’s going back or not, his concern for his homeland is palpable. When I ask him about this, he shrugs. "Brazilians are patriotic," he says. "Even if you’re away, you’re proud and you don’t want to hear bad things."