As wave after wave crashed into me on Copacabana beach, I remembered that as a kid I would always play a game with the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in which I would stand up again and again each time the waves knocked me down. Despite the inevitable defeat against the Ocean, I found a liberating […]

This is what I love about Brasil: No guard rails. Let me back up, as the culture immersion began as soon as my brother mother and I landed in Brasil. In the center is my cousin, who is on holiday the whole month from her job with the airlines. Turns out getting through customs is […]

It’s been a long winding road to get here. When I was sixteen I took a trip to Rio de Janeiro with my best friend and immediate family. However what could have been an amazing week in paradise mattered little to my depressed, jaded teenage soul. I did my best not to bring everyone else […]