I went to the World Cup discussion and watch party with Professors Avner and Saba and it was really exciting! I learned a lot about soccer and really appreciated the professors’ emphasis on WOMEN in soccer. I learned about Marta, a force of nature who doesn’t get a fraction of the acclaim that folks like Messi and Ronaldo get, but totally deserves it.
At one point, Avner talked about the tragic world cup 2014 semifinal when Brazil unprecedentedly lost to Germany 7-1 on home turf. My grandparents lived in Ribeirão Preto for 60 years; my aunt still lives in São Paulo; I had the privilege of visiting several times as a child despite living on the other side of the world; and Brazil was always my team in soccer because of my dad’s influence having grown up there. I have always felt connected to Brazil despite not having any Brazilian blood, so when videos from the 2014 match were shown, I turned to my friends and winced. They kind of looked back at me confused as to why I was pained by the footage. Fair enough! I’m not Brazilian… but I’m also not not related to Brazil.
I think this is why I started taking Portuguese this semester. Yes, to surprise my dad at family weekend, to give my aunt a laugh, to ‘honor’ my grandparents in a way… but also as a way to affirm that small part of my identity. Right now, I speak Portuguese with a little bit of an Italian accent because I’m learning both at the same time. I hope to immerse myself in Brazil at some point so that I can really replicate the Brazilian accent and way of speaking, because if I am believed to be Brazilian by people whom I consider to be Brazilian, it would be an amazing affirmation of that little piece of me. Later on, I saw Prof Saba and started speaking to him in Portuguese… and he asked if I was Brazilian! Good feeling! Muito obrigada mas não 🙂
Side note – I also went to the Peace Corps Alumni Panel and was really touched in a way that I didn’t expect. The last time I felt so sure that I was supposed to do something was junior year of high school when the Head Girl ‘22 spoke in assembly about her role. I knew I wanted to be Head Girl ‘23, then I was! The mission of the Peace Corps spoke to something deep in me. A friend of mine reacted negatively when I mentioned my new dream, saying the whole organization was very white savior and colonialist. I guess that gave me some discomfort. The next step for me is to learn more about the organization and decide for myself what I think. But ultimately: WOW! It seems so exciting and completely aligns with my life goal that I decided on years ago – to make a little difference in the world.
