Native Brazilian Interview- Rafaela Faria

As I mentioned, I had to start this blog for a school assignment; our assignment was to pick a country and a current communicational issue present there. I have always loved Brazil. I have never been there, but my dear friend Lindsay Imwold resided there for a few years with her family and has shared many memories with me. The next part of my assignment was to interview a native of my chosen country.

Rafaela Faria, age 21, is a current Student at Flagler College, studying Business Administration. I meet her at a local student’s party in St. Augustine. I loved her outlook on life, and how fun she was, so when the assignment arose, I knew exactly who I wanted to interview.
Faria grew up in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina which is located in the south of Brazil. She says it is the fourth most visited Brazilian city, and is nicknamed “The Magic Island”. Her childhood was wonderful; she played in the street with her neighbors and like many American children enjoyed video games. When she was seven she discovered her passion, soccer.

Her passion for soccer led her to the U.S. In 2005, Faria played against an American team in Brazil. The coaches loved her skills, and asked her to come to America and play for their school, Charlotte High School. The exchange program paid for everything. “It was a surprise and unique opportunity for me, because soccer was paying for an exchange program that my family could not afford”, Faria said. After spending only one year in America, she returned to Brazil and graduated from High school. She attended Federal University of Santa Catarina for two years before transferring to Flagler College.

Faria’s impressions of the U.S. were similar to most people who have not ventured here, McDonalds, Disney World, Las Vegas, Coca Cola, President Bush, and war. “These were always words I associated with the U.S.”, Faria said. After she came, she was thrilled to see how the U.S encourages sports in high schools and colleges. She found that true is that Americans eat too much fast food, which I also agree.

Faria’s entire family lives in Brazil. Unfortunately their financial condition doesn’t allow them to visit her at Flagler. “It is one of my dreams to show them my dorm, the beautiful Flagler campus, visit my ex-America host family, watch me play soccer here… for now I share this with my own descriptions and pictures I take”, Faria said. She often thinks about returning home, she loves Florianopolis, her and her friends have realized there is no place on earth like it. It is not just the nature and beauty that make Florianopolis special, but the people greatly affect the city as well.

Brazil is very diverse and is divided into five regions, each having a different beauty, culture, and economy. Faria wishes Americans knew more about this. “People there are so nice, share great hospitality, and are always happy. Our music reflects this happiness as do our parties, especially Carnaval Feijoada, caipirinha, samba…. Like the music says “I live in a tropical country blessed by God and beautiful by nature” (Pais Tropical by Jorge Ben Jor)”, Faria Said. Most Americans she has talked to think they speak Spanish in Brazil, when their language is Portuguese.

I asked her about the topic of my blog, deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon. She feels very sad because the Amazon has already lost an area equivalent to France. “It is the richest rainforest in the world, having a huge biodiversity but men are destroying it to develop agriculture, to explore illegal wood… this has to stop because Amazonia is the liver of Brazil as well as the world. This deforestation has to stop”, Faria said.

The 2016 Olympics will be hosted in Brazil. Faria is not only excited about the Olympics, but also that the 2014 Soccer World Cup will also be in Brazil. She says it will be great for Brazil’s economy. They will take advantage of the events to boost tourism and create more jobs to cultivate the economy.