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It was my first travel abroad, my bag had already been packed a week before we were scheduled to leave. I recall waking up early on that day (I am usually the last to wake up) and was prepared to leave! I only slept about 3 hours on our 10 hour flight to São Paulo, Brazil from Johannesburg, South Africa. Upon arrival, everything seemed pretty normal till we got to the people where many people did not speak English. I lived with a host family for a week in São Paulo, they could not speak a word of English, but somehow with my basic Portuguese (such as asking for the bathroom) we were able to understand one another. I remember taking a trip to McDonald’s and spending roughly 5 minutes trying to ask the lady for tomato sauce:). I met many people and made amazing friends, I even got the opportunity to see amazing sites in Brazil like going up to Corcovado, Aparecida and even the sugar loafs. Our visit wasn’t all that welcoming either, one afternoon while walking through the streets of São Paulo, a local lady started throwing stones at us and yelling at us in the local language. The staple diet which always includes rice and beans with different sides became part of me and I found myself buying this just to satisfy a craving. I went through those weeks with my basic Portuguese but somehow ended up making the most friends out of everyone in the group. They were always happy to see me and to show me around, surrounded by all of my new friends, many people mistook me for being Brazilian and would come speak to me and ask me stuff and I would have to disappoint, saying “fala ingles”. As the weeks progressed I started to familiarize myself with popular lingo (even some words that are not to be mentioned) and spent time teaching them popular songs and dance moves from South Africa which we used on the local bus to impress our fellow travelers :). One aspect that kills us all is the story of love, ahh yes, I too did have a special interest in someone and he ended up being the person I spent most of my time with, he played the guitar and sang, it felt like he was serenading not just me, but my soul... if only I could turn back the clock, I wouldn’t have been so foolish or stubborn and I would have made the most out of my trip. I will never forget him or how being around him made me felt :) other than that, a few beers and dancing the night away with these amazing people were memorable moments and even though we could not always understand one another, love came through and spoke for us.