“I have a personal goal to speak ten languages”

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as welcomed anywhere else as I did here in Rio. I’ve noticed people treat each other without paying much attention to race or differences at all. As a Thai person living in the United States, where there are just as much diversity, I’d always felt a bit different from people of other races. I was surprised to feel at home so quickly here, which is ironic because I thought about canceling this trip so many times before coming due to the cautions I’ve heard from people.

Everyone talks about the violence and danger here, but after two weeks, I realized it was all a stigma. Just like in any big city, be it Paris, Bangkok, New York, or many others, which all have more violent areas and others that are more peaceful, you can live just as comfortably here in Rio. But what most people choose to see are these stereotypes that come with the cities, like how Rio is violent, Paris is romantic, etc. I have a personal goal to speak ten languages and to see the wonders of the world.

When I visited Machu Picchu last year, I decided to come and see Christ the Redeemer while acquiring Portuguese. And after spending 3 months here in Rio, traveling to some other cities during weekends and really getting to know the Brazilian culture, I was surprised to see how many things it has in common with Thai culture, including some very specific snacks or drinks, like the sugar cane juice sold on streets.

I really think everyone should visit Brazil at least once in their life. Come, see everything for themselves, and then decide how they feel. But don’t skip Brazil only because of what other people say and remain in the dark about how amazing this place is.