2 minute read
Daniel Freitas
Brazil to America Daniel Freitas
Throughout GHS, there have been numerous students who have transferred from foreign countries to the United States. One of these students, in particular, is sophomore, Daniel Freitas. Freitas decided to come to America after living in Brasilia, Brazil for eleven years. His father was from this country and wanted to move back to be with his family and go back to where he grew up. Once he came to America, he had to give up his hometown family and friends and adapt to a country with extreme cultural differences.
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One of these differences includes economic change. Since Brazil is a third world country, its civilians were forced to live in extreme and dangerous conditions. According to an article by Safe Around, Brazil is one of the countries with the highest crime rates in the world. This is mainly because Brazil is a third world country and is still in early development; criminal activity is more active in the Favelas (poor suburbs).
On the flip side, the culture of this country is what made it really special. Freitas moved to Brazil when he was very young and has known it as his home for his whole life. He was neighbors with his grandparents for ten years of his life while in Brazil, living only a few houses down in a suburban neighborhood.
“The food is very different, here we eat a lot of meat but in Brazil, we eat meat in almost every meal,” Freitas said. Unlike American food and having extremely varied meals in America, in Brazil meat is featured in a good majority of them. School for Freitas was a lot different than our school here. His mother taught at a K-12 school with classes like Brazillian social studies and Portuguese as a language class. Along with the different classes, there were about 53 people with different ethnicities attending here. When 7th grade came around it became harder for him because he started to attend an international school where he didn’t know anyone for a year, but things got easier as time went on and he made more friends. For the most part, they all had one thing in common, soccer. “The culture difference is very big, everyone plays soccer there and they all have a love for soccer,” Freitas said. Soccer for the people in this country is a big deal. Everyone participates in the sport and it’s fun for everybody. Brazilians are known for soccer and their nickname is “O País do Futebol” which means “state of football.”
Moving from a very culture-filled country with soccer, family, and tasty foods to one with not as much culture is difficult, especially if it’s what someone has grown up knowing.
