My parents were born and raised in Brazil. I had the privilege of being raised in Brazil and in the United Sates. How can that be possible you may ask, well it is very simple. My mother simply could not make up her mind where she wanted to live, so every other year we would sell everything and move to another country. My earliest childhood memories are of Sao Paulo, Brazil and my later childhood memories are of New Jersey. Being able to experience two distinct cultures as I was growing up has had positives and negatives aspects in my life, but I am grateful to have had this rare experience.
I was born is a hospital at the heart of Sao Paulo. This busy city is very similar to New York City. The streets are crowded and cars leave pollution everywhere. Most of the people live in high-rise apartment buildings. My parents owned an apartment not too far from the downtown area. It was a relatively small apartment complex with a few four story buildings. Most of the children in my building were roughly close to the same age. I was friends with almost everyone in the building. .
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I loved to play outside. I remember getting home from school and barely changing out of my uniform and rushing downstairs to play with my friends. I loved bringing my Barbi dolls out and playing dress up with the other girls. I also loved playing with the boys. I was a real tomboy. Every were the boys went I wanted to go. Everything they did I wanted to do. I learned how to make a kite out of supermarket bags and how to fly it higher than anyone else. I also like skate boarding with the boys. Although I never became good enough to stand up, I would sit on it and ride down the hill with them. I have two scars as souvenirs from those days, one on my chin and the other on my eyebrow. .
Every other weekend we would drive one hour and half to my grandmother's house. She lived and still lives in a very small town. At the time only the main streets were paved, so the road my grandmothers house was on was paved with red dirt.
