I have stumbled through my fair share of lumbering conversations. Due to not seeing my grandparents for seven years, most of our phone calls have been meaningless small talk with intermittent long pauses. Not seeing them wasn’t intentional, but the 4,837 miles between us makes for a difficult obstacle to overcome.After five years of not visiting my grandparents, I embarked on a mission, one where I travel across the equator to finally get to know my family. I started by simply bringing up the idea to my parents and it progressed into creating a persuasive slideshow requesting they invest in my plan. Two years later, at 14, my parents believed I was mature enough to travel alone to Brazil. First impressions are important so I reassured myself that while lackluster at times, I could speak Portuguese well enough to immerse myself in this world for 45 days. My grandfather waited at the gate in a jersey I gave him 10 years ago when I first visited. The faded and bleach-splattered letters “USA” stretched across his chest. He wore it because he thought I wouldn't recognize…show more content… We left the airport for the house where my mother lived for 27 years. My grandfather built this house with his own two hands. The house hasn’t changed much since day she left for the United States. The rusted iron gate and the uneven staircase that leads up to the house were still there. My grandmother anxiously waited inside, hoping to get to see me before the rest family comes to visit.Throughout the day, a seemingly constant stream of my seven uncles came in and out of the house. I greeted them each individually but yet they all had the same questions for me such as “Do you have a boyfriend?” Most of the questions came with a cheesy joke to go along with it and I just had to laugh my way out since it was my first day in Brazil and I wasn’t sure how my humor would have been taken. So I decided to just give them answers that would satisfy
