“Today, I’m an American citizen. I moved here 10 years ago. I’ve built my own business here. I miss my culture and I miss the warmth and the craziness of Brazil, but I really appreciate the quality of life here. With very little, and a lot of effort, I was able to build my own business here. I feel like here, if you work hard, you can do and get anywhere you want. I’m very focused on my professional life, which is what’s keeping me from focusing on my health, but I feel like I’m approaching a stage where I’m going to be more organized professionally. Soon I’m hoping I’ll be able to walk out of the office and do things that I need to do for me and my health. I’ve been very fortunate to not have any health problems. Dance in Brazil is huge, so I miss that. I go to Zumba sometimes. It fills that void for me. Samba is very huge in Brazil, so some of the songs they play in Zumba are Brazilian, so I feel like it brings me back home a little bit. I’m the only one in my family over here, which is tough. I miss out on special occasions. Every time I go home, I see extra wrinkles on my parents faces and that’s really hard, seeing them age, and not being there with them. But, I truly love being here. I feel safe here.”