Benefits of Having a Diverse Family

With a Colombian mother and a Brazilian father, I find that there are many advantages in my diverse family, here are five:

(1) You get to visit relatives from both countries. It’s very nice to see relatives in Brazil and Colombia and spend time with them.
(2) The foods are AH-mazing. Brazilian food is as delicious as Colombian food, though they differ in many ways. A traditional Brazilian meal is feijoada, which is a stew of beans with beef and pork. Sobrebarriga is a traditional Colombian food. It’s a cut of beef, or flank steak, with sauce, though many people know how to cook it, nobody can master it like my grandmother.
(3) Getting to know my parents’ homelands is probably the best thing. I find Colombia more antique and historic with old buildings and monuments. The weather there is also colder than in Brazil, so you often need to bring a jacket. If you ever get a chance to go there, I recommend Bogota (the capital, which is oozing with history) and Cali (I haven’t been here, but I’ve seen pictures and heard it’s beautiful, also very historic). Brazil is very diverse with rich lands and jungles. Everywhere you go you see green. There are many trees and native birds, like the blue macaw, toucans, and parrots. The weather is warm and sunny- living here makes you feel like you’re on vacation every day!
(4) Knowing how to speak 3 languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese) is very helpful! You can write, read and speak in all three of them fluently. In my family, my mother speaks to us in Spanish, my father speaks to us in Portuguese and my siblings and I speak to them in English!
(5) Getting to learn the cultures and traditions of the countries. Traveling to Colombia and living in Brazil is always fun, but I like to think of it as a learning experience. Seeing the ways the native people dress, the houses, the landscapes even the simplest thing like a bag of chips is unique!

Extra: You are more open minded and accepting of other people's cultures.