embracing vs. living

i named my blog "abraço." it means either "i embrace" or "embrace" (the noun form) in portuguese, the motherland language here. i knew it would be a challenge to come here but just figured as long as i was open-minded and embraced what was thrown at me it´d be all good, very easy, and an easy thing to explain the differences between brazilian culture and other cultures...here´s the thing though, you have to do more than embrace something to truly understand it.

it´s hard to explain. you embrace a culture when you travel there and see all the amazing things it has to offer. i do that here too :) trainees and ex-pats and anyone that´s spent a lot of time in an unfamiliar situation does this...but when you live something, make it part of your life and how you think and how you act and how you approach situations and problems, you do more than embrace it...you become it.

i thought i was being creative and having foresight when i named my blog "abraço" by offering a glimpse of what i thought i´d be doing here in the midst of brazilian culture...maybe i really should´ve just named it "vivo."