"Oh, you're coming to Brazil without knowing any Portuguese?" An overly generous lady on the plane looked at me concerned after watching me struggle to order my food on our 10-hour flight.

"Yes," I replied, feeling my own voice lack confidence in my answer. Was I ready to go to a country where I didn't know a single word of the language they spoke? How would I communicate with someone if something went wrong and no English speakers were around?

The remainder of my flight, my thoughts were swirling with the possibilities and the fears of going to a country that I had little-to-no background knowledge of. I had convinced myself the week prior that, for once, I did not want to know everything about the place I was going, if anything at all. I wanted to surprise myself and for me, that meant avoiding all research. Beyond the fact that Brazilians spoke Portuguese and I should pack some shorts and sunscreen, I was going on my trip with a completely unaware of what I was getting myself into.

After my plane ride, I was not so sure that I had made the right decision in not doing my research and learning at least the basic phrases in Portuguese. Getting off of the plane, the lady I had been sitting next to on the plane pointed me in the direction I needed to go for customs instead of allowing me to wander aimlessly around the airport.

After making it through customs seemingly being the only English speaker in my immediate area, I was overjoyed to see my aunt's familiar face. After taking four years of Spanish in high school, I thought that I would have a general idea as to what the words meant, but the street signs affirmed that would not be the case.

My first day consisted of exploring Beco de Batman and eating at a local restaurant, La Da Venda. Despite the fact that I was by my aunt's side the entire time, I couldn't help but feel increasingly uncomfortable with each question I was asked. I had no idea when I was being asked what to drink or when it was time to order my food. In fact, the only two phrases I had learned at this point were 'hello' and 'thank you.'

Luckily, the restaurant we went to offered a menu in English, which I later found would not be a common commodity. As I once again muddled my way through ordering, I wondered what the people around me were saying. The large family to my right and the couple huddled in the corner to my left.

As the day continued, we found ourselves at a pub on the corner of the street. The people surrounding us were laughing and genuinely enjoying the "football" game they were watching. Yet somehow, despite not knowing a single word they were saying, I felt as though I was a part of the community. They had no idea that I was a foreigner and did not understand just exactly what was going on, but we all just coexisted.

The language barrier may make things a little more difficult, and your message is not always going to come across as you want it to, but humans are social beings regardless of what language you speak, and we can all appreciate time in the sunshine, sitting on the corner, enjoying our company.