About Me — Javier Benitez

Fail early, wander away, and write

I stand at Pedra de Gávea in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

“I think I’m going to learn Chinese.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t learn Chinese. That’s impossible.”

That’s what I told my friend in college. I was the skeptic. We had this rivalry — always trying to one-up each other, and I wasn’t about to be outdone. The next semester, I signed up for Intro to Chinese Culture and Language.

Fast forward to 2014: I’m back in Tampa after two years in China. I’d traveled all over China, lived in two cities, and could surprisingly speak Chinese quite well. (Here’s a story on Chinese)

“So, where are you going in Brazil?”
“São Paulo. I can’t go to Rio — everyone goes to Rio. That’s too obvious.”

That’s what I told a friend in 2017. I planned to go to Brazil and land a job in the first month.

That didn’t turn out, but I wasn’t going to turn around with my tail tucked between my legs after a month, so I started posting flyers offering English lessons and somehow survived a year in Vila Madalena, São Paulo’s art district.

My life decisions have been based on doing the unconventional for a challenge or…