Isat on my hands to stop the fidgeting. My sweaty palms stuck to the leather car seat the whole hourlong drive to Miami Beach. South Florida’s chaotic freeways and shirt-soaking August humidity are enough to make anyone squirm, but the source of my discomfort was the impending family reunion. I stared out the back window of my parents’ sedan and mentally rehearsed discussion topics — my graduation from college, career plans, thoughts on global affairs — all soupy and uncertain in my head as I tried to translate between my mother’s tongue and my own.

My mom gave my sister and me the customary parental spiel when we arrived outside my aunt’s house: make sure to act polite, say thank you, engage in conversation. The last one especially. Our grandfather had come to visit from Brazil that summ

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