Love In Another Language

Dan Mitchell has left the practice of law in New Jersey to study for his MBA in Miami. Living in South Beach, he struggles to balance his coursework, a part-time job and relationship with his new girlfriend, Yasmín until finally the relationship falls apart. Invited to a friend’s thirtieth birthday party, Dan is at an emotional low point when he meets the woman of his dreams, Iolanda, who is from Brazil. There’s just one problem. Iolanda doesn’t speak English.

Dan speaks Spanish, but the very real differences between Spanish and Iolanda’s native Portuguese set the stage for a range of misunderstandings and obstacles from the beginning. Conversations on subjects ranging from making love to hemorrhoids to coconut water all have elements that get lost in translation, sometimes to devastating effect. With a much-needed sense of humor, Dan and Iolanda surmount the cultural, logistical and linguistic barriers that would otherwise stand in the way of a successful relationship and marriage.

Traveling to Brazil with Iolanda raises their challenges to a new level as Dan copes with Brazilian traffic, plumbing, and intestinal distress, as well as the Brazilian tendency to discuss sensitive private matters openly in detail. Taken aback at first, Dan gradually leaves his inhibitions behind and embraces a new family and culture that become very much his own.