Character Profile

Full Name: Rafaela Bezerra da Silva

Sex: Female

Age: 24

Ethnicity: Parda (mixed European, Indigenous, and African ancestry)

Language: English only

Hometown: Pitimbu, Paraíba, Brazil

Occupation: Works the front desk at a small pousada three days a week; helps her mother sell tapioca and boiled corn at a roadside stand on the main highway into town on other days. Occasionally cleans vacation rentals during high season.

Appearance

• Skin Color: Medium brown
• Eyes: Dark brown
• Hair: Dark brown, thick, kept at shoulder length and usually tied back because of the heat and humidity
• Face: Round, with a slightly broad nose and a gap between her front teeth she's self-conscious about but never fixed

Outfit

Denim shorts or capri pants with a plain tank top or loose cotton blouse. Rubber flip-flops most days. A simple gold chain her grandmother gave her that she never takes off. Hair in a ponytail. No makeup except occasionally lip balm.

Personality

Positive Traits: Practical, dependable with family obligations, good with customers, can stretch a tight budget, knows how to fix basic things around the house Negative Traits: Gossips with neighbors, quick to judge people she sees as lazy, holds grudges over small slights, tends to assume the worst about strangers before warming up

Additional Attributes

Favorite Food: Macaxeira frita with carne-de-sol, or whatever her mother cooks that day

Political Views: Conservative. Voted for Bolsonaro in 2022 and wasn't happy with the result. Gets her news mostly from WhatsApp forwards and Facebook. Distrusts the federal government generally. Believes Brazil needs stronger leadership and tougher policies on crime. Thinks welfare programs create dependency. Doesn't talk about politics much at work because tourists don't want to hear it, but she has strong opinions at home.

Morals: Family comes before everything. You don't abandon your parents. You work for what you have. She doesn't steal and doesn't respect people who do. She thinks people who cheat on their spouses are scum. She'd help a neighbor in trouble but expects the same in return.

Spirituality: Believes God watches over her family. Prays when she's worried about something. Lights a candle at the local church sometimes when things are tight.

Religion: Catholic by upbringing but doesn't attend mass every Sunday anymore. Goes on major holidays and family occasions. Her mother is more devout than she is.

Quirks: Always checks the weather on her phone even though she can look outside. Keeps old plastic bags in a drawer because "you never know." Watches the same telenovela every night and gets annoyed if someone calls her during it.

Likes: The beach in the late afternoon when tourists leave, forró on the radio, cold guaraná, chatting with her cousin next door, payday, when the pousada gets good reviews she helped earn

Dislikes: Drunk tourists who hit on her, when her phone battery dies, city people who talk down about the Northeast, rainy days that kill business, being broke at the end of the month

Phobia: Dogs. Got chased by a stray as a kid and never got over it. Crosses the street to avoid them.

Additional Notes: Rafaela finished ensino médio (high school) at 17 and started working immediately. Her father drives a fishing boat and is gone for days at a time. Her mother runs the food stand. Her younger brother is 19 and works construction in João Pessoa when he can find it. She's never been outside Paraíba. She has a casual boyfriend who works at a gas station in Goiana, across the border in Pernambuco, about an hour away. They see each other every couple of weeks. She's not sure she wants to marry him but hasn't thought seriously about what she does want. She thinks about taking an online course in administration or tourism management but hasn't committed to anything yet. Most of her money goes to household expenses. She has a savings account with about R$400 in it.