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KC Current welcomed a new goalkeeper this season. Lorena Silva is still exploring the city and getting familiar with her new home. But even from more than 4,500 miles away, while playing in her home country Brazil, Lorena heard about Kansas City.
“It was on the news that Kansas City had built a stadium just for women’s soccer, and I thought that was huge because it’s the recognition of women’s soccer,” Lorena said.
In her first game with the Current, she was able to feel the love from supporters.
“I was enchanted by this passion, this love they have for going to the games, so I was truly dazzled,” Lorena said. “For me, it was another dream coming true, right?”
She says she felt at home— one she still has a lot to explore.
In Kansas City, she and her family saw snow for the first time.
“Every day is something new for me to explore—a very hot day, then a very cold day, and suddenly it snows. I look out the window and see snowflakes,” Lorena said.
Amidst so many life changes, she also had the chance to try something new for the first time: Kansas City barbecue.
We took her on a tour of Union Station, where she was surprised with a plate of Joe's Kansas City BBQ.
“First time eating the meat like this, literally with my hands,” said Lorena, as she tried the ribs. “It’s really good.”
We also gifted her some familiar tastes from Geo’s Gourmet, a Brazilian bakery in Olathe, with flavors from home that she got to enjoy once again.
“For those who don’t know, it’s food from the gods,” Lorena said.
Even without being fluent in English, Lorena is finding herself in the team.
"We talk about soccer being an international language. It’s a language that crosses all sorts of boundaries, but the fact that these players are all here, willing to learn other languages to be successful, is incredibly powerful,” Dani Welniak, Current's vice president of communication, said.
With all five senses, the Brazilian National Team goalkeeper is rewriting her story in Kansas City.
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KSHB 41 reporter Fe Silva covers education stories involving K-12. Share your story idea with Fe.
