Bournemouth striker Evanilson has said the south coast town reminds him of his native Brazil, especially during the summer months when temperatures can reach 35C.
The forward, who has scored three goals and provided an assist in his last three Premier League games, told the Daily Mail that the resort town has shattered his preconceptions about British weather.
"The town here is very good," Evanilson explained. "In summer, it's a really hot town. Lots of people from other cities in England come to spend the summer here. The beaches are always full, the streets are packed, and the heat here is similar."
Summer heat and local comforts
On the warmest days, Evanilson said the distance between England and Brazil seems to disappear. "In summer it's incredible, it gets up to 35C, and it's nice," he added. "Sometimes, in summer, you can feel like you're in Brazil, in our Northeast."
Bournemouth has long attracted visitors with its sheltered microclimate, seven miles of golden sand, cliff-top funicular railways, pier amusements and Victorian gardens. Evanilson has also found a taste of home in the local Brazilian community, frequently shopping at Ola Brasil, a small Brazilian food store on Wimborne Road in Winton.
When he and his family first arrived and checked into a local hotel, the shop's owner personally delivered a welcoming feast of rice, beans, chicken and farofa, the toasted cassava flour fundamental to Brazilian cooking.
Life by the ocean and family ties
"That food every Brazilian loves, when you go a while without eating it, you even feel weak," he told the Daily Mail. The grocer is also the only place he can find Brazilian-style Maria biscuits. "I always buy them," he said. "My one-year-old son only eats these Maria biscuits. He's crazy about them."
Having grown up in Fortaleza before stints in Rio de Janeiro, Porto and now Dorset, living near the coast is natural to him, though he admitted the English Channel is a notable drawback. "It's impossible to go in because of the cold water. Very, very cold," he said.
Evanilson also reflected on the sacrifices he made to become a footballer. Leaving Fortaleza at 13 to join Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro meant a 1,600-mile journey. "When I left [Fortaleza] at 13, I was a kid, I left on my own. Sometimes I wanted to go back," he said. "But my mother told me all the time: 'If you want to be a footballer, you have to face reality, you have to keep going. You're a good player, but this part off the pitch, you have to overcome it.'"
His mother, Madalena, died suddenly in 2017 while he was rising through the Fluminense youth ranks, and he contemplated walking away from the game. "I'd like her to be living all of this that I've been through, from when I left Fortaleza to where I am now," he said. "I'm sure she's proud. The only thing I'd really like is for her to be able to be here, living it and watching me play in the Premier League."
He now draws with his daughter, Maria Alice, a ritual that began as a promise to sketch his mother every day. "Whenever I'm at home with her, we try to do some drawing," he said. "It makes me relax, it makes me forget some problems. And it's really nice to know that she likes it too."
His form has pushed him into the conversation for a recall to the Brazil national squad, with fellow countryman Joao Pedro sidelined through injury and Brentford's Igor Thiago struggling for form. Evanilson has made Dorset his home, even if he prefers to admire the Bournemouth surf from the warmth of the sand.
