Flavia D'Avila

Flavia grew up in a liminal space, in the bordering towns of Sant’Ana do Livramento (Brazil) and Rivera (Uruguay) and because of that, has always seen herself as multicultural, multilingual and multinational.

She moved to Edinburgh in 2006 to study drama and recalls falling in love with the city before even landing. She had never been to Scotland and had no friends or family there, but remembers looking at the bridges over the Forth (only two at the time, the Queensferry Crossing hadn’t been built yet!) from the airplane window and being overcome with this feeling that this was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life.

The theatre and tourism sectors overlap greatly in Edinburgh and Flavia currently works as a whisky ambassador, conducting tours and tastings in the city centre. Having recently completed her PhD in intercultural theatre, Flavia still works as a theatre director and producer as well. Although Brazil and Uruguay will always have a special place in her heart, Flavia has forged incredibly strong ties with people in Scotland and feels like this is very much home now.

Flavia's cherished object from her first home is a mate cup. This gourd is used for drinking mate, a herbal infusion that is very popular in southern South America (you may have seen Pope Francis and some footballers partaking) and also embeds the local culture, community and sharing. She chose to bring this particular one to Scotland as it is engraved with her and her sister Patricia's names.