When you start to settle down, after a process of immigration, it will
be very likely that you find yourself in the middle of some sort of crisis. Not
just that I’ve heard stories, but I also have lived some of them myself. I’m
talking about all types of crisis: financial crisis, relationship crisis, even
identity crisis. I would dare to say that being an immigrant is, actually, living
in a constant “crisis feel”.
There is one type of crisis, though, that I want to talk about. It’s the
cultural crisis. We, immigrants, arrive in the new country, my case is Canada,
and we are full of hope. Hope to get a job soon, hope to learn English quick,
hope to adapt. But we never adapt completely. That’s the truth. According to
the online dictionary, adapt means “change to meet requirements”, or “adjust to
something”. How many times I’ve run to the Portuguese market at Williams to buy
Brazilian brands of food that I like to cook! How many times I asked someone to
play Brazilian music because is the one that I like the most? I miss the things
that make home “home”. And I can’t change because that’s who I am. So, I’m not
adapted because I haven’t changed. I’m still the Brazilian person who arrived
two years ago. I’ve learned how to cook with the ingredients that I find at any
Canadian grocery store. I still look, however, for the Brazilian taste on all
foods. So, yes, I’m used to the new flavours. But I miss a lot the familiarity
with everything.
I was exaggerating when I said that I’m not adapted. Actually, I’ve been learning with my
experience of being an immigrant that adaptation is the willingness to make it
work, whatever the case is.
And this is something that we, immigrants are full of.
