Q- How old are you?
A- 50.
Q- Where do you live?
A- Spain.
Q- Do you have children?
A- No.
Q- Before leaving your country, what was your situation there? What relationship did you have with your family, friends? your economic situation?…
A- My situation has been very different. I was born in Brazil. I was working in the Ministry of Education and then in the Secretariat of Special Education. Then we went to Portugal. In Portugal I did a Master’s degree, and I worked as a school reinforcement teacher. Then we came to Spain.
Q- What was your economic situation in Brazil?
A- It was not bad. I was living well but I wanted to go to another country.
Q- And in Portugal?
A- Portugal has been the bridge to come to Spain. We have always liked the country. We like the country very much, the language. We came to Portugal because my grandfather is Portuguese. In Portugal we obtained citizenship and then we came to Spain.
Q- How was the relationship with the Portuguese people: family, friends …
A- Here in Spain, there is only me and my husband, we don´t have anyone else. But friendships are few in Brazil and Portugal and much better with the Spanish, more friendly.
Q- And the relationship with the authorities: police, town hall… It’s different between Spain and Portugal?
A- When we arrived in Portugal in 2001, we had to be legalized and it was very complicated. We had to be at 3 in the morning although they did not take care of us until 8 o’clock. It was when all the countries started to do this type of procedure. I do not have Spanish nationality, but all the documentation that must be done in Portugal and in Spain without problems. In Portugal it is like that, people are less friendly but they work better. In Spain, people tend to you with a smile but they take care of you worse and in Portugal they are less friendly but they treat you better.
Q- How did you decide to leave your country? What reasons were there for those who had to leave their country?
A- We wanted to change, go to another country, go to the USA, but it is very difficult to enter and in Portugal it was easier and I had a friend who had been in Portugal and told us that we lived better.
Q- Was there much difference between Portugal and Spain?
A- Yes, living together, the people…
Q- Do you feel more protected in Spain than in Portugal?
A- Yes
Q- Do you have the same work here?
A- Yes, in Portugal I was teaching school support. Here I teach portuges.
Q- When you left Brazil and arrived to Portugal, did you went alone?
A- No, with my husband. And from Portugal to Spain too.
Q- Did you have family members or people who came with you?
A- When we arrived to Spain we had a house but we went alone.
Q- When you decided to leave Brazil, did you know anything about Portugal? Have you been previously?
A- No, just what the Portuguese who were in Brazil told us.
Q- And what did they tell you?
A- In Brazil we knew that the Portuguese are not very intelligent and when we arrived in Portugal, the Brazilians are not very well received by the Portuguese.
Q- And in Spain?
A- In Spain I feel better, I don´t feel that rejection, because many people like Brazil and I´m lucky to talk to high socialeconomic-level people who have a different idea, open-minded and I have never felt that difference.
Q- What do you remember about your first day in Spain?
A- Well, we had many expectations. I was in contact with an real-state and when we arrived we saw several floors and the same day we stayed with one and it was all very well.
Q- When you arrive in Spain what did you do?
A- We were living in a floor but one month later we had to rent another bigger one because I needed a room for my job.
Q- I was hard to find a job?
A- When I arrived I had some information about the students but I spoke very bad Spanish because as I taught Portuguese I was speaking all day in Portuguese.
Q- It was hard to find a job?
A- When I arrived I had some information about the students but I spoke very bad Spanish because as I taught Portuguese I was speaking all day in Portuguese. Then, I did an aesthetic training course with the aim of learning Spanish and living with Spaniards. Then I started with the classes. I volunteered at the University and a boy called me to tell me that he had people who needed to learn portuguese. And so I started.
Q- Your experience in Spain was better than the expectations you had?
A- Much better in Spain than in Portugal.
Q- Normally, the holidays are in Spain or are you traveling?
A- We are always in Spain because my husband has holidays in September.
Q- Do you travel to Brazil or Portugal?
A- One week a year, and always we have family members or friends that come to Spain.
Q- What do you like most about Spain and what do you like the least?
A- The weather, the people are very friendly and the fish. Whenever we go out to eat we always ask for meals with fish.
Q- When you leave Brazil, who stays there?
A- All our family. I did not have parents but my husband left his parents and brothers.
Q- When you come to Spain from Portugal, do you leave your grandfather?
A- My grandfather had died, it was easier to come to Spain.
Q- While you have been in Spain have you sent or received packages?
A- Yes, at first yes but only letters, the packages are very expensive. Two or three times since we’re here.
Q- Normally, how do you communicate with people who are in Brazil.
A- At first by phone but now with Internet by Skype and above all we use whatsaap.
Q- How often do you communicate?
A- Everyday. Yes, it is very easy with the messages.
Q- Normally, you call them or they call you when you have to talk about something important.
A- My husband calls every week because his mother is older but every day they tell us how she is.
Q- Was there any situation complicated by health and you are missing something?
A- Yes, we had a brother who died. We know that we can not be close and we can not be taking airplanes for anything so we have to live with it.
Q- The life of your family in Brazil has changed a lot, or your life has changed more.
A- That is very interesting because my family was middle-high class and I saw that I had a good situation because they were civil servants. In Brazil I would be teaching at the University and here I give them at home.
Q- Do you think you’re better here than in Brazil?
A- Professionally, it would be better in Brazil, I do not know if the economic part also because in Brazil it is spent a lot. I do not know but we may be better here.
Q- How do you communicate with each other?
A- In Portuguese.
Q- Do you have friends in Spain?
A- Few, because we do not like to be at other people’s houses, but we have very close friends.
Q- Do you live with a community of Brazilians or Portuguese?
A- It is very interesting because we know some Brazilian, my husband knows more but still we do not have much contact.
Q- Comparing the purpose for which they came to Spain is better or worse.
A- We had an idea in our heads that is not what happened. When we left Brazil we thought about being 5 years in Europe and we are already 18. So, it is different because we are more united to Spain. We have a floor. When we arrived we thought about being 5 years, working and coming back and now we are not immigrants anymore, we have work, home, car. Here in Spain you can go out at 2 or 3 in the morning and nothing happens. in Brazil you can not do that. Here you live better because in Brazil you need security at home. The medium-high class of people has to have a private plan that is very expensive because it cannot depend on the State and in Spain it is very different. Only after a day you can go to the doctor.
Q- If you could go back, you would do the same.
A- If that would change, I had a course to work at the Treasury that I could not use here.
Q- Would you like to change country?
A- Yes, we like Holland but it is very difficult to learn Dutch.
Q- At some point you thought about moving with a family member or friend?
A- We had a nephew in Portugal who wanted to stay but he got a better job in Brazil. But it’s easy. If you want to leave your country, you can come to Europe, work and share a flat.
Q- Do you think that at some point you will return to Portugal or Brazil?
A- I always talk to my husband about it. We think staying here is the perfect option but now we do not know what we are going to do.
Q- Thank you very much.
A- You’re welcome.