Homesick For Edmonton!
User Story
By Olga Rojas
When I arrived to Edmonton for the first time, in November 1976, I was 19 years old. I had come with both my parents, and my 3 sisters (I have another sister, but she came at a later date) and 3 brothers, all of us single.
Because of political agitations in our South American country, we had no other choice but to flee from there. That's the reason I wasn't prepared for a huge cultural shock!
Back in those times, during the wintertime, the weather was worse than it is now. Oh, but how I enjoyed the snow and became so used to it, that when it didn't snow, I would be sad.
Another barrier I faced, was not knowing English enough to communicate. For instance, in one occasion, I boarded a bus that was taking me from work to my house. It did not stop where I had expected it. I waited and waited in the footsteps. A kind lady explained to me as best as she could (she noticed I was a newcomer) what I needed to do in order for the bus driver to stop. My winter boots were literally attached to my skin when I finally got home!
I still longed to go back to my birth country, especially when the climate was inclement and when I was having trouble with my English.
I met someone, got married, had 2 beautiful children, a boy (Eddie) and a girl (Virginia) and got divorced 7 years later. Soon after, one by one, my sisters married too. One of my brothers, who was 22 years old, tragically passed away. That made both my parents dislike Edmonton and they moved to Toronto. They lived in Ontario for approximately 15 years, didn't get used to the big city, and returned to Chile for good. But not without my dad returning to Edmonton first. He took his son's ashes with him, and placed my brother in his hometown.
I made a living working as a bilingual secretary (I've finally learned English!) after completing a 9-month-long secretarial course. I started making plans to go back home and be with my parents. I was there for a 6 month visit. However, I felt I was treated as a foreigner. My own people would ask me: "Where are you from?" That is something that rarely happens to me in Edmonton, even though I speak with a heavy Spanish accent.
During my stay I realized that I missed not only my children and sisters and friends. I also missed the city's festivals: the International Jazz Festival, the Works Festival, the Street Performers Festival, Capital Ex, Taste of Edmonton, Heritage Festival, the Cariwest Festival and the Fringe Theatre Festival, that, as a tradition, my kids and I used to attend to every summer. My son's now 29. Recently, when Capital Ex was on, he came home, hugged me and said: "I remember when you took us to Capital Ex every year. Once, we were poor, but still, you packed us a lunch and we still hit the exhibition ground and had lots of fun."
I became a proud Canadian citizen in July 1994, in a moving ceremony at Canada Place downtown.
My 4 sisters and I took yet another trip to Arica, the city where we were born, to see our grandmother Maria, who was turning 100. It was going to be a very special birthday celebration event and we were going to see our relatives, whom we hadn't seen in years and meet cousins.
It was on that trip that I met Anibal (Tito) Riquelme, the love of my life. One of my aunts introduced him to me one day at my parents's residence. Months later, Tito asked me to stay and, even though I was in love, I realized that I didn't want to live there. On the other hand, he repeatedly refused to come to Canada. He told me once: "What am I going to do in Canada? I don't even speak English!"
However, when it was time for me to return to Edmonton, we realized that it was going to be hard for both of us to be separated. Therefore, a week before I came back, we got married in sunny, hot Arica. I convinced him to come down here and see if he would get used to living in North America.
We were separated for 4 long months, but kept in touch every single day over the phone, MSN, and email. My husband finally got accepted for immigration to Canada on May 1, 2007!
For over a year, my husband was homesick and he often talked about going back to Chile. One day, however, he told me: "I realized now that your whole life revolves around this country."
Tito still misses his family and that's understandable. Thank God he's starting to enjoy this gorgeous city. He loves the rain, (in Arica it does not rain) the thunderstorms, and even the lightning!
Cariwest brings the spirit of Caribbean Carnival to our very own Festival City. Enjoy the colourful costumes, the sound of steel drums, and food and drinks at the Caribbean Village, located in Sir Winston Churchill Square.
For a taste of the Cariwest Festival, check out the video below.
The woman in the blue and white costume is Anna-Miria Edwards
Alicia Edwards is wearing the green costume and was Miss CariWest 2009. She moved here from Jamaica in 2000, and is taking her B.Sc. in Nursing at the University of Alberta.
