Conversation with Lucia Rios

Jorja (00:00:03): Hi Lucia, so first things first, we would love to thank you for participating in this interview with us. First question: would you mind giving us a brief introduction about your life and yourself, please?

Lucia Rios (00:00:15):
Yeah, so my name is Lucia, I'm Brazilian and moved to Canada 7 years ago. When I first got here, I moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in fall 2024, I moved to Ottawa because of my PhD. I'm a psychologist in Brazil, a psychotherapist here in Ottawa, and I'm starting a PhD in psychology; however, I'm switching to a new program in anthropology. Is there anything else I can say? Yeah, my bachelor's and master's degrees are from Brazil. Bachelor's in psychology and master's in public health and science, yeah.

Emma (00:01:03): You came from Brazil to Ottawa for school purposes, correct?

Lucia Rios (00:01:10): I came to Ottawa for school purposes but I came to Canada, I went to Winnipeg first right so yeah i didnt come from Brazil to Ottawa.

Emma (00:01:24): Perfect. Do you have family down here in Ottawa?

Lucia Rios (00:01:30): Not at all, my family is pretty much my community and my friends.

Emma (00:01:37): Do you live in a Latin community or neighbourhood where there are people who speak Portuguese? I'm assuming it's yours. Would you say it is a community that speaks Portuguese frequently or not really?

Lucia Rios (00:01:59): 
So the place that I live in is very close to the university, I just need to cross the bridge, and I'm here on campus. So the reason I chose to live here is because I live close to the university for commuting. But in this, there are some communities here in Ottawa with more Brazilians. I do have a good social community group here. But I would say that maybe we have a bigger concentration of Brazilians or in Orleans.

Emma (00:02:43): Do you celebrate various occasions with the community that you just discussed?

Lucia Rios (00:02:49):

I am a volunteer in two organizations here in the non-profit. One is Saravade, and the other is Acher; they are both named after Brazil's African religion. The first one is like the oldest one here. I think Acher was founded 10 years ago or more, and Saravade is a new one. It's been like three years since they put it together. And Acher is more focused on Latin music, not only Brazilian in Ottawa and Saravade, but also on Brazilian cultures and traditions. I volunteer for both; I usually take part in Brazilian festivals like " Culture of the Nights”. Or for example, we have the carnival party in February, like at the club 27 in Byward, and it was really nice cuz we had bands, the drummer, we have two different drummer groups here in Ottawa. One is Samba Ottawa.  We have drummers there playing for us. We have typical foods and samba during the party. Yeah, it was pretty neat. What else do we do? We have a Brazilian festival in June, where you can see some Capoeira.

circles playing. You can see drummers there too, and a lot of typical food. And yeah. And for Acher, we bring a lot of singers and bands from Latin America to Ottawa, in general, not only from Brazil.

Emma (00:05:00): So, on the topic of celebration. Which celebrations are most important to you?

Lucia Rios (00:05:08): I miss carnival a lot. I think we are very warm and touchy people. And I think carnival for us is not only a party; it's also a celebration of how resilient we are despite all the oppression and colonization we have been through. So it's really like our open party on the streets, where anyone can take part. So it doesn't matter your class, your income. You can have a lot of fun and celebrate with people in different ways. I do miss it a lot.

Emma (00:05:57): Would you mind describing to us a typical day in your community?

Lucia Rios (00:06:02):
We recommend different services to each other for example, when we go to a family doctor or massage, therapist chiropractor, someone like that we feel that is more sensitive and welcoming the way like these they can treat immigrants and the way they can you know leave the treatment so we probably are gonna like refer to each other as different professional service but also different service for example like Internet bundle, I found this offer so we're gonna send in the group we have like a general group of  Brazilians in Ottawa and people are always like donating stuff asking for help, but I have also like my little social bubble only friends in that group. We are always checking in and seeing how we are doing. Someone is getting bad news from Brazil, when someone needs someone to pack it for you right they gonna ask. Here in ottawa to be honest my friends they don't have kids, but when I was in Winnipeg, I used to see a lot for my friends For my friends so that's the kind of support of my community is able to provide

Emma (00:07:32): Thank you. How do you celebrate your heritage?

Lucia Rios (00:07:35): 
Interesting question. We have so many ways. I'm very proud of my accent, I know a lot of Brazilians try their best to just risk it off. They want to try to pronounce it in a way that they can escape their identity. I don't know what is wrong with them. I am honest when I'm talking with someone, and I know sometimes it's hard to understand people's accents. But there is a difference when you talk to someone who is open and used to being with immigrants and being in a way that is not only. Sometimes I understand there is a commercial way, or like work-related stuff. But it's also used to have immigrants in your life. So they can understand better, or maybe they put in extra effort to understand. But when I am talking to someone, they are always like “what”. And we were not doing this. I can't take it. I'm proud of my accent. Even some spiritual practices I still do here in Canada. Sometimes it's hard for friends to hold herb baths. Like when I have to buy some plants to do my bath. Some plants that I easily find in a tropical country, I cannot spot here. But others I can place and find and its. But keeping this tradition is a way of celebrating my heritage. And we do have specific groups following this African religious tradition. I mean, we have many religions in Brazil. This is very relevant to Brazil. It's hard to find places that practice that. Of course, I can do my herb baths at home, but I like to do it as a group and to play the drums and sing and to see the manifestation. We don't have it everywhere in Canada. We do have a big group in Montreal. I've been there, I think, 5 times since I moved to Ottawa. I consider that a high number of attendances. It is not easy to go there all the time. Also, we have a group that is Canada-wide for this really spiritual practice. We use water. We use a lot of water in Latin America.  And we always exchange things there, like yeah.

Emma (00:10:45): Thank you, would you mind telling us some values that you hold most dear as a member of the Latin American community?

Lucia Rios (00:10:56):
Yeah, I think we were more community-oriented. Cuz one thing that I feel here in the relationships in North America is. There's a lot of focus on boundaries, and I understand I need to be more assertive with my boundaries, but sometimes I think there is a lot of focus on boundaries here, and people are so concerned to set up boundaries that they end up isolated. And in brazil we value the community life for example there was one day when i lived in winnipeg and I was in a work meeting and I got a guy from nigeria and he was sharing that in nigeria he used to like show up unannounced to his uncle's house and that was done that was something they were used to but then he moved both of them and when he showed up unannounced his uncle was like what are you doing he and he was like oh i come to say and he was like no its canada you cannot do that here. That's not how we do it here, you're gonna tell me before, so of course we're gonna text where available for you. I think there are so many rules and things are so strict that it doesn't meet the spontaneity or the flow of life that we need to. I don't know if I answered your question.

Emma (00:12:53): Perfect. No, no, no, you did, it was perfect, thank you. We just have a couple more questions, if that's alright. We're just wondering what you would like to share about yourself or a community that you are a part of that people should know.

Lucia Rios (00:13:17):
About my community. We are very alike. We are touchy people. So we hug a lot, and sometimes I know this can make people misread us. We are very warm people. What else… sharing food is a way that we have to. It is a very valid way to show love and respect for others, so we like to have our meals with others, as I cook for my friends, and to have Brazilian food as much as I can when I can. What else, so when I moved here seven years ago, there was a political background context in Brazil that a very far-right president was winning the elections, and there was a weight shift for more conservative people, like taking over the country. So I'm a queer person. I moved here because I felt at risk right now, and now we are seeing the same shift, like the same wave coming back. Here in Canada, as a queer person, I feel safer, right? Then I feel in Brazil. And I believe that I can speak on behalf of my queer community, like the Brazilian community specifically. I think that is it.

Emma (00:15:22): yeah, that was perfect. I know you touched one food, so what foods remind you of home?

Lucia Rios (00:15:32): “Feijoada” Which is a Brazilian stew, it's pork meat, and we have as a side, and we have like kale and flour, even orange on the plate. We have “O’Shea’s”, which is chicken croquettes. And the way we do the barbecue. I don't think it's the way we do it, but maybe it is different meat cuts. Picaya is the top sirloin cap. It's very common in our barbecue, and I do. Here, when we say barbecue, we are referring to hot dogs and burgers, but we are talking about steaks when we say, " Let's have a barbecue. Ummm yeah.

Emma (00:16:41): Where do you purchase in order to prepare any traditional meals? Is there a specific place?

Lucia Rios (00:16:51): Super store supermarket that they like to sell our brands, for example, No Frills is one. We also have some small grocery shops there, one in Vanier. We have “Damas” foods, it's a Portuguese guy actually, but he sells a lot of Brazilian brands. We have some Brazilian restaurants in Byward. We have coffee. I don't remember the coffee shop name. But we do have a new bakery. Recently, a bakery opened in Nepean. That's bananas, and I know that they sell not only the ingredients but also make food there too. I don't think we have many Brazilian restaurants in Ottawa, in Canada, we do, but not in Ottawa. We have some acai shops too, acai is more like a berry ice cream that we have. And I do  know we have one in Gatineau and one in the same store but different locations, and the other at the St. Laurent Mall. And sometimes, depending on what I need, I go to an African market to get to know, for example, “hasava flower” or corn flower, depending exactly on what I want, I know that I will find it there.

Emma (00:18:49): We have one question left. So you're aware we are posting this interview on a website for our class, so we're just wondering how likely you and your family would be to use this website that we are creating to share stories

Lucia Rios (00:19:07): How likely is my family to access the website?

Emma (00:19:11): Yeah, like, would you use this website? We were creating a bunch of interviews about Latin American and Caribbean lives.

Lucia Rios (00:19:24): Well, I can definitely share with my friends, but my family, honestly, they don't speak English, so as I said, my family is all home in Brazil. My brother does, but I think he's the only one I'm not sure he would be curious enough to check on the interviews. But my friends here in Ottawa, Canada, I do think they would access and use it.

Emma (00:19:50): on that, we would like to better serve the community, so we're wondering if there are any suggestions you have about accessing the website and making it more accessible for people who want to learn or understand about an immigrant experience. Do you have any advice about that?

Lucia Rios (00:20:15): I think language is right, like probably how we measure accessibility for different services here in Canada. That's all. I don't know. I know there is a cost for it if you have to shift the website language, there is a cost for it, and I don't know if it's feasible for the labs

Emma (00:20:44): What a great recommendation, we really appreciate that. So that is all your question. Do you have any comments or concerns for us, or anything extra you'd like to share

Lucia Rios (00:21:02): I would add you know what I made you on the website as I mention the nonprofit or organizations some of the events if people wanna like our heroes about the culture of traditions and they wanna like go see at least go the carnival party was awesome so yeah, maybe share some events with him both say hey there is just going on in town this weekend or you know like this.