Conversation with Daniel Torres

Title

Conversation with Daniel Torres

Description

Daniel Torres is a master's student studying medical anthropology at the University of Laval. He earned his joint Hon. B.Soc.Sc. in Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Ottawa. Daniel immigrated to Quebec from Colombia as a child. Throughout the interview, Daniel focused on the lack of a distinct Colombian community in Ottawa and the specific Colombian and Latin American small businesses he would frequent. Daniel said that occasionally, there would be clubs or restaurants that would host "Latin Night", but he wasn't particularly interested in those. He discussed Novenas, a Colombian holiday that is celebrated around Christmas. When discussing how he celebrates his heritage, he said it was something he carries with him rather than being a detached part of his identity.

Date

2025-03-23

Format

MP3, 19 min 50 s

Language

English

Interviewer

[Kristen Lupsor]; [Lily Smith]; [Rayi Singh]

Interviewee

Daniel Torres

Transcription

Interviewer: It's nice to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by us. So what is your country of origin? Daniel
Interviewee: So, I was born in Colombia. Yeah, Colombian.
Interviewer: What actually brought you to Ottawa? I know you're not from Ottawa, but what brought you here?
Interviewee: It's a different question than what brought me to Canada, of course, but, but Ottawa, basically, when I was in high school, I did a foreign program. I discovered campus. I went to U Ottawa for a visit. So I wanted to do the joint major in anthropology and sociology, and I wanted to go back to Ottawa. I had liked the campus, and it seems like, oh, a different environment. I feel like everyone wanted to, like, stay close to home, stay in Sherbrooke, which is where my family lives, where I grew up, mostly. So yeah, I would say University.
Interviewer: Yeah, no, that's great. I guess. Follow up question, I know that your family ended up settling in Sherbrooke in Quebec. Is there anything that brought them there, specifically over anywhere else
Interviewee: yeah, of course. So initially, we actually moved to longe, so that's like South Shore of Montreal, and my, my mom got an offer, a job offer, out of school there. So we decided to move to Sherbrooke, which was a city that was like the closest, so it was mostly like, really job over anything else.
Interviewer: So you mentioned that your family is in Sherbrooke, but did you have any family that followed you to Ottawa?
Interviewer: Not really. My family didn't follow me here. My sister considered it, but, but that's the thing. Like I had already friends here when I moved we're Colombian, so that was always like, more fun. You know, we had met each other elsewhere, but we kind of, like, became friends because we were both Colombian. So when I moved here, it was already like, good to have, like, have a few contacts and people from your own culture as well.
Interviewer: So on that note, actually, do you still live or keep in touch with Latin community or neighborhood where people do speak Spanish and or Portuguese and celebrate various occasions together.
Interviewee: Oh, well, you know, I moved to Quebec City for grad school, of course. And something that I thought it was like, really interesting is that, at least for Colombians, you know, on our or in the Fauci, like, you see parks getting, like, reserved, you know, to like community events by the Latino community, the Colombian community, specifically here in Quebec City, I found it to be, there's a bigger gas power that in Gat, you know. And I noticed that a lot through like, for example, like I go, basically, I'm a regular at like this, like, coffee shop that's like a Colombian owned, Colombian operator, and, like, you go there, and it's kind of funny, because, like, usually when you go to like, those type of like environments, it's very much like, it's only the community that goes there that like that, like coffee shop is so popular that you see a lot of Quebecers engage with Colombian culture, which is cool to See. Some of the baristas are not Colombian, which is a bit unusual for like, Latino store. Like, you wouldn't see that at, like, what we call at the end of Latina So Tina being like shop, you know. So that was interesting. And also, like, they connect with other businesses in the in the in the area. They promote events, like, a funny example, and this is more like, it shows a bit of like, how the culture manifests itself in Ottawa. You have, like, maybe, like a club do, like a Latino night, you know, like once every month, or like, something like that, at some points they were more like, more frequent. I just like, I've heard of it. You wouldn't hear about it as much. You wouldn't see as much, like people being outgoing about it. But here I meet backers who tell me, like, Oh, I like to go to these things. I like, I see these things. You see the posters. And funny enough, people have asked me, like, if I knew people like Colombians in Gatineau as well. So there's also that connection between city. It's not isolated either. I hope that answers your question. Yeah.
Interviewer: Yes, thank you.
Interviewee: You're welcome.
Interviewer: Yeah, no, that's really interesting. And I guess kind of pulling from that, are there any celebrations that are important to you, like, Are there any celebrations that you continue to celebrate in the new communities that you're in as well? Interview: This is a fascinating topic, because I feel like it, it's a community that's, like, evolving in so many different ways. What like when you said traditions and everything besides, like, okay, Independence Day for Colombians, I think a big Colombian tradition. And this is something very particular to Colombia, but not Christmas. We have this tradition called no Venus, and it's particularly Colombian, but basically it's just like, kind of like celebration around Christmas, and like certain passages, like, kind of like a text on its own that was drawn from, like, certain passages of the Bible about, like Christmas that kind of lead on up to it, and it's like nine days before, and they really get, you know, one like. Text per day. And I'm not particularly like Catholic, but you know, it's always interesting to see, like, how it also connects a lot with the with the, you could say Hispanic churches that exist. And also, since a lot of Latinos, they make a lot of relationships through like, what they call, at least in Quebec, I don't know, but I know, like in Latino and in the rest of like, Quebec is like this, but the Fauci, like the French courses, a lot of Latinos meet each other like that. So there's like, you make relationships with people from other communities as well. But the tighter ones, and those that I see that last the longest are the ones with people from like, similar culture see yours. So a lot of times. Like, okay, well, you meet another Colombian, and there's like, this aspect of novena about, like, oh, well, we can invite someone over and we do the novena together, you know. So it's not only the family and we but at the same time, you see, like, evolutions, like at the Colombian coffee shop, like, there's like, Muslim, Muslim Colombians, and like, yeah, there, it's true, there's there's muscles in Colombia, and there's a mosque, but it's unusual, you know. So it's also new to that emerge, I think. But besides that, like collective traditions, harder to say, I would say in Ottawa, something I don't remember if this was in Ottawa. I think it was in Ottawa. But for the the Hispanic Heritage Month, which is like half September, half October. There's those events too. There's the events as well, of the of the Latin club of the university, which I didn't engage much with. But you know, like you knew a few people, and those few people knew you, and kind of everybody knows who everybody is, in a way, because they're Latino, they speak Spanish, you know, yeah, but yeah, that, I think that wraps it up for that topic. Yeah.
Interviewee: No, that's great. Thank you. I think that kind of segues well into the next question, yeah, on the note of community, would you be able to describe, like a typical day in your community? Well,
Interviewer: I think it's, it's maybe at a different time, it would have been easier to describe it as it being like a typical day within the community, because you're always in it and outside of it, and you're like, you're it, you know. So you carry it with you, really. But I would say a funny anecdote of mine, it's more rare now that, like, you know, the neighborhoods are broken up. It's not like, I don't know, 50 years before where you could go into a neighborhood and only speak one language, stuff like that. Anymore. You could say that, uh, one time here, like, I went to have brunch with a friend, you know, new place we've never been to before, and I learned it was very owned by Mexicans. But like, it was really funny, because I was, like, talking to the server, like, I started talking to him in French, and he starts talking to me in Spanish. And I was like, Oh, yeah. Like, kind of on my face, I guess. But then I'm Latino, so that's part of experience. And then seeing the menu, and seeing, like, all these, like Colombian food, and like, having my friend try it as well, and then we went to a coffee shop, you know. So it's also that, like feeling of being in the community. It's mostly attached to, like, the experience of being either at an event. So it's like, more like a moment or a place being more like a business. But, yeah, the business part, I would say it's a big part of it is just like, I wouldn't say there's a there's many businesses where I know the name of the owner, or I know the name of the people that I like buy from daily. Or like, not daily, but frequently. But with Latino stores, you tend to learn those names, and they turn they tend to learn yours. You know, even if you don't go that frequently, you know,
Interviewer: That's very interesting. How do you celebrate your heritage?
Interviewee: An interesting question, I think I do so in many ways, just behind me, there's a Colombian flag. We have, like, a ton of Hispanic Latin American books, either in French or in Spanish. You know, I tried to read it as much in the original. But I also acknowledge that I'm not, like, I'm Colombian here, but if I go to Colombia Yeah, people tell me I'm Colombian, but, like, people ask me where my accent is from, and I don't have, like, because I have a very neutral accent. Having grown up here, like, maybe it would take me a good, like, 12 months to maybe get some slang back into it, you know, get some like, swing in it, you know. But what's interesting is that people tend to ask me, like, what my accent is from, where my accent is from. But I would say, I feel Colombian. I feel like my like, I feel great when I'm in Colombia. I just went to Colombia, actually, a few more, a few weeks ago. And I would say I'm always just myself. I wouldn't even say I'm, like, actively celebrating. It's just part of me is, like, carrying it, you know. But if I would say, like, if I would have to think of like me, something explicit that I do about it is learn about my country, you know, read history, be engaged in, like politics, like, know what's going on, not simply detached from that part of my identity, and in a way, you know, like challenging and you're questioning it, because there's also, like, my own perspective that I bring. But. Background anthropology, or just like, as an immigrant as well, that brings that kind of like double consciousness that I wouldn't have if I were to stay in Colombia. So part of, part of like, I would say, celebrating my heritage is also not only heritage, but also celebrating the fact that I'm an immigrant, and in that context of virtualization of like solidarity with valuable, I kind of see it like that too, you know, I would say also a different, a different, if you want to think of like, maybe more like practical actions as well. Every time I visit my parents, my grandma makes me Colombian food, you know, arepas things like that. I know how to cook a few things too, which I consider important, you know. And I have, like, a ton of Colombian shirts, like, a ton of, like, shirts from the national team. So, yeah, I would say, I kind of, I kind of do a lot, I guess,
Interviewer: Yeah, no, I liked the way you said that is just kind of something you carry with you as well. Which kind of leads well into the next question we have, which is, what are some values that you hold as a member of your community as well?
Interviewee: Interesting question. Well, I guess it depends. You know, because you like, you notice those values, or like, what you are interested in, sometimes it's like, more like, personality wise, because I know Latinos that disagree in how they feel about certain things versus others, a big distinction, I think. And it's not something that I think it's like part of Colombian culture, there's this idea about being COVID, about like diversity, which is interesting, because when, when I think about COVID, I don't think diversity necessarily, compared to like Canada, where it's like multiculturalism, you know, and they talk about multiculturalism. And in Colombia, it depends on the regions, because there's racism, but there's also a lot of more, like integration in other parts. I think of a friend of mine who's from Cali, and, you know, he's black, and he tells me he didn't realize like that, like you've never felt like racialized until he went to Bogota. And that's like Bogota, it's like, maybe more homogeneous, you know, versus caliber, you have more like that, like diversity aspect of it. And I would say maybe for me, okay, knowing, you know, like indigenous background or European background too, you know, and and I think that maybe makes like a different perceptual engagement than like, like, if you acknowledge it, you know, if you integrate it in, if you recognize it, because a lot of people won't recognize it, even though you've met those people, even if you've met your ancestors, you've met your grandparents, you've met your great grandparents, if you're lucky, like me, I guess. And you see that, you know? And I think it's interesting, some people might like try and distance themselves from it, but I think that's more of like, you know, when I was saying black skin, white mask, but, but, yeah, I would say for me, at least part of part of being an immigrant, part of being Colombian, is like challenging, you know, those, like, colonial mindsets, in my opinion, and and it's kind of like my, I think my mom has a very interesting experience, because she also, Like, never felt rationalized until she moved here. She not even Montreal, not even, you know, but when she moved to classical, which is a village only immigrant working at her workplace, feeling racism for the first time for her, it was like, kind of like an awakening, you know. So I would say it's more like immigrant values than like necessarily Colombian values, but also just the, I think other very big example of like Colombian values that I hope a lot is the trans generational homes. So my grandma lives with us, you know. And my other grandma was supposed to come live with us too, but she decided to stay in Colombia. But it's something that I feel like that model of the nuclear family is a bit different. It's not, it's not like trying to hold that in that idea of like you're on your own, you know? It's like, more like collectivist you could think, in a way, yeah, yeah.
Interviewer: No, that's really interesting. Thank you for that. Is there anything that you would like to share about yourself or about your community that you think would be important to add to this or just in general, that you would like people to know?
Interviewee: I don't know. I think one of the things that is maybe reconnecting to that idea of multiculturalism. Can you see it a lot in the media right now, with like, oh, criticism of like, for example, Colombians. They they don't claim certain people that are like half Colombian, you know, that live in the US, that maybe their Spanish isn't as good, you know. So there's also always that tension at home with identity and the diaspora and it’s something that I found that was very interesting to me. I went to Brazil, and in Brazil, they had a nickname for me. The kids I was working with. I was a I joined a running club there, and the kids were nicknaming gringo Moreno. So I guess you guys know what gringo is. But the thing is that for Brazilian and Moreno, I mean, just means, like, you're tan, you know, it's like brown and Ray you You seem shocked, but it's not shocking. I like it offensive. It was kind of funny. But, um, I mean, the kids were browner than me, you know, I'm not going to speak. I mean, it's like you're in the sun all day. You know, you're in the beach. You get dark really quickly. Anyhow, the like for them, for the Brazilians, anyhow, anyone that wasn't like Brazilian, that wasn't speak or even like local to the region, or that spoke Portuguese. Doesn't matter where you're from, doesn't matter what you look like. You're a gringo. So that's a different distinction, you know, versus like now you see people like saying, like, No, I'm not Gringo, but like, you don't speak English, you're half Colombian. Maybe those tensions, you know. So there's always those tensions. But if you think back to that idea of, like, with being Latino, it's not an ethnicity, it's not a it's not a race, it's multiple it's more like a culture than than anything else you know. Because, like, I mean, you have my dad, you look at him and you think he is maybe East European, because he's really white, you know, and, and, but he's Latino, you know, and that's a different experience that he had as an immigrant, different outcomes as well. But yeah, that, I guess, kind of like having that into mind, or like, there's this, like, homogenization of the Latino identity that is not necessarily accurate. Like people that Haitians are Latino people, forget that, like, East Asians can be Latinos if they grew up in Latin America. You know, there's diasporas. There were there too. Maybe it's part of why we have so many issues. I wouldn't agree, but some people think like that. But it's extremely diverse. It's extremely diverse, even in those countries and in the diaspora too. So maybe keep that in mind.
Interviewer: You talked about Colombian food being an important way for you staying connected to a part of your culture, so what foods do you make that remind you of home, and where do you purchase those groceries?
Interviewee: That's a great question, you know, because there's often, like cuts of the meat that you cannot find at the grocery store. So either you managed to find, maybe buy lock a butcher that like sells those cuts, or sometimes. And this is something that, like my parents stumbled on, but a Latino store that actually sells those cuts as a butcher integrated, you know. And I'm talking about, like, the tong. I'm talking about the tail, ox tail. And what's particular about me, I think, is that I grew up with a lot of food from different regions, because in Bogota, there's, like, people from all over the country, the capital, you know, 8 million people. My grandma, she was a teacher, and a lot of she met a lot of teachers from other regions. So the kind of food I grew up with is food from all over the country, because she learned those recipes from all over the country as well. But there's also restaurants, that's also the different option and and some things as well, like catering, kind of like, more like private catering, you could say, of like, you have to be in the WhatsApp context of these person and shares this contact. And it's not like you cannot simply find them online, you know. But, yeah, yeah, that's great.
Interviewee: How likely would you or your family be to use the website that we're currently going to be using to upload stories? I don't know. Do you have any thoughts or comments on that? I think, I think a key part of it is accessibility, like language wise, like, if it's in Spanish, Portuguese, French, you know, that would be the main also, maybe, like things that, like, speak to the worries of people I know. Like, there's certain worries related to immigration, related to racism, as well, with Jersey experiences of of being in different departments. But it's also, like, just, like the personal thing, but, uh, but, yeah, I was the top of my head. I guess I'll have to check the website out. I'm looking forward to it,
Interviewer: yeah, no, that's great. Thank you so much for sharing time with us today. It was really interesting to get to talk to you more about this.

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