The daughter of a Cuban immigrant in Brazil starts her formal education in Portuguese, as the family maintains their Spanish-speaking roots at home. Osmel Almaguer reflects on balancing integration into the host country with Cuban cultural heritage.
Osmel Almaguer, a Cuban immigrant in Brazil, shares in his diary the experience of his daughter starting the school year in the state of Paraná. The girl, who arrived in the country at age two and has lived there for just three years, began classes on February 10, the start date in that region. Unlike in Cuba, where the school year begins in September, in Brazil it varies by state, starting on February 5 in many or earlier.
At school, she will learn to read and write in Portuguese, receiving information about Brazilian laws and customs. She will sing the Brazilian national anthem and not salute the Cuban flag, unless the family returns to the island. Almaguer describes how his daughter will become 'a little Brazilian and a little Cuban, but never completely one or the other'.
At home, only Spanish is spoken, with Cuban expressions like 'sopapo', 'bonche', or idiomatic phrases like 'le zumba el mango'. Brazil's education system ranks low internationally, though access has improved and quality is higher in southern states like Paraná, despite internal criticisms.
The family plans to teach her Spanish to preserve her roots, in case of returning to a free Cuba or emigrating to another Spanish-speaking country, especially if Brazil faces a crisis like Venezuela's. On the first day, the girl was accompanied only by her mother, as Almaguer was at work. The family, consisting of three members, trusts in divine guidance for their path ahead.
