Let's begin!

The idea of creating this blog has come from an academic project for one of my course: Education for Social Change. I have then decided that I wanted to write my final paper about Andorra, its multicultural population and its challenges in education. I thought that a blog will be a space to share ideas, perceptions and experiences about immigration, languages, multicultural spaces, national cohesion and citizenship.
I thought about the name of the blog during a long time, about the way to start, the language to use and then I discovered that I wanted this blog to be more than an academic project that would begin with the outline of the final paper and end with the presentation of the final paper. The creation of the blog has become something more. I have discovered the pleasure of having a blog, of writing my feelings and sharing them with others! But, all this excitment also made me lose my first objective which was writing about and asking people to participate about multicultural experiences.
I have been reading a lot of things. I have been learning a lot! So many things are making sense!
I have recently read Amartya Sen and his text “The violence of illusion”. In this text, Sen translates my struggle of identities. In fact, I feel that I cannot be reduced to one identity, I do not have just one identity, and I cannot not narrow my identity to one of my main characteristics.
I feel that it is dangerous to dichotomize my different identities, I do not want to have “competing identities”, because I believe my identities must not bring conflict but they have to be a source of richness and warmth. But sometimes, the fact that we want to belong to two countries at the same time is a experience that carries many complexities.
The immigrants, or the daughters or sons of immigrants know that it is not easy at all to harmonize two “competing identities”, for example the one linked to the home country of the family and the other linked to the country we have been living. I belong to many groups, groups defined by my citizenship, my family country, my religion, my gender, my class, all my experiences and choices.
To say that I am just a woman, I am just a daughter of poor Portuguese immigrants or that I am just an Andorran citizenship is based on the illusion of a singular identity that others attribute to me.
The problem comes when I feel discriminated because of one of my identities, or let me correct, because other people looking at me just through one of my identities.
But you know, as Whitman said, “I am large, I contain multitudes” and we all are and do!

Who? Me?

Today, again, I realized that nationality has not to be the same as identity. Again, I found that even if I have just one nationality, I may have more than one identity. In fact, I can clearly recognize my nationality, I have a passport :) nevertheless, when I think about my identity, there is no documents, there are feelings, experiences and so a diverse and wonderful world in it!
There is my identity based on my family roots, another identity based on social and national influences, one based on the education I have been receiving, and all these change according to the experiences lived. When I go to the country of my parents, I feel not a tourist, there are some ways of living that have been passed on to me; but there is also some confrontation between the parents’ country and the country I belong.
It is also when I am in a different country that is not my home country that I really recognize my national identity. Yesterday night, once again, I went to an international event, this time led by the fantastic organizations One-to-World and Fulbright, and when the speaker said the name of my country and I had to stand up, I felt more Andorran than ever. I am glad to meet people who are curious about my country! So, in fact, my nationality is a great part of my identity. It is one very important part. But, I have other parts too… in some way I feel also a little bit Spanish because Spanish language and culture were my first approaches to life, and I also feel Portuguese especially due to the experiences promoted by my parents and by my husband, I have even felt a little bit French when I have been studying in a French school. Should have I stood up when they were calling all these countries? ;)