For
this blog post about a person from a different country and from another
culture, I decided to interview Hamar Boussafi, my friend’s father who is from
Kabylia in Algeria. He left his country mainly because of the different
problems of the society.
Hamar
doesn’t exactly know his age, but he said he had approximately 20 years old
when he moved from his country to France. There has been about 28 years since
he left Algeria, so we can consider that he’s about 50 years old today. In
France, he had the chance to improve his French that he already learned a
little at school in Algeria. In his school, when he was young, he had the same
education that children have in France, because Algeria is a country that was
colonized by France. His mother tongue is Kabyl, a language derived from
Arabic, but he also learned some French at school. Unfortunately, his studies
aren’t recognized here in Quebec.
He
told me that Quebec is really different from his country in many points. A
major difference is the food. In Algeria, they eat mainly couscous, olives and
bread. The time when they eat is also different; they have a snack at 5 o’clock
and they have dinner at 9 o’clock. Traditions are also different from
Algerian’s. In summer, they do the Ramadan, this fasting during like a month.
During this time, they can eat only for dinner. They also have a lot of other
traditions, but this one was the first to come in his mind when I asked him
about traditions. Algerians don’t celebrate Christmas and holidays like that,
because their religion is Muslim, but it doesn’t affect Hamar who just doesn’t
follow any religion.
I
asked him what was the most difficult when he moved to Quebec. He was quick to
answer the temperature. After the
warmth of Algeria, the cold of Quebec was a big shock. He also had difficulty
to adapt himself to the different mentalities of people here.
Finally,
something really difficult for him was to quit his whole family. He sometimes goes
back home, but he just has a sister left.
At
least, he has the happiness of having four beautiful children here in Quebec.
Algeria
