S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Dentistry student Huda Albandar misses her homeland. Still she does not complain of her luck as she believes she will be in Brazil until the end of her days, probably among Brazilian daughters-in-law and grandchildren. As far as she is concerned, when it comes to human warmth, there is not even that much of a difference. Of Palestinian ascent, but Lebanese-born, she lived in Iraq with her family before moving to Jordan, in 2003. Up until 2007, she lived in a refugee camp in the country. Then she had the opportunity to come to Brazil with her family, more precisely in Mogi das Cruzes, in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, 60 kilometres away from the namesake state capital.<\/p>\n
Huda\u2019s history is similar to those of many Arabs who immigrated to Brazil recently. She is part of a refugee group which arrived in 2007, fleeing political conflicts, and settled in the interior of S\u00e3o Paulo and in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. They are citizens who had backing from the Solidary Resettlement Programme (Programa de Reassentamento Solid\u00e1rio), implemented by the Brazilian federal government alongside the United Nations\u2019 High Commissioner for Refugees. The program counts on support from other organizations, such as C\u00e1ritas, which is linked to the Catholic Church, and the Human Rights Centre in Guarulhos, a city in the Greater S\u00e3o Paulo region.<\/p>\n
With no hard feelings, Huda explains that she immigrated with her husband Walid and their two sons, Hossam and Mahmoud, now aged 12 and 9, respectively. \u201cLife must go on, I enjoy living here,\u201d she says. Currently, while she attends college, Walid works at a meat packing plant. The boys, who go to school, are the best integrated family members to the new country. \u201cI guess adapting is easier for them,\u201d says Huda. <\/p>\n
To her, Brazilians and Arabs are very much alike. \u201cThe simplicity is the same,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Beans every day <\/b> <\/p>\n
Just like Huda\u2019s children, the Palestinian Ahmed Abudemak had no major issues adapting to the new land. A tailor in Mogi das Cruzes, he also left Iraq and lived in Jordan before he settled in the Greater S\u00e3o Paulo. Married and the father to a girl one year and nine months old, Sara, he is awaiting the birth of his second daughter, Lara. His wife is five months pregnant. \u201cI arrived in Brazil on November 15, 2007,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
The best thing about living in the country of soccer? \u201cEating beans every day,\u201d he says. \u201cI really like beans.\u201d But the grain is not the only thing close to Ahmed\u2019s heart. \u201cLiving here is just like living in the Arab world,\u201d he says. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a single thing here that I do not like,\u201d he says, laughing over the telephone as he pledges his love to Brazil for this 25th of March. <\/p>\n
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Palestinian refugees who settled in Mogi das Cruzes, S\u00e3o Paulo, claim to be adapted to their new life. They celebrate Brazilian generosity and the privilege of eating beans every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-economy"},"wps_subtitle":"Palestinian refugees who settled in Mogi das Cruzes, S\u00e3o Paulo, claim to be adapted to their new life. They celebrate Brazilian generosity and the privilege of eating beans every day.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2314"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}