Programme Erasmus + Europe on the move : Migration Biographies
Interviews
A : It has affected me a lot because sometimes I believe I don ’ t belong here . I am very lucky because my friends don ’ t make me feel like a foreign person . The girls that I live with , my friends and my classmates don ’ t make me feel that way .
Q : One question that is the most common to all the immigrants here : Do you feel that you don ’ t belong here ?
A : No , I feel I don ’ t belong there . I remember that we discussed this in my class and one of my classmates asked me about this . He said that he feels like a foreign here and when he goes there ( in Albania ) he feels the same . I hadn ’ t felt that , when I was there . I felt good . But now that I had grown older and realized some things I understood that whenever I went to Albania I was feeling that I was going to a mini-trip and by the time I passed the border I felt like I was coming back home but now I feel that here is my home for sure .
Q : Some , say that immigrants of the second generation are with two legs , one here and one there . A : I still feel that I don ’ t belong in that same mentality as the people who are here . Q : Does this make you feel liberated ? A : I hadn ’ t realised it but now that you mentioned it , yes . Q : The third generation migrants are perfectly integrated in this new way . […] Q : Do you speak any Albanian ? A : A little bit . They barely understand me . Q : What about your brother ? A : A little bit . Almost none . Q : What language do you speak with your mother ?
It ’ s funny that with my dad I speak only Greek ; we don ’ t choose . It is just the way we do . With my mother I try to speak Albanian , not all the time , because I ’ m not used to this way . My mother speaks Albanian with all the members of my family and my brother speaks Greek to her and she replies in Albanian but they understand each other somehow .
Q : Does your mother search for work and deal with the employers ?
A : She does but the deal is always made by my father for the payment and the reason is that she hasn ’ t learned to speak good Greek .
Q : We should come to your house and film the way you communicate ! Would you like to go back to Albania ?
A : I don ’ t know . I know the conditions of living there are very difficult , economically , politically and socially . It ’ s not a country that I see my future life in any way . So I don ’ t have any reasons to go back . I don ’ t reject that I have roots from there . It is a bit weird because when someone asks me where I come from , if I say only Chalkidiki it will sound weird . That is why I say that I grew up in Chalkidiki but I was born in Albania .
Q : You know , your name , Iliana D ., doesn ’ t sound like an Albanian one . Did you get your name here ?
A : Yes , because my father , when he came here in Greece , before my mom ’ s pregnancy , he was working for a woman called Iliana who was very beautiful , almost amazing , so when he found out that the first child was a girl he said that her name was gonna be Iliana .
Q : Your brother has an Albanian name . He was named after his grandfather . Right ? A : Yes , from his grandfather . Q : But he will face more often the question “ where are you from ?” because of the name . A : Yes , more often . Q : Now that he is going to join the army how does he feel ? Is he afraid ?
[ 84 ]