Portugal “is always” in the heart of an emigrant from Lousada
It was rumored to an “unknown” address that Paulo Sousa left Portugal for Switzerland, a country that has hosted him for 17 years.
Born in Lousada, the 52-year-old emigrant recalls his first time in that country, “where I didn’t know anyone” it is a “communication error”that took him to an abode “wrong. I spoke with a colleague who, at the time, gave the floor. He understood that he managed to get me a job and ordered me off as soon as possible. Conclusion: I arrived without knowing anyone and only with an address”recalls in an interview with the newspaper A VERDADE.
What Paulo Sousa did not expect was what he would later realize: “I went to the indicated address, but that was the wrong one”, reveals. Despite the mistake, the emigrant recalls the “lucky to have found two elderly people with good hearts”who offers you coffee and overnight “if I could not get in touch with anyone, until I resolved my life”.
Later, “everything is gone” and a week later, the emigrant managed to “get work”.
Paulo Sousa confesses that emigrating “It wasn’t planned at the time, but things happen naturally“. Before going to Switzerland, the emigrant had a painting restoration company in Portugal, but the “lack of payment” made him lose “a lot of money. In order not to lose the heritage that was being built, a unique solution to emigrate”.
“The first time I came by bus and I was alone for about a month and a half. Then I got a job for my wife and I went to Portugal to pick her up and we both came by car”account.
The initial objective would be to “about four or five years”but 17 studying in Switzerland and Paulo Sousa and his family continue to live. “The quality of life is different from Portugal. For staying because, years later, I managed to get work in the area of painting restoration, which I had done more in Portugal”.
The beginning was complicated and it was a reality “different” That exists today. Para Paulo Souza, “The life of an emigrant is different. At first, I was in a vegetable packaging factory and was lucky enough to take home a lot of free stuff, which helped a lot financially. Today, we are better, but we pay a lot of tax”.
Communication was another “initial obstacles. It was more difficult, because it would remain far away and without the means that exist today, there was more anxiety. The affection that we can convey on social media at the time was not possible. There was a lot of homesickness and everything was accumulating. When we arrived in Portugal, all we needed to do was kiss the ground”happily recalls.
Being an emigrant you have roots in Portugal, because they will be far from the “I feel more like being there”. But the big “passion” de Paulo Sousa is his birthplace, Lousada. “All emigrants like the village, but I think I must be one of those who love it the most and who have Lousada in their hearts. In fact, in 2021 I was the first emigrant to run for a chamber in Portugal”account.
One “passion” that brings you to our country “at least three times a year. On vacation we could go to other places, but we prefer to go to places we have been since we were little. In two weeks it’s crazy, but you can kill the nostalgia and load the car to bring it back here again”.
Even not passing through Portugal, Paulo Sousa lives the country as a Portuguese and maintains the connection to any country following what is going on here.. “Sometimes I know the news faster than people in Lousada. In the morning, before going to work, I listen to the news on Portuguese radios and follow the daily news.“.
Portugal “always” in the heart of the emigrant from Lousada who, although he feels “I miss Portuguese cuisine”will not return “because of the son” 16 years old, who is studying.
For Paulo Souza the “the most important thing in life is to live one day at a time and proud to help those who deserve it”.