Arriving in Canada: Arepas in Mississauga - Monica Valencia

So, we took a plane from Miami to Detroit. And then at Detroit, we just waited for my dad’s cousin to pick us up, and then he drove us to Windsor. And then when we came to Windsor, we claimed refugee status but they uh didn’t deal with a lot of those types of cases—claiming refugee status—so then we waiting for like seven hours. And then we finally got in, and we went to my cousin’s house—well, my dad’s cousin’s house. And he lives in Mississauga. And he used to live, back then, with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s two brothers and his girlfriend’s dog and his girlfriend’s mom and dad. So it was a lot of people. But, I guess we liked that because we didn’t feel lonely so we feel that we had company. And his mother-in-law, his mo—yeah, his mother-in-law—she had arepas for us. So arepas is like flatbread made out of corn from Colombia with cheese— like fresh cheese—also from Colombia. So we liked coming to the house and having that type of food.

Oral History 15.03.21MV with Monica Valencia
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21