From Migrant to Expat… 20 Years Around Europe
Twenty years ago, in August of 2003, I took a boat from my hometown, Vlora, to the shores of Brindisi. I was set to begin my bachelor’s degree in Rome, Italy. Until then, I had never set foot outside of Albania.
In Vlora, we could pick up signals from Italian television and radio, so many of us understood Italian. I, too, was fluent in Italian mainly due to my upbringing. As a child, once I developed an interest in Italian, my cousin and childhood friend, Rezi, would quiz me on it. We had a grammar book — I’m not sure where we got it from — but I remember that when she wasn’t testing me, I would test myself.
Additionally, I had opportunities to practice conversational Italian. There were many Italians in Albania during that time. And we even had a regular visitor at our home: Captain Augusto. Every time he disembarked from the boat that brought Albanians to Italy, he would visit our house, which was near the port. We would chat about many topics. Augusto brought, to my brother and myself, many toys we’d never seen before. He even gifted to my parents the first Moka and taught them how to make authentic Neapolitan coffee including a special method to create foamy coffee from sugar.
We began the academic year in September. From my arrival until December, I stayed with family; I was fortunate that my uncle, aunt, and cousins lived in the suburbs of Rome. They resided in a lovely residential neighborhood, a mere 30-minute drive from the university I would soon attend.
However, public transportation was far from ideal. Commuting took me approximately two and a half hours each way; a total of five hours a day. Every morning, my cousin Dani would drop me off at the train station around 6:20. After he headed to work, I would catch a train that led to Rome’s Metro B. At a certain point, I would transfer to Line A, and then eventually take a bus to get to campus. The evening commute was much the same, although there were times I’d bypass the train, opting for a bus-metro-metro-bus route instead. The duration varied — sometimes it was longer, sometimes shorter.
At university, most of my peers were Italians from the area. They formed tight-knit groups, having known each other since high school. Many had only heard of Albanians through news stories. Stories of boats filled with illegal immigrants trying to reach Italian shores, or reports about Albanians involved in criminal activities in Italy.
Ironically, I looked and sounded much like many of my Italian classmates, so every now and then someone would strike up a conversation with me. However, when they discovered I was Albanian, a few would abruptly turn their backs, ending the conversation mid-sentence. I don’t blame them. Their impressions were shaped by the media, and they probably thought I was like the other Albanians they’d heard about.
In some ways, they were right. I was similar to many of those Albanians. The difference was that I had taken a legal boat to reach their country, whereas many Albanians reached Italian shores on illegal boats, risking their lives to escape poverty and attempting to find freedom. The reason I could study was that others had paved the way for me, one way or another.
Over time, I made good friends with a group of classmates, and students from other parallel tracks. [Some of them are still friends today.]
In December 2003, I received the news that I had won a scholarship. This meant I would have some income, reduced university fees, and also a reduction in student dorm fees. So, in December, I packed my suitcase and moved to the dormitory. I finally had time to focus on my studies. I took my first examinations. In Italy, every subject offers three possible exam dates, allowing students to choose when to take their exams based on their preparation. One can even decide to retake an exam if they’re not satisfied with their grade.
The first exam I took was Math. I’ve always enjoyed math, and its universal language meant that I didn’t need an in-depth understanding of Italian. However, Microeconomics did require it. Despite my love for the subject (and my admiration for both my instructor and the teaching assistant), I was hesitant to take the exam. I just wanted to dive deeper into the subject. To me, Microeconomics seemed like it held the answers to how the world operated. Nevertheless, I took that examination and was extremely pleased with the results of those initial assessments.
The situation was different with accounting and public law. The terminology was literally foreign to me. To study law, I had the course book and the accompanying material including the Italian Consitution and two big dictionaries: Italian-Albanian and an even more extensive Italian-Italian dictionary to truly grasp the concepts. Law examinations were solely oral, whereas others were a combination of written and oral. I decided to postpone all law exams until I felt more confident in my understanding.
In the dorm, I made a lot of friends from different nationalities. My Italian roommates introduced me to their circles and helped me when I needed assistance. I met the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Polish, the Nigerians, the Cameroonians, the Congolese, the Swiss, the Argentinians, the Brazilians, the Turks, the Colombians, the Dutch, the Belgians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Hungarians, the French, the Germans, the Brits, the Romanians… My Albanian crowd was a great one too.
Being exposed to so many different nationalities made me realize how much in common we all had. My Spanish friends would joke that Albania was a region of Spain, but at the end of the day, it was my compatriots and other third-country nationals who could truly understand the burdens and meaning behind the words “third-country citizen”.
Many things have changed since then. I have lived in six other European countries, and I am considered an expat now. Currently, I get to teach and research at the university, fulfilling the dreams of both my 8-year-old and 20-year-old selves, respectively. I am likely someone’s favorite instructor. I do hope I manage to inspire and encourage my students as much as all my instructors did.
However, in the EU, I still don’t have a special status. [Although in Sweden I had a permanent residence permit and was close to obtaining citizenship, which I would have achieved had I continued to live there. In Austria, I have applied yearly for residence permits, and it would take me 10 years of uninterrupted residence before I could apply for nationality.]
I have visited many immigration offices, and as my status changed, making things easier for me, I can’t help but think, when I look back, how much more challenging life might have been for those who crossed that sea on illegal boats and for those who weren’t as fortunate as I was.
As the years have gone by, I’ve come to realize how those days in the dorm, laughing and learning with people from all over the globe, shaped me. Everyone had a story, a lesson, a joke from their homeland. And amidst all our differences, there was this incredible realization: we are all quite similar at our core. We share the same dreams, fears, and hopes. From the Spaniards to the Nigerians, from my Albanian crowd to the Dutch — each one added a beautiful color to the canvas of my life.
So, to anyone feeling out of place or on a journey like mine, cherish every interaction. Every person we meet, no matter where they’re from, holds a piece of the puzzle that completes our understanding of the bigger picture of life. They remind us that while our boats might have set sail from different harbors, the vast ocean of life connects us all.
