"It was not my plan to stay in Germany because I always wanted to go back to Portugal. But then I met my husband."
I was born in the city of ‘Sa’ Da Bandeira (now Lubango) in Angola.
I have lived there until 1975. I am a so called “Lusoangolane”, which means a Portuguese Angolan. Because of the Angolan civil war I fled and first landed in Lagos in the Algarve.
A decade later - at the age of 31 - I came to Berlin with a friend who is also from Angola. The German language was, and is, very difficult for me, I find the grammar complicated. I don’t have any children. My husband, from Berlin, to whom I was married for 25 years, died in 2000. I have a lot of contact with Germans, and even feel very comfortable here. I find the Germans very nice. Apart from the German language, I never had any problems in Germany. I was never active in an association, but I go to the Roman Catholic services regularly.
All I wanted was a life in peace. That’s what I have found in Germany. Typical German for me are Currywurst and beer.