Saudade Essay

Elyssa Lim, a Junior at Chaminade University, Hawaii, majoring in Psychology said, “One of the most important things I’ve left behind, as an international student, was comfort. The comfort of my own culture, the comfort of being surrounded by people of the same likeness, and the comfort of my citizenship status. Because I’m an international student, I constantly struggle with trying to see if I qualify for certain jobs, internships, and the like. I miss the comfort of having no limits to what I can do. Coming to college and being put in uncomfortable situations proved as a challenge for me. I always told myself that I wasn’t homesick, but there was always this gnawing feeling I felt, it was as though I was forgetting something, which usually …show more content…
The article claimed that other races feel saudade yet Portugal is the only country that has a word for it. Which is true, because the international students felt the emotion of saudade yet their culture do not have the specific word for it. Cassandra, who is from Pinerolo, Italy, claimed that they do not use the word, saudade. Instead, they use nostalgia, in a different pronunciation, or the phrase, “sentire la mancanza,” meaning yearning for something that is gone. She explained that in her culture, they tend to use longer expressions or small phrases instead of using one word to compensate the lack of one (a word). Glorisa, Maria, and Elyssa, who were all born in the Philippines but raised in American Samoa, does not have a specific word for saudade. In Philippines, they use the phrase “pag-asam o pagnanasa sa isang bagay o tao na naiwan” which is translated to longing or yearning for something or someone left behind. Meanwhile in samoan, it is called “maimau pe ana mafai ona ou toe tepa tasi I tua” meaning wishing to go back in time and fix everything that was wrong or just to enjoy …show more content…
The article said that the highest centrality ratings of saudade were “missing someone,” “memories,” and “affection” and “sadness” was the lowest. All the international students experiences were correlated with features of saudade through memories, missing someone or people, and affection. They also showed behaviors that was mentioned on the first study. Glorisa experienced homesickness, sadness, and felt alone for the moment being especially whenever she calls her family back home, she would cry. Cassandra was depressed. Maria also shed a few tears remembering her sisters. Elyssa was in denial of being homesick, but there was always that certain feeling in her. The last two studies slightly relates to them when I have interviewed the international students. They describe saudade in a prototypical structure that was recognized when they were given the excerpt of describing a past experience of longing for something they have left