Home Away From Home: Stop and smell the Coxinha

Written by Emily Barnard

Nara Roberta

Each installment of the series “Home Away from Home” will feature a young woman immigrant and the place in New York City that reminds her most of her home country, providing comfort and easing the stresses of starting life in a new country.

Steps from the 36 Avenue N-Train station in Astoria, Queens, there is a Brazilian market that Santos (São Paulo state) native Nara Roberta calls her home away from home. Rio Market sells the familiar Brazilian brands that she grew up with and that you probably won’t find at a Whole Foods in New York City. When she moved to the US in 2014 to work towards her Sociology Ph.D at CUNY, having the market within walking distance proved comforting. Now, even though she lives in Brooklyn, she loves knowing that one of her favorite places is just a train ride away.

There is a restaurant area inside the market where we sit down to have dinner. She orders a common street food snack called a coxinha that consists of dough and shredded chicken. I order grilled chicken with yucca flour and a small salad (she says that Brazilian meals are very often a protein, a carb, and a vegetable). Between bites and sips of guaraná soda, we talk about Nara Roberta’s experience as an immigrant in NYC.

“When you live in another country you actually find out who you are,” Nara Roberta says. “When I was in Brazil, I had never seen myself as a Brazilian person — that is something that developed here. I cannot explain what being Brazilian is, but it is something that is mine.”

Coxinha and Guaraná soda at Rio Market.

In the US, being Brazilian is part of what makes her different, and it has become an essential piece of her identity. There is an inherent sense of solidarity in Brazilian communities, which is why Nara Roberta feels it is so important to find that community here. She likes meeting other people who share her nationality to learn about what they do in the city. On Facebook, she is a member of a group of a few thousand Brazilian women who post about jobs and apartments or ask the online group for advice. Nara Roberta believes her culture is centered around the values of helping others and nurturing strong connections.

Americans express these values too, but in different ways. Nara Roberta notices a lot of cultural differences between NYC and São Paulo, but these allow her to grow and she enjoys sharing her roots with her American friends.

“Being in the city makes me feel alive,” she says. “Everything is going on here — in terms of culture — and you’ve got to be someone really resilient.”

After we finish our meals, we weave through the grocery aisles in the market. She points out certain items that provoke feelings of nostalgia, like a certain brand of soap or condensed milk. She almost shrieks at the sight of pao do queijo, a delicious-looking cheesy bread. Her enthusiasm for the food of her country is contagious and I walk away with a full bag as well. Despite the things that separate people and the cultural differences that exist, food is one thing that will always be a unifying force.

My food haul at Rio Market.

Someone who has come to New York from another country can help those who have lived here view it with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of appreciation. The fact that there is a place like Rio Market in Queens, and many people might never know it, is a reminder to have an open mind and pay attention to one’s surroundings.

Nara Roberta says she often makes a conscious effort to walk a new route or to get off the train at a different subway stop, just to pass by a building that she likes. New Yorkers sometimes forget how remarkable the city is or forget about everything we have access to just beyond our front doors.

“We normalize, we don’t pay attention, and we forget to look around and tell ourselves: ‘Hey, this is not common,’” she says. “Sometimes, you just have to stop, look and go ‘Damn, this city is beautiful.’”