Emigrating is not easy, but it can also become an opportunity to discover a strength we didn’t even know we had. This is affirmed by a Cuban who has been living in Italy for 25 years and has shared an emotional reflection on TikTok about the sacrifices, lessons, and opportunities that starting a new life far from her homeland has given her.
It is about Bia Martínez, known on TikTok as @bia_martinez.digital, who arrived in Italy at just 24 years old, without knowing the language and with a suitcase full of dreams.
"I arrived thinking I was going to conquer the world with a suitcase full of dreams," recalled the Cuban, who had to confront a reality very different from what she had imagined.
Without friends, without acquaintances, and without speaking Italian, the initial period was marked by loneliness and difficulties in adapting to an entirely new culture. Even the most ordinary customs, such as how to drink coffee or the relationship between neighbors, felt unfamiliar to her.
However, over the years she discovered that this experience was also teaching her something very valuable: everything she was capable of achieving on her own.
"What surprised me the most wasn't how difficult it was to get started; it was everything I was capable of doing: not just doing, but also learning, adapting, knowing that you are alone but having no other choice," he confessed.
One of the most important moments of her life came with motherhood. First, her daughter was born, and two years later, her son. Both became her greatest motivation to move forward and build the life she had always dreamed of.
Reflecting on the hardships he faced during his childhood in Cuba, Martínez shared one of the most poignant confessions of his testimony.
"My parents had to put soles on my shoes using bicycle tubes. I didn't leave Cuba for them to lack the essentials; I didn't leave Cuba to be a failed mother," she expressed.
The Cuban recognizes that the nostalgia for her country and everything she left behind is part of the migration experience, but she believes that emigrants often focus so much on what they have lost that they forget to acknowledge everything they have gained.
"Being an emigrant gives you courage, it gives you strength, it opens your mind, it pushes you out of your comfort zone, it makes you do things you would never have done if you hadn't emigrated," he assured.
For this reason, she wanted to dedicate a few words especially to the women who, like her, have had to start from scratch in another country, facing fears, uncertainty, and the challenges of building a new life.
"Brave woman, emigrant, you who are listening to me: you never know who you can become when you choose not to give up. Show every day that the courage that made you emigrate has made you strong for life," he concluded.
His video has garnered nearly 9,800 views and over 500 reactions on TikTok.
Martínez's experience adds to the stories of other Cubans living in Italy who have shared on social media the challenges and achievements of their lives as migrants.
Among them is the story of a woman who spent nine years without documents before regularizing her situation and starting her own online business, and that of another Cuban who, despite having held a position of responsibility in her country, worked for a decade as a butcher in Italy while facing language barriers and difficulties in getting her studies recognized.
In the case of Bia Martínez, her migratory experience has also led her to focus her social media activities on digital entrepreneurship and creating opportunities for other women.
The Cuban woman, who had previously shared other reflections about her 25 years living in Italy, summarized her personal transformation with words that reflect how much she has changed since leaving Cuba.
"The woman who arrived in Italy 24 years ago never thought she would have to learn so much to become the woman I am today," she said.
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