Uncle Chalo

When I was a child I lived with my mom, my sister and my dad in a pretty house in Bogotá, Colombia. My sister and I have a lot of uncles and aunts, but one of our uncles that I most remember was my Uncle Chalo. His name was Gonzalo but everybody called him Chalo. He was the eldest son on my father´s side of the family and he lived with his family in Miami, Florida. He was tall, had black hair and a good sense of humor, as did my dad. Besides that, he had two sons about our age, and he worked in his own company of curtains and blinds.

When he visited us he used to give us presents like Barbies or super cool toys, and we played with our cousins since my mom and dad had a good time with him and his wife. One time he helped us to apply for visas to the United States because we wanted to go to Disney Land and it was a complete success. We had a wonderful time. I think that was one of my favorite trips in my life.

On my father’s side of the family, he had the most authority and everybody asked for his advice. Over time, we saw each other less and sometimes when we talked about politics or social situations in Colombia we had differences, but we loved him a lot. Unfortunately, he died from a heart attack about two years ago, but I remember him well because he was one the uncles that we cared about most and he was an inspiration to some members of the family.

~

Ania - Colombia

Lina

Lina was a woman with a thin physique, but she had a lot of strength in her muscles.

Last Saturday I went to visit some friends in Pawtucket who lost their mother and shortly afterward Lina arrived and I didn't recognize her. She has a fuller body, lighter skin, rosy face, very pretty. During the conversation, I told her that she looked very familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where.

Did she reply, “Really”? When I heard her voice, the memories took over my mind, and I asked “Lina are you Lina”?

We held each other tight for a long time and then we started reliving the past with a lot of emotion.

Lina sold cow's and goat's milk. She lived in a very remote village on my island, island of Brava in Cape Verde, and had no access to transport up to a certain point along the way. She had to climb a lot of steep hills to get to the main road, when she got there she didn't take a ride.

She carried a bowl on her head full of bottles with about 5L of milk each and mugs to measure the milk, she went all the way uphill from Lavadura disassigning milk until she reached the city of Nova Sintra where I lived.

Around noon Lina arrived at our house to deliver the milk, which was her last delivery. She was very skinny, arrived very tired, with the bowl on her head where she always wore a flowered scarf, with her slippers full of dust from walking and full of sweat, she often arrived accompanied by her oldest daughter, Patricia, and screamed by far, “djam bem” which means “I`ve arrived”.

She spoke quickly and in a high tone of voice, typical of people who live in villages that have no communication, taking care of animals and talking from one house to another screaming.

We offered water and lunch, but first she would wash her feet and face to freshen up. After lunch, we would sit and watch Brazilian soap operas and while the soap operas were not over, she would not leave.

After a while she emigrated to the United States and I to Portugal, we lost all contact until we met again in the city of Pawtucket.

~

Margarida Rodrigues - Cape Verde
10/03/2022

Experience with Fireworks in America

A couple of months after I came to the United States, my kids and I were in the house but they were sleeping. Around 10 o’clock at night I saw a huge fire light outside beside our house that was sparkling. It made me think it was transformer was burning. I shouted and called my children. I was so scared and shouted fire! Fire!! Fire!!!

I was running out of the house, and they tried to stop me, but I was too scared to wait for them. I continued running into the street and they also ran, following me and asked what was burning. My elder daugher decided to call her dad and he called me immediately to ask what was going on, and I told him that the transformer had exploded. He laughed at me and told me it was not, that it was fireworks. I asked him what they call it. And he told me it’s bounger, which is what we call fireworks in Nigeria. I was surprised because in my country we have them from November to December. It was so much fun when we would light fireworks back home.

When I came back into the house my kids were laughing at me. I was laughing too. After that, they brought me to see the fireworks at McCoy Stadium and I saw a lot of fireworks there. When my husband came back home he was still laughing at me.

~

Adesola - Nigeria

Being an American Driver

Being an American driver is a little harder than in Nigeria. I was afraid to drive here because of the laws about driving, but I haven't had a choice because no one has time to take me wherever I want. My husband needs to go to work and my kids go to school. I also needed to go to the library to attend English class and go to stores. so I had to take an Uber wherever I went.

I made a decision to start learning how to drive with a family member who gave me a little confidence and helped make the journey fast. But guess what! I still have fear when I'm driving alone because of the police. That's why I couldn’t drive far away from my house until my daughter suggested driving school. It took me five good weeks. My tutor was very nice and calm, even though he didn’t show up at the beginning, but sent his wife to teach me but she was also nice.

I applied for a road test at the DMV after some practice. I was looking forward to the schedule. To be honest, I was a little nervous about waiting for another month. I was glad to go with my tutor and it was amazing to pass the test. Now I am bold enough and more confident to go wherever I want to by driving myself. I drive without fearing the police, and continue to obey the law to avoid attracting them.

It’s great to drive without calling an Uber or waiting for my husband before I go out. This made it easy for my youngest daughter to take a job during the holiday. I was able to give her a ride and pick her up when she was done at work. I'm looking forward to working as well.

Being an American driver is a great privilege, but without driving by yourself and speaking English, life will be hard to make your dream come true. Now I am the newest driver in my city and thank God things are easier for me. I also give thanks to my teacher, Jon, for encouraging and supporting me with my English.

~

Adesola - Nigeria

Making a Big Decision: Moving to US

Ending a 20 year marriage is a difficult step to take, but I did it and also survived on my own. After that, I took my time to think and enjoy the peace I was looking for. Then, almost 2 years later, I thought that I should open my heart again to someone who really deserves it. This time must be different at all. I prayed, as I used to, especially when I have to do something important. I put in God’s hand my partner, the one that He had in one place waiting for me. This was the beginning of a new and wonderful life.

The answer to my prayer came faster than I expected. My sister and her neighbor were talking about me and his son. They were planning to introduce us because they were sure that we would be an excellent match. They did it, and they were right. After a couple of weeks, we started talking. Later, he traveled to the Dominican Republic where we met and started a beautiful and trustworthy relationship. We spent almost 2 years traveling back and forth. We always talked about me moving to the USA because it was the most convenient for us both.

We talked several times about it, and finally I made the decision. It was not easy. I had to quit my job which was a great opportunity for my career. Also I had to leave my kids behind for a while. I had never been far from my family. We are so close. My dad, my mom, my siblings. My childhood friends. We are a small group that grew up together. I had to focus on the new chapter I was about to begin. It was a big decision to make, mostly because I knew that I'd have to wait for several months to be with my loved ones again. I’d have to start over. New friends, new language, new family, a new life.

Despite everything I had to leave in my country, I feel so grateful because my youngest son is living with us now. My husband is an excellent guy and a tremendous support. Part of my family, including my mom, my kids and my sister, could attend our wedding in Vegas, as well as some close friends. Thanks to technology, I feel close to my people. We are connected and talk almost every day.

Making big decisions is part of the living process. Sometimes we have to do it just taking into consideration what it really matters. In my case, my happiness, my peace and the man that God sent to my life to make me believe in love again were strong enough reasons.

~

Ogalis Hernandez - Dominican Republic

A Vision of the Future - Ogalis H. on Mosaic

Ogalis Hernandez, one of our writers from advanced class has just published and broadcast her essay, A Vision of the Future, on The Public's Radio here in Rhode Island. She tells the story of how she urged her kids to begin studying English from an early age to help give them better choices for the future.

Ogalis is the third writer from our group to broadcast an essay on Mosaic, a regular public radio podcast which covers immigration in America from a wide variety of perspectives.

Feel free to follow the link to read or listen to Ogalis' essay.

My Yearly Path to Success

Every year brings something new for us, and I want to tell a little bit about my 10 years in the U.S.A. I arrived in September 2012 with my oldest son, and in December I started my first job at Subway, my friend's business. This year began my journey with the English language which was the greatest decision of my life.

In 2013, my oldest son started preschool which was the hardest year for both of us because he did not want to participate during the classes. This pushed me to ask the teacher to participate in the classroom because my son had a difficult time adjusting. I think this was the most important thing that I could do for him.

2014 was happier because my second son was born in this country. It was also a challenge delivering him in the local hospital, because my oldest was born in Poland, which does not have good medical help. Here, I felt like a queen in the hospital but in my country you do not have enough nurses to help with women's labor. In 2015 I finally got my driver's license. I think it was the hardest test for me during these 10 years.

2016 was successful because I became a mom for the third time, plus this was the year when we started looking for a house which was not easy to do. After almost two years of searching for a new home that would give us a quiet, safe place for my family, we bought a house which made me the happiest person in the world. I felt like my family had a cozy, warm, safe home. It was just for us!

In 2017, we took our first big, two-week round trip by car from RI across Canada, Michigan and Ohio. I had great memories with my family. We saw beautiful places which I had never seen, for example Sleeping Dunes which is part of northern Michigan. We made it! The beauty of nature is amazing. Now I understand people who love to travel and see how the world is formed.

In 2019 we took our first trip to Europe. After 7 years, my boys were going to see their grandparents from my husband's side of the family and see all their cousins from Poland. It was such a happy time for all of us.

2020 was crazy . It was Covid time, online school, bigger decisions about what to do with the payments for our house and finally we made the last mortgage payment . This was a successful goal for my husband and me.

In 2021 I passed my citizenship interview. Yippee!!

Now it’s 2022 and I am writing this assignment to share with my classmates. What can I say?! Every year is full of success. Sometimes there are small, unimportant situations, but for me, I am successful every single day when I wake up, get up from bed, make breakfast for my family, go to work, do the things that I like, and be happy with the small things. I want to make my life positive every day and never turn back. Never wonder if I do the right things. I just go step by step to feel happy. I would love to live, make good and bad decisions, and this will be the greatest lesson for me in the future.

~

Maria - Poland