BY LILIANA JIMENEZ

Moving to another country is always hard. From the process of moving, then finding a place to live, there’s certainly no shortage of challenges. Even the process of adapting to your new environment and making new friends is difficult. Like any immigrant, my father struggled with all of these things in his own life. I talked to him to be able to understand his thought process throughout his move, and what that experience was like for him at such a young age. Being the youngest in his big family, I got to see how his perception was different than his siblings because of his age and how he didn’t have to carry these big responsibilities. 

Q: What was that process like for you moving from country to country at a young age?

A:  For me, I was so young I didn’t know what was going on, and I didn’t know the process. I was only 10 years old at the time so I knew we were moving, but I didn’t understand it I was too young. At that time, but as I got older I understood why they felt it was best to move and why we did it. When I was younger I was kind of just doing what I was told to do.

Q: What were your thoughts and feelings about moving away from your home country, how did you feel about (in a sense) starting a new life?

A:  I was nervous—nervous. I understood that I was leaving what I grew up to know for the ten years that I lived over there. I had an understanding of what it was going to be like before I moved, I understood that the winter was going to be bad. But I was just really nervous.

Q: What were your opinions on America before you moved, and was there a possible switch in perception once you arrived?

A: I expected as I got older I would have growth opportunities, and I was able to get that. But, to this day I have to work for it.

Q: Do you ever miss aspects of your life in the DR before you moved, do you ever wish you could access those memories? 

A:  I remember a lot of my life. At that age, you kind of just play with whatever you have access to. I remember having to make different things like scooters—which we had to build from scratch—and slingshots. But I don’t wish I could “access’ those again. Thinking about it though, what I do miss is how simple things were at the time. But because I was so young, I didn’t have many responsibilities. It was mostly just fun and games.

Q: Did you have any major struggles once you moved such as language, daily routine, etc.?

A: Language was the number one thing. I didn’t speak much of it but I knew a few words. I couldn’t hold a conversation because it wasn’t a natural thing for me. It was something I learned as I got older. I was kind of forced into it. But because I was at such a young age, I had time to pick it up quicker than most. I had the opportunity to be able to be taught gradually. Not knowing anyone was another one. Living in a new environment, I had to learn how to trust new people and make new friends which were all barriers that I had to face. I had no choice but to adapt. The weather was another thing, I can even remember my first snowfall.

Q: Were there any moments once you moved that made you finally realize/it hit you that you were no longer in the DR?
A: It finally hit me when we went to eat, and just that experience. But my earliest memory is when we were on the plane. That’s when I was like: we’re leaving, this is it; there[’s no coming back—at least not for a while. I didn’t know what was going on, I was just going along for the ride. And then when we started school it was when I realized I was here, I’m here now, this is it. Because it was late August/late summer and we hadn’t started school yet, it felt more like we were just visiting. Once school started, the responsibility was being placed on me to do well and that was when I realized I was here to stay.

Q: What were some culture shocks that you experienced 

A:  How much bigger things were. How everything is emphasized. Everything is just fast-paced. Even the buildings and structures. And honestly, even just how the roads were paved. The aesthetics of how everything is around here was definitely a culture shock. Even how busy everything appeared to be, lots of cars around, lots of lights. Those kinds of things were shocks. The biggest thing was how everything just looked clean. All those things weren’t stuff I was used to. It wasn’t really a world for me, it wasn’t something I was accustomed to seeing. In a way, it was like an eye-opener.

Q: Was it hard to leave parts of your family behind?A: I wouldn’t say it was hard for me. Because of the age I was, I was being looked after, rather than a grown-up with access to a lot of things. Of course, there were friends that I would miss. I would say it was more so friends than family I was going to miss. I just spent more time with them because I was so young. So moving away from them and not seeing them for a while was definitely upsetting because there was nothing I could do about it.