Myriam from Ecuador
At 18 years old, Myriam finished school, got married, and moved from Ecuador to the United States. She’d never thought about moving until after meeting her husband through the Peace Corps. Upon moving to Missouri, Myriam received citizenship and then her driver’s license. She also stayed home with the kids until she reached her 30’s and her youngest started kindergarten.
Myriam faced a lot of challenges and still does with the language. Sometimes she needs to ask for an explanation of a word or phrase and is glad there are many people to help explain different meanings.
Even though Myriam feels like America is her second home, she stays connected to Ecuador’s culture. She taught her kids Spanish when they were younger, and one is fluent today. They try to visit every few years, and her oldest daughter even got married in Ecuador. They made the entire wedding bilingual, from the Priest who performed the ceremony to the wedding invitations.
Myriam describes Quito as a great place to retire, offering mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. She’s years away from that though. Myriam was brought to Emmaus after listening and talking to her mother-in-law. She’d never heard of Emmaus but applied and was hired as a DSP in Marthasville. A few months later she began to run the senior program. Eventually she began working with SAS, which is now EmmausLink.
Olu from Nigeria
In 2007, Olu moved with her husband and children to the United States. Previously, Olu toured New York, Boston, and Maryland with her brother who had lived her for 32 years. Olu is from Lagos, Nigeria. When she first visited America, she started school at Harvard. She always planned on going back home and continue practicing law. Then her family won a Visa lottery, and she just had to stay.
Olu was somewhat disappointed that she couldn’t practice law, because it’s different here than Lagos. She was reading the papers one day, saw an opening as an Emmaus Direct Support Professional, and has moved her way up to Home Manager, and now Residential Quality Manager.
Olu’s initial impression of America was you can have anything that you want. In Nigeria, personal advancement depends on who you know. It’s a country of dreams Olu says.
“It doesn’t just happen though. You should go to school and really apply yourself. The system works. Hard work pays off.”
Through phone calls and Skype, Olu stays connected with her mom who still lives in Nigeria. Olu has family all over the world, so when they meet up, they use London, England as a rally point to visit. In Nigeria, people are less emotional when they speak. Since moving to America, she’s been called blunt and has become more aware of that when speaking.
The final piece of advice Olu recommends is not believing what is on TV. Nigeria isn’t as poor as we make it out to be. They are a richly developed culture.
Elena from Russia
Elena moved to America with her daughter when she was 36. Elena moved from the 3rd largest city in Russia, Ekaterinburg. She’d never thought about coming to America or dreamed of living here until she met her husband. He’ll say she forced him to propose, but she’ll say that’s just his side of the story. Elena’s expectations were all depicted from American movies like Dances with Wolves, Gone with the Wind, Dirty Dancing.
She expected large skyscrapers, traffic, and tons of busy people. Then she looked out the window after landing at the Washington Airport. Luckily, she moved to St. Clair and became with friends with another Russian woman who lived nearby.
Elena had no car, because in Russia you walked everywhere. Her husband drove her to Manchester every day before work so Elena could attend an English class, and she still thinks language is the biggest challenge. Elena wanted to start working right away and escape the thought of being bored. It took 2 years to finally get a green card, and even longer to gain citizenship. In Russia, Elena was a manager of a bank so her search started in that field. She worked for ATM Solutions, and quickly got tired of driving an hour back and forth from St. Louis.
“I was ready to try something different and knew my Russian neighbor worked at Emmaus. At first I was just on call, which later convinced Emmaus to start letting me work full-time. I wanted assurance of knowing my schedule, and now I’ve been here happy for 6 years.”
Every day Elena finds something different here than back home. There are more public transportation options in Russia, and less cars. Even the kids walk to school, and have never heard of a “snow day”. Since she lived in the city, animals are never around. In Missouri, she noticed squirrels and more in her own backyard.
Elena stays connected by talking to her family. Sometimes she’ll hear of news before anyone else. On big holidays Elena attends the Russian Orthodox Church, and travels to Ollivette for their Russian culture. She’s known for cooking local dishes for her Emmaus family and even includes the tea and nesting dolls. Elena misses the food, and still hasn’t found a tort.
“Everyone here eats cake. A tort is different, it’s puffy and layered with creams, and I would order it from overseas if I could.”
In Russia people don’t go out to eat. They go out to celebrate. Restaurants are a place where people come to gather, drink, sing, dance, and sometimes eat between. Holidays are spent at home with family. There is a table full of food, and folk songs are sung. Nobody cleans the table, because later people come to it again and again.
Elena recommends everyone visit, especially during White Nights. It’s in the summertime when the sun isn’t out, but it’s not dark. It’s beautiful and can be light until 1 AM.
Liz from Ireland
Liz moved to America 11 years ago from the Ulster Province of Northern Ireland. Through a friend, she met and married someone from Missouri. Originally, she was going to give herself six months to get settled in, and only made it a few months before getting restless. Liz noticed that in the U.S. there are a lot of different words for things, which she found surprising and confusing. In Ireland a trash can is referred to as bin and paper towels are called kitchen rolls.
When she first moved to America she thought some things were more advanced, while others weren’t. America was behind in the cellphone market, and we still used blankets and quilts instead of comforters. Learning to drive on the other side of the road was a big shock too.
“I practiced with my bike to get a feel for being on the wrong side of the road. I drove here for 2 years, and I couldn’t remember how to turn.”
To stay connected, Liz keeps up on the festivals back home. St. Patty’s day is celebrated more here than it is in Ireland, unless you’re in Dublin. “Corn beef and cabbage?” says Liz, “No. We eat Irish Stew!” Pinching people if they’re not wearing green was a brand-new concept too.
Liz talks regularly with her family, and even watched her niece’s wedding entirely through Skype. Liz also reads the local newspaper online to keep up with current events. She enjoys visiting, because each time she goes back she sees all of the changes. The size of Ireland is a lot smaller than the United States. Liz drove to Louisiana once, and mentioned it’s all open country and fields as far as the eye can see. In Ireland, the towns are 5 miles apart and eventually everything runs together.
In Ireland, Liz was a hair stylist for more than 20 years. She was ready for a complete change and became interested in Psychology. Her first job was part-time at Santa Point Hospital and eventually she met Laura Davis, Director of Client Services with Emmaus. Laura convinced Liz to take a leap and join Emmaus, a decision she does not regret.
Once Liz started working for Emmaus, she noticed the diversity of our employees. When visiting the corporate office in St. Charles, she often notices the many different accents of our employees and it makes her feel much less of an outsider.
