DEPARTED FROM
Santiago, Chile
ARRIVED IN
Grand Coulee, Washington
YEAR
1993
AGE
35
NOW LIVES IN
Royal City, Washington
TRANSCRIPT
I guess the-the best first day in the US was the third time. I was not alone. I-I came with-with family, so, wife and two kids at the time. We got to Miami and we exited the plane. We started heading toward whatever the-the signs show for, um, immigration and all that stuff. The boys at the beginning were a little excited but we were tired (laughs) and we didn’t have too many problems, uh, getting our suitcases or anything. Knowing some rules in the US, I was preparing mom to avoid making the mistakes knowing that some Americans don’t like to be hugged or kissed at the first time as we do in Chile. And I said, ‘If you do not understand what they are telling you, just smile.’ And she was practicing the ‘Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!’ and smiling. I told her about all our friends in Grand Coulee and we never thought that there would be so many people waiting for us at the airport. It-it was incredible and, uh, everybody made us feel so comfortable and so welcomed. They had fixed the house and they donated furniture, a quilt that we still have, and toys for the boys, and a dictionary. And regarding what I-what I was warning everybody, especially your mom, about respecting the space Americans care so much for – your mom obviously forgot all about it – and she started hugging everybody. The positive thing is that I had told our friends that, in Chile, that is the way we say hello to people just to make them feel more comfortable, so they knew and, um, they loved the hugs (laughs) um-we really…we were very lucky to start our lives in the United States in that little town.
