Carmen
I came to Moorhead because I applied for a governmental program called Exchange Visitor Teachers. They hired me, and I started working in a Spanish immersion program at an elementary school. I have worked there for three years. I was 22 when I first arrived in the United States, and I didn’t know anyone. While I was working, I decided to complete my master's degree at Concordia College.
In Spain, we value the United States a lot. We try to imitate or copy things that are happening there. We see them as a country who is economically very stable. There is always research happening, and many new things are always coming from the United States. You have more opportunities here. We see the US as a country that constantly makes progress. I have seen that to be true in certain areas, but I can also see that progress happens in other places, where if you move yourself, work hard, and study, it will pay off.
In terms of movement within your career, here, you can move to different areas and it is easier for you to find a job in another position. In Spain, everything is more restricted. For example, in terms of education, if you start your career as a teacher, there is no way for you to work for a big company eventually, but in the United States, there might be that opportunity if your skills fit into what the employer is looking for. My favorite thing about life in the US is that if you work hard, they pay you. They pay for your time. You're never doing something for free. They pay for your time and for your effort. In some countries, it depends on your area, but that does not always happen.
I miss all the walking I did in Spain, and the fact that you don't necessarily need a car in order to get places. Everything is so walkable and close in Spain, but the first thing that I needed here was a car. I would say the main differences between life in Spain and life in the US are routines surrounding meals, working, or labor hours. The way of socializing is different, too. In Spain, it is easier to socialize, to meet and gather with new people, but maybe that was because I was younger.
I maintain the Mediterranean diet I ate while living in Spain. I eat lots of vegetables and fruits and legumes, and I'm always trying to find a balance. I eat chicken, red meats, and seafood. What I miss most about my diet is having quality seafood. You don't get that in Moorhead. Even though it is shipped to us, it is not the same, but I try to continue having my same routines and diet.
My husband used to have more of a traditional American diet, as he is from North Dakota, but after meeting me, we have found a balance. We love cooking, so we try to find new international recipes, and we have done some from South America, Central America, and other places. We have some friends from Africa, and they taught us how to prepare different meals. We love trying new things.
I still celebrate Los Tres Reyes Magos, a very Catholic religious tradition for kids that happens on January 6. I still celebrate that with my husband. We exchange gifts, and we make the roscón and invite some friends over who are also celebrating the festivities. At Easter time, we do a little bit, but it's more focused on the cooking part than actually following the traditions because of course, you're not going to have the parades when there are not a lot of Spanish people in the area to celebrate with you.
My husband and I met a couple who introduced me to the rest of the Hispanic people they knew from NDSU. The husband was a local and the wife is from Peru. It was a small group at first, but then we started including more people. The group consists of students at NDSU, who come to the US to earn a higher education degree.
Almost every weekend, we gather and either do a barbeque or an international potluck. Everyone brings their traditional dish from their country and then we all share. We like dancing. We rotated between houses or apartments. We bring food, we bring drinks, we bring the music and the laughs. Sometimes we go to restaurants, street fairs, markets, or some different events that are happening around the community. We used to do lots traveling around the United States, going to lots of national parks and hiking. It has been fun.
Before COVID, I would go back to Spain every summer. My plan was to work 10 months in the Moorhead area, and then spend one or two months in Spain. I met my husband before COVID in April 2019. Then we traveled to Spain that summer and hit different cities just to get a little taste of Spain. When we came back to the United States, COVID happened, and because of my visa status, I couldn't get out of the United States for three years. It's been three years since I have been able to see my mom. This is the first summer after 2018 that I have been in Spain again.
I have enjoyed living in Moorhead. It is a very small community and it feels safe. If you balance our quality of life and salary, it is very manageable compared to other areas of the United States. I really like that it is a small community. You get to know people and they get to know you after working here for so many years. I don't like the winter so much, but I took it in a positive way. So my goal was that if I'm living in a place that has lots of snow, I would learn how to downhill ski, skate, and cross country ski.
I've adjusted myself now to better understand people in the area, but at first, the culture shock was observing the relationships between people. People struggle to connect to others. Another thing that surprised me is that everything is structured and organized. Everything has to be perfectly in order and there is not that much room for flexibility. Even though people are asking you to be flexible, the system itself allows no room for flexibility. I've noticed that people don't like having so many unknowns.
People in the area were super nice, and they always treated me super well. They were respectful and very kind. However, I felt like they were not inclusive. They always treated me nicely, at least in my workplace. I had other experiences with other people outside my workplace, where they were not educated about Spain or Europe or differences between people, or they didn't understand that when you first arrive, you're going to encounter difficulties, especially in the language barrier. You're always going to have a language barrier and it's hard to communicate at first, and sometimes your accent is hard for them to understand.
Those individuals maybe haven't had the opportunity to travel or get to know people who are outside their community. Once you start finding people who have similar experiences as you, it changes. For example, young people who had experience in Europe or they had careers or classes about Spain or South America were more empathetic and inclusive.
Many people share the perspective that all immigrants are poor and are coming from poor communities or bad circumstances. That is not true. You can choose to be an immigrant, or you can be an immigrant because your country is at war and you want safety not only for you, but for your family and for your children. I want them to know not everyone loves leaving their own country. If you choose to, it is because there are certain conditions that force you to do it.
My case was a choice - I chose to apply for the program because I was looking for a different experience. I was thrilled to travel and work around the United States and learn English. That was a must-have back in those years in Spain. I always wanted to study abroad, and there were certain professional and personal goals that I wanted to reach. I'm lucky because anytime that I come back to Spain, I still have a very comfortable life. Not all immigrants are traveling to the United States because they want to do bad things here.
I hope to become a Spanish professor one day and I hope to continually embrace culture and language. I would like to travel the world and be able to enhance respect and empathy for other people.