Due to not having a job I left my country, and more
importantly I left my family behind to search for a job.
Interviewer: Felix Delgado
Relationship: Friend
Date: May 3, 2000
What is your full name?
Luz Caraballo.What is your nationality?
Latina/ Puerto Rican.What is your date of birth?
July 15, 1954.Where were you born?
Catano, Puerto RicoWhen did you (move to the U.S./move from somewhere else in the U.S.) to Philadelphia?
July, 1973.Why did you leave your country/State/former place of residence?
To learn English, to have better opportunities.What did you like/dislike about your home/country?
I love Puerto Rico a lot. The only thing was that it was hard to get a job at that time, but I miss my country, and my family.Why did you choose Philadelphia/U.S?
My sister was living here in Philadelphia.How did you travel here?/What type of transportation did you use/take to travel here? How would you change that?
By airplane.How did you find a place to live in Philadelphia?
My sister has been living in Philadelphia, and I decided to move in with her. Then I got married and I have a house of my own.With whom did you travel? [Who did you travel with?]
By myself at the age of 18.Give 1 thing you remember most about your home town and why?
The beautiful climate.How did your life change when you moved and what were the differences between the two places?
My life change a lot. One difference is the language, and Philadelphia has better source of transportation.What did you expect about the US/Philadelphia?
Since it wasn't planned I didn't had any expectation.What did you come here to accomplish and what else do you feel you still need to do?
I just came to start a new life.What are the differences between when you came here and now?
I have lived in North Philadelphia all my life. I have seen many changes almost all have been to worst conditions. I have seen how drugs, violence, and many things have develop around the communities.What did you sacrifice/leave behind when you left?
I left my family.What problems did you encounter coming to the US/Philadelphia?
One problem that I encounter then and now is racism, people look at me differently.How much money did you have and where did you get it when you came to Philadelphia/US?
I had no money with me.How did you adapt to your new environment?
I am a adaptable person, I had no problems adapting.Why do you think it was worth all your changes?
After all these years realized that it wasn't worth moving to Philadelphia.What education did you have before/after you arrived?
I had a high school diploma. In Philadelphia I went to college for two years, and in 1980 when I moved back, I did another year of college but then I returned and never got a masters degree.Do you [ever] regret moving? Why or why not?
Yes, I regret moving to Philadelphia because I think that if would off stood in Puerto Rico I would off be a happier, but now since I got used to living in Philadelphia I like it.What reason would/could make you go back to where you came from?
When my husband and I retire we are planning to go back and live in Puerto Rico for the rest of our lives.Describe your first job here. If you didn't have one, who did you get money ?
My first job was in a factory making lamps. I was earning about three dollars and seventeen cents per hour, I then left this job to go back to school to learn English. The streets and many other places I went to or worked at, taught me more English than the school I went to. Life is what makes you learn.Is there anything you would like to add?
- Both of my parents were born in Puerto Rico.
- I have not seen my father for over twenty years.
- At the age of seventeen my sister moved to Philadelphia and she was the first person out of her family from Puerto Rico to live in Philadelphia.
- My brother still lives in Puerto Rico, he earns a lot of money managing the Puerto Rico Telephone Company.
- My parents agreed that I could move to Philadelphia by myself.
- My parents always knew that I was mature enough to survive.
