Interviewer - Amneris Rodriguez
Interviewee - Name with held by request
Relationship - Aunt
Date - February 19, 2003

A Woman who loves her island so much that she can't wait until the day she returns

What is your full name?

Name with held by request.

What is your nationality?

Puerto Rican.

What is your date of birth?

March 10, 1939.

Where were you born?

In Puerto Rico.

When did you move to the United States?

May 9, 1953.

Where in the United States did you travel too?

To the Bronx, New York.

Why did you move to the United States?

My mother sent me because I was real bad.Well, she sent me because I was mischievous and they sent me to stay with my sister in her house.

What did you like or dislike about your home country?

I love Puerto Rico. I like all of it.

Why did you move to Philadelphia from New York?

I moved to Philadelphia when I separated from my husband because we had a lot of problems.

Why did you pick Philadelphia out of the whole United States?

Everyone in my family lived in Philadelphia.

How did you travel from Puerto Rico to New York?

On an airplane.

And from New York to Philadelphia?

By bus.

Would you change how you traveled here? Would you have used different transportation?

No! No.

With who did you travel to the United States?

I came with my niece because my sister sent for her daughter.

And from New York to Philadelphia?

With my children.

What do you remember the most about Puerto Rico? Why?

The most I remember is the hot weather, the palm trees, the people, and the beaches especially Luquillo.

Why?

Because it is pretty, marvelous, and the sand is white and there is always a lot of people. It is a private beach.

How did your life change when you came to the United States and what are the differences?

My life changed a lot because when I lived in Puerto Rico I went to school and I lived with my mother. It changed when I got here because I didn't know anyone. I didn't have any friends.I didn't go to school and I didn't like it.

What were the differences between the two places?

Real different. Real different because in Puerto Rico it is hot all the time and here it is cold almost half of the year.

What did you expect about the United States/ Philadelphia?

New York I find is better than Philadelphia. In the sentiment that in New York it is the same day and night. Not in Philadelphia, Philadelphia is a boring place.

What did you come here to accomplish?

I came to work and I couldn't do much because I got married at eighteen. Then I had my children and my husband wouldn't let me work. He was the one who worked but that was in New York. In Philadelphia I came with my children and my life changed. In New York my life was much better and here having my family around it wasn't the same from New York. I lived in a house far from my family.

How about School?

I went to night school in New York and they ran me away, so, I never came back. I got scared. In Philadelphia I didn't go to school.

Did you finish your GED in Philadelphia?

No, in 1975 I went to Puerto Rico with my children.I had to work in a school lunchroom and they told me I needed my diploma. I went to night school and I graduated, then I returned to Philadelphia in 1982.

What are the differences between when you came here and now?

When I came at first it was very different because I was a fourteen years old child. I didn't have my family, I didn't have my friends, and I only had my sister. I didn't know anyone. I didn't even know the language and that was most important. My sister couldn't send me to school. Now in Philadelphia I have my little house, my children - except my son who was murdered. My oldest daughter lives here in Philadelphia and my youngest daughter lives in Puerto Rico. I have my grandchildren and great grandchildren who are doing well. I have two grandchildren who are in the army. Here in Philadelphia, since I have come here from Puerto Rico, I found the situation that there are many drug dealers standing on corners and people can't go out in the street with jewelry because they'll get robbed. I was held up and they took three chains that were given to me by my son before he was murdered. The people are being killed for pure enjoyment and I don't like it. I live in my little house by myself and my grandchildren help me but I don't want to be any trouble.

What did you sacrifice when you came from Puerto Rico?

I sacrificed a lot because it is the island that I want, love and I would like to live over there but because of my health I can't go. The doctors over there aren't like the doctors here.

What problems did you encounter coming to the United States?

In New York I was in the situation that I was a young girl and I didn't know English even though I still don't know it. I lived in an apartment with a little room with my sister, her husband and her daughter. Then my sister left her husband and we had our own rooms. While she worked I watched her daughter until people called the Department of Human Services so, I had to be put in school. My mother came to New York from Puerto Rico and was almost killed by an African American male. She was put at gunpoint. My mother and I had problems because she left me living with my sister when she came to Philadelphia and my sister's husband didn't have good intentions.

How much money did you have when you came to the United States?

When I came from Puerto Rico the only thing I had was my airplane ticket. I was a minor and I didn't have any money. My sister and her husband were the ones who worked. My sister's husband was cheap and he didn't give her any money. I had to watch my niece and they still didn't pay me. So, I didn't have any money to go out or to do absolutely nothing.

How much money did you have when you came from New York to Philadelphia?

When I came to Philadelphia times had changed. I was a married woman with children. My husband had money so, I came with my money.

How did you adapt to your new environment?

I found Philadelphia to be a boring place. I didn't like it; there were abandoned houses and dirty streets with potholes. There was trash everywhere and I couldn't adapt to life in Philadelphia. Because of that in 1963 I went back to Puerto Rico.

Why do you think it was worth your changes moving to Philadelphia?

I got rid of my rid of my husband because my husband was terrible. He was a womanizer, he sold drugs and he did many bad things and that life I didn't like. I had to go through a lot to leave him. I came to Philadelphia to live a calm life that wouldn't have my nerves out of control, with my children.

What education did you have before and after you arrived?

When I was a child I got up to six grade and then I was sent to New York. When I moved back to Puerto Rico I got my diploma/GED to be able to work. I graduated at forty-six years old.

Did you ever regret moving? Why or Why not?

Yes, I regret moving because I was working with the government in Puerto Rico. I had graduated school but I had problems with my husband. Then I had to come to live with my sister, which wasn't the same, because in Puerto Rico I had my house and I lived well.

What reason would/ could make you go back to your country?

I would like to go to Puerto Rico because of the weather. Here it is cold and it makes my arthritis worst. That's why I would like to go back to Puerto Rico because it is always hot and there are beaches and rivers where you can go have fun. You have fun and the people aren't as bad as the people here and you can go out at night.

Describe your first job here.If you didn't have one, how did you get money?

I worked in New York when I had seventeen years of age and I earned thirty-four dollars a week. I gave it to my mother to help her. Then she moved but I still had to send her money. When I got married I didn't have to work anymore. When I came to Philadelphia I worked in a factory for men clothes. Then the factory was closed down so I started working at a day care with children. That job was also temporary so I lost that job too. Now I live off the government with Social Security.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Yes, I would like to live in Puerto Rico but my mother tells me that for what am I going to Puerto Rico if there is nothing there for me? My daughter and sister are over there but my mother says that she is here and that I am not going to Puerto Rico. Still at the age that I have my mother tells me what to do. I am sixty-three years old.