Immigrant Voices Podcast Project
Immigrant Voices Podcast Project
Irani from Brazil
With poor prospects for college or broadening her horizons, Irani left her family farm in a remote part of Brazil in 1994 to join her brother and sister in the States. Her initial plan was to earn money and return to Brazil to buy a home there. Plans changed when she met her husband and settled into a busy life in Boston, eventually starting her own cleaning company. Caring for three children and running a full-time business left her little time to learn English, but she persevered. Her homeowner dreams have changed continents, especially after becoming a naturalized U.S. Citizen, an accomplishment she and her family are proud of.
Guest intro/00:39
With poor prospects for college or broadening her horizons, Irani left her family farm in a remote part of Brazil in 1994 to join her brother and sister in the States. Her initial plan was to earn money and return to Brazil to buy a home there. Plans changed when she met her husband and settled into a busy life in Boston, eventually starting her own cleaning company. Caring for three children and running a full-time business left her little time to learn English, but she persevered. Her homeowner dreams have changed continents, especially after becoming a naturalized U.S. Citizen, an accomplishment she and her family are proud of.
Coming to the U.S./01:38
Deborah: My guest tonight is Irani from Brazil. Welcome, Irani. Can you tell me a little bit about what brought you to the United States? Why did you decide to come here?
Irani: I came here in 1994. Before I came here I have one sister and one brother here, and they encouraged me to come here because I was in Brazil with my 24 years-old. And they said to come here because they can help me to get more opportunity. Was hard to leave my parents because I just have me and my younger brother and I said it is hard to leave them because they need me. And I was just start to help them with the farm. But I just finished my high school. I couldn’t have opportunity to go to college because when you live in the farm and you live in the interior so the parent is saying to you it’s hard to send you to different city because they didn’t have a college there. And I was so younger to be by myself to go to college and then my brother and sister here said, “I think it’s time to try some different life.”
Deborah: What was the reason again why you couldn’t go to college?
Irani: Because my parents was saying prepared me to get married and not go to the college. They think I was not ready to be by myself or be with the other friends. Very different from here because in seventeen or eighteen years old they just going to college and be with friends and share the room and go to different city. For us, the culture for my parents especially because we used to live in farm, so that’s gonna be hard because I was so young I was not ready and to go. So that’s the reasons they said, “Oh, I think it’s not easy. You stay, you know, just with friends.”
Deborah: So did you actually work on the farm with your parents?
Irani: Yes. I was just helping mom and my daddy—he actually passed away two years ago—and my mom is still doing the same thing. So we just grow vegetables and sell the milk and we have everything at the farm. But between that I was teaching and not in the city on the farm they just help the poor kids learn little bit. So just I was helping because I like work with the kids. I used to work about church, teach them about God not about, you know, writing and but she said, “I think you good to help me with the kids.” And then I start to help them with the kids, but not professional like it became teacher. So I just was not ready to be teacher. I didn’t have my degree to be teacher. I just was helping her because I love kids. So that’s the point.
Deborah: At that age did you have a dream about what you wanted to do in the future?
Irani: Yes. If I had opportunity to go to college, I was, you know, just think something about to be dentist or something like that. I used to like that. But now if I say to me, Irani, do you want to be there? Do like that? I don’t wanna do that. I just had when I was younger. Not now.
Deborah: So when was the moment that you decided to come to the United States? You said you had some relatives that were already here. What made you say, “I’m gonna do it!”?
Irani: Yes, because I was thinking the life just with think about my parents, but I say, “I need to think about me, too” because I was like 20, close to 24 so I couldn’t go to college. I need to think about my future. So I need to work and have my own money. So I think I said, “Oh, wait a minute. Why I not try?” So that’s the reason. So yes, they said, “Yes, please come and try it.”
Deborah: Was it easy to get the visa?
Irani: Well, in ’94 was so much easier than now. I can tell you. So very, you know, was not a now so easy. But I got the visa so that’s the good things because I didn’t have a hard time to come to the border, so that’s make my life easy because if I do that I don’t know if I can get here. I was so scared with they said with their experience to come here.
First Jobs/06:38
Deborah: What was your experience when you arrived? Was it culture shock for you?
Irani: Well, the first moment about you know I just came here in June, I got here in June 12. I got impressed because the weather was good because in Brazil the weather always is very nice. We can have like fall and winter for us because I live in southwest. So in the south they have more cold weather but where I used to live is not. I like it because I time I said, “Oh, it’s not possible here’s gonna be very cold like my relative complain about it.” And I said, “Oh wait a minute, it’s not too bad.” And then after this summer everything, you know, was not like I thought. I know I have a lot of help from them because I got to know the room. So they help me with the job. I help my sister while she had her business with the same I doing now—cleaning services. And my brother he was working at the restaurant, so he got one open for me but that has to be, can you believe, I worked in Italian restaurant—they don’t have that anymore— with dishwasher. I can tell you the first moment I start to work—it’s a job is a job. But I said, “Oh my God, there’s so many things I have to be.” I know I have, you know, my washing helping mommy with couple of dishes, not like a lot. I have to, you know, be ready for them. I cried like a couple hours. I said, “Oh my God, this is the job you have to meet?” “Yes,” my brother said, “I’m sorry, because, just came, you don’t speak English, so that’s the way to start.”
Deborah: So did you know any words in English?
Irani: When I started this job, no, I couldn’t say anything. Actually, I can say “hi” and “oh.” And then it is very funny because he was cooking this person and said you need to get more money so you working with my sister with cleaning and she didn’t have a big business, so she just share with the little business she had with me we pay my help. I said, “Oh, wait a minute. I need more money to pay the room, everything, I need you know, survive.”
Romance and Marriage on the Horizon/09:19
Deborah: So were you married at this point?
Irani: No, I was not married this time.
Deborah: How did you meet your husband?
Irani: Yes, but in the same year I got here in ’94, my parents got the visa too. I got here in June 12. My parents came here in December to Christmas. And my husband was in my cousin’s. And we prepare the Christmas party to my parents. And my cousin said, “Oh, I have one guy here. He came to visit me. Can I bring him?” I said, “Why not?” So he, yes, he was to live in Hyannis in Cape Cod.
Deborah: So you didn’t know him when you were in Brazil?
Irani: No, no, no. Yes, he’s from Brazil. His family is very close to mine. He, like I can say 30 minutes, but I didn’t know him until here.
Deborah: Was it love at first sight?
Irani: For him not for me. I gave him a hard time later to discover I was falling in love into him. But it is unbelievable. I couldn’t have opportunity to talk with the other person Spanish to America or anyone. He get my heart. So the following year ’95 we just start to you know to be in romance.
Becoming a Business Owner/10:44
Deborah: How long did you do the dishwasher job?
Irani: I did, I believe, like one year. I can tell you I was so sad because I just got home so late. I worked the whole day with my sister. She just, in the end, the day she just me drop there like at five. I was five to10 or on Saturday I was like at 11. And I was talked with my other friend, the one I met here, and she helped me one part-time job in downtown Boston to clean one building. So and then I quit the restaurant and they start to work six to nine-thirty over there to big job, but was easier than dishwasher. And I think in ’96 to ’97 I start to think about my business and my husband said that he’s gonna help me because he know he’s in the time in ’95, ’96 that he speaks better English than me because I didn’t know nothing. And he said, “Oh, I’m gonna try help.” He just put in a newspaper announcement about cleaning and then I start to with my business.
Deborah: Ninety-six to ’97 you started your own business.
Irani: Yes, but was very little job. So like I can just start to like one and I was keeping my work with my sister and she’s saying, “When you have the you whole schedule full, you can, you know, start to do, but I’m gonna help you when you find one house and the second one.” And then it was like that I can clean one house for myself, two house for myself. It was not easy to faster grow my business it slowly and slowly.
Deborah: When did you start to learn English?
Irani: Yes. I think that’s the point in ’96 to ’97 because I was busy. That’s the things I made my big mistake, because I was thinking if I came here for like five years, I’m done with have my money and buy one house in Brazil and back to there. But the things that change years by years because I met my husband and then I was thinking the life was not easy like I thought. And I was working during the day in the nighttime. No time to go to school that’s a problem because in ’97, when he was thinking to help me, we just, we didn’t marry, we married in 2001, so we have like 21 years in October. We cannot turn to when we got married. He’s saying, I think it’s better you go to school because the life gonna make more easy for your job. He encouraged me to go, but I can tell you why I was tired because when mornings whole day in afternoon and part-time and then I start to pay some extra for person helping me with English. I got some couple words and then, I said, “Oh, wait a minute, I need to get out from the part-time.” I got my schedule like one in two house per day and after that I said, “It is better I can quit the job night time. I can just have my job and go to school.”
Juggling Work and Family/14:25
Deborah: And how soon did you have kids to juggle?
Irani: After five years when I got married. So I have child when I have my 35 years old. And after that was very hard to go to school. So that’s the reason. If I had done before I was more ready for everything because I had Thiago after three years, I have the other one Raphael, and then the other one, Pedro, then I go and work the whole day. So I said, “Oh my God, it’s no time.”
Deborah: How did you manage to work and who took care of the children?
Irani: Oh I had you know I spent three months which every time one born, I spent three times, and then I paid the babysitter. Because it was hard to leave my job because it was not easy to get my own business job. And it is very hard to leave my kids too. So I need provide, I need put food on the table. And the other point is hard to leave the kids with babysitter but I have to do it. So that’s the reason after three months I pay the babysitter and then I back to work the whole day. But not time enough to go to school. A hard time.
Deborah: It’s so hard for women to juggle a career, your own business, and take care of your children. Your heart is always torn in half, don’t you think?
Irani: Very hard because you wanna spend more time with the kids, but you need to provide food and the education, everything you know kids you need to money to grow they up, is not easy. But one time, like every time I can every time when I have a meeting at the school, I have the kids grow up and said encourage me, “Mom, you need to learn English. Because you know, it’s very hard to have a meeting, you socialize with the community. It’s too much easy.” So they encourage me to go to school where I found Michelle and I back to school.
Learning English and Becoming a Citizen/16:39
Deborah: How many years have you been going to the Gardner?
Irani: Oh, that’s gonna be my second year. And I can tell you my good news, I just became a citizen yesterday.
Deborah: Fantastic. That’s great.
Irani: I’m so happy.
Deborah: Congratulations. That’s wonderful.
Irani: Thank you.
Deborah: How long did it take you to become a citizen? How long were you studying and working towards your citizenship?
Irani: Oh, that’s close to I can say the one and a half years because the pandemic everything was behind. But Sister Pat helped me a lot. And the Sister Pat introduced me to Michelle. I met Sister Pat. My son Thiago is going to St. Joseph, the place she lives next to and yes, Eloisa connect me to Sister Pat and Sister Pat connect me to Michelle and Michelle connect me to you.
Deborah: So you’re going to be in the English for Immigrant Entrepreneurs class then in January. That’s great.
Irani: I hope I be ready.
Deborah: Sure. Absolutely. You’re trying to build up your business, right?
Irani: Yes, I do. That’s the reason I need you to help me.
Deborah: How many clients do you have now?
Irani: Well, I used to have more. I used to have two helpers, but after pandemic everything getting so bad. I have many customers they back. I can tell you close to 10 customers, like very good customers for they schedule for week. They didn’t back to me yet. So I just have one helper right now.
Missing Brazil/18:25
Deborah: It’s hard to do that job—house cleaning during the pandemic. You have to wear mask all the time and a lot of people didn’t probably want you to go into their homes at that point. So what do you miss the most about Brazil?
Irani: Well, I miss more I can tell you. Was not easy to be far from my parents. And unfortunately, I don’t have my daddy. I just have my mom. Lucky me she can come to visit us, but I miss the life I used to have when I was child because, you know, when I brought my kids over there. So it’s kind of very different like my kids grow here. So I have opportunity to be with the natural. So with animals with the plants. Chance we need to, you know, fresh air. And I built all my toys. I don’t have, you know, the Google everything. You go to the Google, the internet. That’s I miss for, you know, my life and for my kids. So they don’t have this opportunity to have this life. So that’s the reason I miss, and I miss my friends too. The friends I had when I was child, but the most to connect to the natural. So that’s I love that. So my kids they don’t have this here.
Deborah: You don’t take trips in nature with your family here in the States?
Irani: No. I didn’t because every time. Actually, is not easy to travel to Brazil because everything is just kinda expensive. Especially for we are five. The ticket to Brazil is very expensive, but when I have choice to travel, I like, you know, bring they to background to see how my life and how they can connect with what. I like show what my life was. Very simple but it’s very full with many things good. And, they don’t have here when they grow up because you know, the weather and with this and big city. So I used to grow in the farm very opposite from them.
Children as Teachers/20:39
Deborah: Do your children teach you English?
Irani: Actually they try do it, but they get impatient with me. When I ask you one question the second time, “Mommy, I said one time,” I said, “Excuse me, can you repeat?” “Mommy! Mommy, you forget so easy.” I said, “Yes, of course. I have a lot of bills to pay a lot of reasons. Just I got—ah!” That’s the reason they sent me to school. All the time they just encourage me to go, “Mommy, you need English. Please go to school. Go to school every time.” I encourage them to learn Portuguese. That’s the reason they just start tomorrow. They have a class in Portuguese once a week because I wanted to connect with my relatives in Brazil and my friends too, and make friends. And I tell them how nice you can speak more than one language. That’s very good opportunity for your life in everything. Not because I’m from Brazil, but it’s good for your life and for your future, for your job. So, and they encouraged them and they every day said to me the same thing. Because when I said, “Oh my God” when I got home it’s close to six o’clock. I need to, you know get ready. And I said, “Oh my God.” They go, they said, “Yes, please. You go, Mommy, you don’t stay, you go.” So now they change, you know, with me. It’s very nice.
Deborah: Oh, that’s good to get that kind of encouragement from them.
Irani: Yes. That’s great.
Deborah: So do you speak Portuguese at home? Do they understand Portuguese?
Irani: Yes, they do, but it’s very hard when I have Thiago, the first one, we just talking in Portuguese home. He speaks better than the brothers. But when the second arrived, so he start to just connect in English. We talk me and my husband with them in Portuguese, but they keep an answer in English. It’s very hard. We just please say in Portuguese, they said, “No, I wanna, it’s more easy say English” because they just afraid about the accent. Like I have, you know, I think I have a terrible accent for my English. So they think, I think the same way they have with not good Portuguese, but they understand. They understand. They can read.
A Memento from Brazil/23:05
Deborah: Oh, that’s good. That’s great. It’s good for the brain. It’s good to be bilingual. Did you bring anything from Brazil that you maybe had as a young woman that you still have with you? Some object or some piece of jewelry or some book or something that you always keep with you that you brought from Brazil?
Irani: Yes. It is a very funny thing because I can tell you I have my mommy’s towel. When she was making my luggage to come here, she got like something in her hand. I said, “Wait a minute, Mama, what is that?” She said, “Oh, that’s my towel I brought when I married your daddy, you gonna have this one with you so you can take you back until you know, think about mommy.” So I cried a lot but every time she came here I just open and look, look like it’s, you know, was white. Now it’s no more white, it’s a dark color. But I have with me, look like something I never gonna give up.
Deborah: So it’s like a hand towel, just a small towel.
Irani: Bath towel. Yes. It’s a big towel.
Deborah: A bath towel.
Irani: Yes, very fun because she said that she would, she brought when she married my daddy and she said something I really love. I will keep forever. Yes, you can have that. I say I was making my clothes and get ready. She suggest putting, and when she bring the towel to me, I can take my shower when I came to airport and she had in her hands and said that to me. It was very, very, very, very sweet moment and very sad too because I cried a lot. And this fun every time she asked, “Do you still have?” I said “Yes for 28 years I have,” because now towel I can have like, I don’t know, 55 years, 50 I don’t know. Probably like that.
Future Dreams/25:07
Deborah: Tell me about what you’re hoping in the future for your business, for your family.
Irani: Yes. You know, I had this dream came true. My kids they so happy about, you know, I became American citizen. That’s very good. I was thinking about that. I’m so happy. And I wanna grow my business because my dream is have my own house. I’m so tired to pay the rent like for 28 years and I have my three kids. I can tell you I have very hard time because I just moved to Belmont. I used to live in Allston/Brighton since I got here for 28 years, but in the place I moved to now I used to live there for 17 years since my boy arrived, gonna be 18, and now was very tough to find, you know place to move. Especially because Allston/Brighton school is very expensive private school. The public school in Brighton/Allston is not very good school when they have good school. So the waiting list is a terrible. And I moved to Belmont and this time it’s crazy to find place to move and everything’s high. My plan is try save some money. Gonna be hard because the rent here is more expensive, but my plan is to grow my business and get my own house to my kids. That’s my plan.
Deborah: That’s a good one. That’s a good one.
Irani: Yes. What I hope it comes true.
Proud Moments/26:56
Deborah: What do you feel is your greatest success since you’ve been to the States? What are you the most proud of?
Irani: Yes, I’m most proud because I came here. I said to my boys, I keep saying every day. I couldn’t say any words in English. I know I have my relative help me, but I just not was waiting for the help. I try my best and I got my own business. So I feel proud because I think if I look for the, my background, I have many things done good. So survive and grow three kids. I have been paying private school since until now. I have Thiago is senior, he’s going to college next year. I’m not ready for that. I think he is not ready either, but I’m happy what I have done. So I think the way it is. The only thing I think I should have buy my house before because it was more easy, but I didn’t. That’s something I got little sad when I think about it. I lost a good opportunity to have my own house. That’s the only thing makes me question mark. Why not?
Deborah: No, it’s in the future for you.
Irani: Yes, the future. But if you think I’m proud what I have done, but I feel sad the way, I know, I make something my plan, so I should think more about that. I think if you ask me what I should have done the best, I can say, “Oh, I should think more about my own house so I can be more relax and not all like I have been pouring out.” This I think.
Advice/28:49
Deborah: What advice would you give to somebody else coming to this country?
Irani: Well, I can tell it’s a lot of people coming out and keep it coming. I can tell them it’s not easy. I think the life’s not easy. That’s make you more strong. When everything comes so easy I think you get so weak. You need to get ready and get stronger. Struggling for something you need and have to be done. I can give advice. Yes, come here is good opportunity, but be ready, you know, to to be strong, you have to be strong. You can’t stop. So it’s very good. Encourage you to do things, get better. I think that’s the point.
Deborah: Is there anything else that you’d like to add from your experience? What was the very hardest thing that you have gone through as an immigrant coming to this country? What was the biggest challenge for you over the years?
Irani: Well, I think, the English I should get here and not look for just job. Job is important because you need survive. I can say everybody, if you come here, you have opportunity. Please, take some time free and go to school. Learn English is very, very important. I can tell you it’s very important for your life, about your job, about your community, and get more friends and get, you know, engage with the community, you know, and say your words kinda, they can hear you. I said for you, English is very important. It’s very important.
Expanding Community Ties/30:32
Deborah: So do you feel when you’re working that your clients, your customers, that you can have a conversation with them in a way that you couldn’t at the beginning? Do you feel more confident speaking with the people you work for?
Irani: Yes, I do. But I can tell you I wish I can do better. Get more engaged, not just with my customer, but with the community. So I, you know, get more friends. That’s a problem. I don’t have American friends, I just have Brazilian friends married to American guys. I can tell you I just have, I have conversation just more with my customers just with more about the job. I wish if I can get more conversation when I go to the meetings for my kids, I can participate more, asking more, if that’s the reason. That’s the reason I’m saying English is very important. Was not easy with three kids and working back to school. That’s the reason I back last year and I’m trying this year.
Deborah: Well, I think you’re doing great and every year, especially if you continue to come to classes, your English is going to improve. And get your kids to teach you more!
Irani: Yes.
Deborah: You have three resident teachers there!
Irani: Yes, but it’s not easy. I can tell you like experience for mom. They don’t have the patience. They wanna say their own stuff, so I try to ask for help. They can come about quicker time. “Oh, okay, Mommy, you all set? Yes?” Yeah they encourage me to go to school, not to teach me.
Deborah: Well, it’s been wonderful talking with you. Thank you so much.
Irani: It’s my pleasure to talk with you.
Wrapping Up/32:36
After 28 years in this country, Irani fulfilled a dream of becoming a U.S. citizen. Her desire to improve her English has motivated her to continue classes. She hopes to make new friends, expand her business, and be a homeowner one of these days. With three sons who urge her on, she has fans rooting for her progress. From dishwasher fatigue in her early days here, she now considers herself among the legions of resilient and successful immigrant entrepreneurs.